Beware of the banana skin

After a hard earned victory against Portsmouth we now have a tricky game at Spurs who has a new manager and have high spirit after their amazing come back from 2-4 at Arsenal. Rafa has rested a few players for the midweek game and although Torres seem to be still a few days from a start, we still have the manpower to win the game and maintain the 3 point lead. Keane will be in particular eager to have a great game in his memorial first game back to the Lane.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Agger
Aurelio
Alonso
Mascherano
Kuyt
Gerrard
Riera
Keane

Result 2:0

October Month Review

5 wins, 1 draw, and we are on top of both the Premier League and Champions League group table. We were perfect in the league with 4 wins, 2 dramatic came from behind followed by a superb win at Chelsea, and then we break down the tight defense of Portsmouth to maintain a 3 point lead in the table. In Europe we continued our good run by beating PSV but a rare mistake let Atletico equalised. In general this is a very good month, but there are still 7 months to go and we need to keeping fighting till the end.

Players of the Month (1) Gerrard 7.85 (2) Kuyt 7.79 (3) Alonso 7.60. Stevie G once again excels with 2 goals and 2 assists in the month, and he has been the engine in driving us forward. Kuyt did very well in the absense of Torres and scored 4 goals including 2 match winners in our comebacks. Xabi also did very well throughout the month, with a highlight of scoring the winning goal at Stamford Bridge.

November prediction:
11/1 Tottenham Hotspur (a) Spurs is on a high after the dramatic comeback at Arsenal, so we need to be at our best to tear the down for Keane's return.
11/4 Atletico Madrid (h) Torres to welcome his buddy, and a win will guarantee our entrance in the last 16.
11/8 West Bromwich Albion (h) West Brom will be defending hard so we need to be patient to break them down.
11/12 Tottenham Hotspur (a) Rafa will rest some key players but whoever play need to be at their best to go through.
11/15 Bolton Wanderers (a) Win this game for Sammy Lee to maintain the momentum.
11/22 Fulham (h) Another stubborn defense to break down.
11/26 Marseille (h) Whichever team Rafa put on for this match would need to perform well to get another 3 points.

Match Report 081029 vs Portsmouth: Patience is the key

1-0 and Stevie G has once again saved the team and won us a crucial 3 points. Portsmouth came with an idea to get a point, and we need to be patient to tear down their defense. At the end our patience paid off, and from a wild needless handball by Diop we earned a penalty, Gerrard converted the resulting penalty with superb precision.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Another cleansheet.
Arbeloa: 7 A nice performance.
Carragher: 7.5 Handled Crouch very well.
Hyypia: 7.5 A convincing performance both up and down the field.
Aurelio: 7 Good performance and constantly attacking.
Alonso: 7.5 Another nice performance in dictating the midfield.
Lucas: 7 Good performance.
Pennant: 6.5 Couldn't deliver the ball from the side too often.
Gerrard: 8.5 Everywhere on the pitch.
Babel: 6.5 Got kicked many times.
Kuyt: 7 Had a few great chances denied by James.

Substitutions:
Benayoun: 6.5 Had a good one-on-one opportunity but couldn't convert.
Riera: 6.5 Did well when coming up.
Keane: 7 Had two great chances despite only play for 3 minutes.

Rafa: 7 Would be delighted about the team's determination to win the game.

Portsmouth: 6 Didn't offer much as their intention is to come and get one point.

Man of the Match: Gerrard. Determined not to let the points slipped away.

Up where we belong

It has been a long long time since we were top of the table. The pressure is here, but we have enough strength to keep moving towards the title. And this is up where we belong.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Hyypia
Aurelio
Alonso
Mascherano
Kuyt
Gerrard
Riera
Babel

Result 2:0

Match Report 081026 at Chelsea: Records are there to break

1-0 and we finally break the duck and will at Stamford Bridge. What's more, we also ended their home unbeaten run of 86 games, and we did it with style.

We controlled the game well and were never in danger of losing, especially once we went ahead. In fact we should have win by a higher margin. Everybody played well and it was almost perfect.

This win will send a strong message to the rest of the league that we mean business and are now strong title challenger. However, we must not get carried away and we need to keep it up until we win the title. Then we can start thinking of #20 and beyond.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Not much to do.
Arbeloa: 7.5 Probably his best game in a red jersey.
Carragher: 8.5 Rock solid and excelled when we were in trouble.
Agger: 7.5 Approaching his best conditions gradually.
Aurelio: 7.5 Solid defending and one of his best game with us.
Agger: 9 Scored the winning goal and almost scored another. Also dictating the midfield well.
Mascherano: 8 Keep tackling with ease and style.
Kuyt: 8 Hard working as usual and was involved in the goal.
Gerrard: 8.5 Linked up well with the striker and the midfielders.
Riera: 8 Superb performance as usual.
Keane: 7 Slightly affected by the injury but still perform well.

