Liverpool edge ten-man Bolton

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's late winner earned his side a 3-2 victory at Bolton as they twice came from behind at the Reebok Stadium.

The Reds were made to fight desperately hard by a Bolton side who were down to 10 men for much of the second half.

Liverpool, who lost at home to Aston Villa on Monday, gave new Greek signing Sotirios Kyrgiakos his debut in place of Martin Skrtel, while Spanish winger Albert Riera replaced Yossi Benayoun on the left-flank.

Liverpool's poor defensive marking at set-pieces had been found wanting in recent games, and it proved yet again to be their downfall when Bolton took the lead in the 35th minute. Matt Taylor’s corner kick found Johan Elmander at the far post who headed it down into the six-yard box for Kevin Davies to turn past Jose Reina. There was not a single red shirt anywhere in the six-yard box to challenge Kevin Davies as he booted home.

But Liverpool hit back when right-back Glen Johnson punished a poor clearance from a corner with a low drive from the edge of the box.

Bolton went ahead again two minutes after the re-start. Liverpool failed to clear a right-wing cross, and Kevin Davies flicked the ball across the box for Tamir Cohen to lash the ball home from eight-yards.

The turning point in the game came in the 54th minute when Sean Davis was dismissed for a second caution. Given a numerical advantage, Liverpool made the most of it, and minutes later they were level again when Gerrard's chip into the box was chested on by Dirk Kuyt into Fernando Torres' path for the striker to stab home.

And with less than eight minutes remaining captain Gerrard rifled home Torres' knockdown from Yossi Benayoun's corner to put Liverpool ahead.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

While Liverpool still need to improve to challenge for the title, they will be pleased to have secured victory in a game which they could hardly afford to lose. The upcoming one-week international break will provide a much needed opportunity for the team to work on improving their game before the next Premier League game against newcomers Burnley on Sep 12.

Liverpool handed favourable draw for Champions League

Liverpool fans are eagerly awaiting the start of the Champions League campaign after the Reds were drawn to face Lyon, Fiorentina and Debreceni in Group E.

The draw poses interesting challenges as Liverpool have never previously met any of their Group E opponents in European competition.

Lyon failed to win the French league for the first time in eight years last season and have since lost their star striker Karim Benzema to Real Madrid, while Italian outfit Fiorentina are back in Europe's elite club competition after beating Sporting Lisbon in the qualifying round.
Debreceni, champions of Hungary, are making their Champions League debut.

Liverpool will be happy with the draw as they appear to have a relatively easier group compared with their English Premier league rivals Manchester United and Chelsea – the former face long distance trips to CSKA Moscow and Besiktas, and also have last season’s German champions Wolfsburg in their group, while the latter will face tough tests against strong opponents FC Porto and Atletico Madrid. However, Arsenal appears to have the easiest draw with only AZ Alkmaar and Olympiakos standing between them and the knockout stages.

Rafael Benitez's side will be looking to improve on last season's performance in Europe when they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Chelsea.

The Reds will kick off their campaign at home to Debreceni on September 16 before travelling to Fiorentina. A double header with Lyon will then follow before we visit the Hungarians and then conclude the group fixtures at home to Fiorentina.

The dates are as follows:
Sep 16 Debreceni (H)
Sep 29 Fiorentina (A)
Oct 20 Lyon (H)
Nov 4 Lyon (A)
Nov 24 Debreceni (A)
Dec 9 Fiorentina (H)

Liverpool’s poor form continues

Anfield fans were left frustrated when Liverpool crashed to their second Premier League defeat in nine days against Aston Villa, as Rafael Benitez's side continued their stuttering start to the new Premier League campaign.

The first loss to Villa in eight years leaves last season's runners-up six points behind Tottenham and Chelsea after three matches - and with as many losses as in all of its last campaign. The defeat also ended Liverpool’s 31-match unbeaten home league record stretching back to December 2007, when Manchester United were the last winners at Anfield.

Liverpool started brightly and could have been ahead in the first minute when Benayoun’s back-header from a Torres chip beat Friedel but dropped inches wide.

Against