Substitutions:
Babel: 8 A constant threat to them.
Lucas: 7.5 Solid defending in the middle.
Hyypia: 7.5 Headed us to safety despite only played for 4 minutes.

Rafa: 8.5 Tactical genius.

Chelsea: 6.5 Ran out of ideas and were never in threat of scoring a goal. But they will rebound so we need to keep going.

Man of the Match: Alonso. Wonder goal.

Perfect 90 minutes

As Rafa said we need a perfect 90 minutes to end their 86 games home unbeaten league games run. Torres will not be available, but we still have enough strength to win this game. It will be tough, but we can do it.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Agger
Dossena
Alonso
Mascherano
Kuyt
Gerrard
Riera
Keane

Result 2:0

Match Report 081022 at Atletico Madrid: Two point loss but one step closer

1-1 and although we blew the chance to be 3 points clear at the top, we are indeed a step closer to qualification. However we have Keane, Alonso and Gerrard slightly injured and we need them to recover as soon as possible to cope with the coming games.

We started the game well and scored one quickly despite Keane seemed to be offside. We then have several chances and a decent penalty claim but were unable to extend the lead. At the second half they moved up a gear and we were unable to coupe with. At the end a draw is a fair result.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7 Made a few saves but have no chance on the goal conceded.
Arbeloa/Agger/Dossena: 6.5 Defense as a group could not cope with the Ateletico attack in 2H.
Carragher: 6.5 A rare mistake lead to a goal conceded.
Alonso: 7 Dictate the game well until he was forced off.
Mascherano: 6.5 A bit quiet.
Benayoun: 7 Had a legitimate goal ruled out.
Gerrard: 7.5 A pin-point pass to create the goal.
Riera: 6.5 A bit quiet.
Keane: 7.5 Scored a nice goal.

Substitutions:
Kuyt: 6.5 Hard working as usual
Babel: 6.5 Missed a great chance to kill off the game.
Lucas: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: Would be gutted not to win this game at his home town. However, he now have more works to do to sort out defense errors and the injures.

Atletico Madrid: 6.5 Slow in 1H but gear up in 2H. It is very likely that both team will qualify for last 16.

Men of the Match: Gerrard and Keane. Nice assist and nice goal taken.

Win it for Torres

It is a pity that Torres has been denied a chance to go back home, but we should have enough strength to win this. A win will mean we will be almost certain to quality for the next round, so we need to sort this out as soon as possible.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Agger
Aurelio
Alonso
Mascherano
Kuyt
Gerrard
Riera
Keane

Result 2:0

Match Report 081018 vs Wigan Athletic: The art of coming from behind

3-2 again and once again we need to come from behind to win the game - this time we need to do it twice. Wigan was very strong and they don't just come to get one point but they were targeting for all three points. We made a few silly mistakes at the back, but we try and try and finally we scored two great goals to win the game.

Although this game proves we have the strength to beat any team under any situation, we must not come to this kind of position too often. Rather, we need to try to go up front, kill off the game and then relax a bit. This is good for everybody's health.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6 A bit careless for conceding the first goal.
Arbeloa: 6 Did OK but not too impressive.
Carragher: 6.5 At times he found it difficult to cope with Zaki.
Agger: 6.5 Responsible for the first goal but recovered very soon with a nice assist.
Dosenna: 5.5 Awkward defending throughout the game.
Pennant: 7.5 Provided a few great crosses, especially the winner.
Gerrard: 6.5 A poor game for his standard. Also tried too hard to win the game single hand and should trust his teammates.
Alonso: 7 A calm figure in the team and once again his ankle proves the crucial by leading to another sent-off.
Riera: 8 A superb equalizer to open his Anfield account - and it's with his right foot!
Keane: 7.5 Impressive runs throughout the game and was a bit unlucky not to score one.
Kuyt: 9 He did it again in saving us another 3 points.

Substitutions:
El Zhar: 7.5 A superb pass to creat the second equalizer.
Benayoun: 7 Came up to help the attacks.
Hyypia: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 7.5 Would be delighted about the fighting spirit but he need to address the problem at the back very soon.

Wigan Athletic: 7 All credits to them. They didn't just come and sit back hoping for a point. But at the end we have more will to win it.

Man of the Match: Kuyt. There's always a place for the flying Dutchman.

Break another duck

This is a season of breaking all the ducks. We finally beaten Manchester under Rafa, and now it is time to beat Steve Bruce's team in the league. We won't have Skrtel, Torres and Babel, but we should have enough firepower to shot them down.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Agger
Aurelio
Pennant
Gerrard
Alonso
Riera
Keane
Kuyt

Result 2:0

Match Report 081005 at Manchester CIty: Istanbul

3-2 and we come from two goals down and win the game in injury time. The players really have the belief to win, and we fully deserve it.

We started brightly in this game but somehow two careless mistakes and we were 2 down. But we never gave up, Torres once again show his skills and scored two to equalized the game. Kuyt has missed twice in 1H but at the end he has the last laugh by scoring the winning goal. The worrying sign is that Skrtel is injured, and we wish him to come back soon.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6.5 Could have done better for the two goals conceded, especially the second one.
Arbeloa: 7 Did well going forward especially in the second half.
Skrtel: 6.5 Was exposed by the speed of Robinho and later on injured. Get well soon.
Carragher: 7 Did well as usual.
Aurelio: 6 Cannot keep with the pace of Wright-Phillips.
Alonso: 7.5 Consistent performance throughout.
Mascherano: 6 A rare poor performance.
Kuyt: 7.5 Missed two sitters in 1H, but at the end he had the last laugh.
Gerrard: 8 Over played in 1H but did well to recover in 2H including a superb corner that lead to the equaliser.
Riera: 7 Provided many deadly crosses but nobody at the end to take them.
Torres: 9 Annoymous in 1H, but did well in 2H to score two goals. Also missed another hat trick.

Substitutions:
Dossena: 7 Did well when coming up.
Keane: 7.5 Created spaces for Kuyt and Torres for the winning goal.
Benayoun: 7 Did well in attack.

Rafa: 7 Would be disappointed about the mistakes in 1H, but would be happy about the way we came from behind. However he needs to sort out the defense as Skrtel is injured.

Manchester City: 6.5 Superb in 1H but then offered nothing in 2H. The red card may be a cause but long before that they let us controlled the game.

Man of the Match: Torres. Missed another hat trick though.

Money can't buy you love

Manchester City is the latest team to have limitedness riches, but sometimes money just can't buy you success. City of Manchester Ground is a place we seldom, but they are still not there yet, so we need to take this chance.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Arbeloa
Skrtel
Carragher
Aurelio
Kuyt
Gerrard
Mascherano
Riera
Keane
Torres

Result 2:0

Match Report 081001 vs PSV Eindhoven: Almost perfect

3-1 and this is a superb performance. We controlled the game throughout and the team is showing signs of ruthless. It was also a night of milestones, with Keane scoring his first goal for us, Stevie G the 100th, and this is Rafa's 250th game and we scored 100 goals in Champions League, and Carra is now in the top ten list of most games for Liverpool.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7 Nothing to do except picking up the ball from the net which he has no chance to save.
Arbeloa: 7 A very good performance.
Skrtel: 7 A good performance except for a lost of attention that lead to us conceding a goal.
Carragher: 7.5 Rock at the back.
Aurelio: 7.5 Nice performance that capped with a simple assist to Stevie G.
Kuyt: 8 Our Europe King keeps on scoring.
Gerrard: 8 Superb 100th goal at the Kop.
Alonso: 7.5 Disciplined game.
Riera: 7 Quiet but effective.
Keane: 8.5 Opened his scoring account with a superb goal.
Torres: 8 Didn't scored but did very well in creating chances.

Substitutions:
Benayoun: 7 Effective display.
Lucas/Babel: 7 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 8 Would be very happy about this performance, although we conceded a goal needlessly. Now we need to keep this momentum.

PSV Eindhoven: 5 Completely outclassed.

Man of the Match: Keane. First goal of many for us.

Avoid complacency

After a superb derby win it is now back to Europe, and we are facing PSV once again. They are a different team than two years before, and we need to be guarded to beat them. And if we beat them, we will be in a very good position to qualify.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Arbeloa
Skrtel
Carragher
Aurelio
Kuyt
Gerrard
Mascherano
Babel
Keane
Torres

Result 2:0

September Monthly Review

4 wins, 1 draw. We maintained our position as joint top in the league, got 3 precious points at Marseille, and are through to the next round of the League Cup. In the league we beat our two greatest rivals, although we could not break through the stubborn Stoke defense. Definitely we can still improve in October, and there are some tough games coming up.

Players of the Month (1) Gerrard 7.84 (2) Reina 7.50 (3) Carragher 7.34. Stevie G came back from surgery and scored two great goals at Marseille, Reina is strong at the back and add two more clean sheets to his record book, and Carragher is as solid as ever, doing some last man saves.

October prediction:
10/1 PSV Eindhoven (h) PSV is not as strong as they used to be, but we still need to do well to get three points.
10/5 Manchester City (a) They are still not there yet, and we need to take three points home.
10/18 Wigan Athletic (h) We need to break through their stubborn defense and avoid a repeat of Stoke.
10/22 Atletico Madrid (a) Torres return home, would be sensational.
10/26 Chelsea (a) We need to get a result at the Bridge.
10/29 Portsmouth (h) Return of Crouch, Carra will find a method to contain him.

Match Report 080927 at Everton: Torres back

2-0 and Torres is back with two lovely goals. If not for Kuyt's infringement he would have scored a hat trick. We controlled the game with ease and fully deserved the victory.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Rarely tested.
Arbeloa: 7 A good performance.
Skrtel: 7 Solid display.
Carragher: 8 Superb save on the line.
Dossena: 6.5 A little bit quiet.
Kuyt: 7.5 A constant threat.
Gerrard: 7.5 Self-disciplined performance.
Alonso: 7 Quietly but effective.
Riera: 7 Provide a few good crossings.
Keane: 7.5 Great assist to the first goal.
Torres: 8.5 Two great goals that settled the game.

Substitutions:
Aurelio: 6.5 Provided defensive support.
Lucas/Pennant: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 7.5 Great team performance as we were always at the top.

Everton: 6 Didn't do much to deserve at least one point.

Man of the Match: Torres. Back from the goal drought.

The Derby

After a disappointing weekend vs Stoke we need to lift ourselves up as soon as possible, and a derby win will certainly help to boast the morale. Everton had not win at home yet this season, but they will be up for it, so we need to be strong.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Arbeloa
Skrtel
Carragher
Dossena
Alonso
Mascherano
Kuyt
Gerrard
Riera
Torres

Result 2:0

Match Report 080923 vs Crewe Alexandra: Credits to the railroad men

2-1 and although we are through, we need to give credits to the Crewe players. They gave us lots of pressures and at the end we are strong enough to go through. The youngsters did quite well and Rafa will take note and give them some more chances when available.

Players Rating:
Cavalieri: 6.5 A fair debut.
Degen: 6.5 Unlucky to have injured on his debut.
Agger: 7.5 Scored a great freekick, but is also responsible for the goal conceded.
Hyypia: 7 Solid display from big Sami.
Insua: 6.5 Willing to go forward.
Pennant: 7 A lively performance and provided a great assist.
Lucas: 7.5 Scored a brave header.
Plessis: 6.5 Solid performance.
El Zhar: 6.5 Lively and productive.
Babel: 7 Have a few chances.
Ngog: 6.5 A good full squad debut.

Substitutions:
Torres: 6.5 Have 2 great one on one chances.
Carragher: 6.5 Solid as a make-shift right back.
Keane: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Rafa: 6.5 Would be happy in general about the 2nd tier team performance.

Crewe Alexandra: 7 Raised to the moment and did well.

Men of the Match: Agger and Lucas. Two great goals scored.

Youngsters to shine

League Cup vs Crewe will be the last item on Rafa's agenda, and this is a good chance for youngsters to impress. Hopefully, Keane will open his account tonight.

My Team Prediction:
Cavalieri
Degan
Agger
Hyypia
Insua
El Zhar
Lucas
Plessis
Riera
Keane
Ngog

Result 4:0

Match Report 080920 vs Stoke City: Two points lost

0-0 and this is a very disappointing result. We were robbed by the referee of a Stevie G centurion goal, and then we try our very best but just could not break down the Stoke defense. Credit must be given to Stoke as being so resistant, and they deserved to get a point.

We now missed the opportunity to go to the top of the league, but there are still 33 games to play, so we need to get back to the right track now.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7 Not much to do but he is alert when called to service.
Arbeloa: 7 Doing well in helping the attack.
Carragher/Skrtel: 7 Solid as usual and also helped in attack.
Dossena: 6.5 Did not offer too much to the attack.
Kuyt: 7 Worked very hard but couldn't score.
Gerrard: 7.5 Goal should have count. He tried very hard to win it for us.
Alonso: 7 A nice curler and almost scored.
Riera: 6.5 Did not offer too many crossings.
Keane: 6.5 Have a few half chances but could not make it.
Torres: 6.5 Not back to top fit condition yet.

Substitutions:
Babel: 6 Not much offered.
Benayoun: 6.5 Offered a few sparks but couldn't turn them into goals.

Rafa: 6.5 Would be disappointed about the result, although the team had tried hard.

Stoke City: 6.5 Come to get a point and get what they deserved.

Man of the Match: Gerrard. 100th goal will come very soon.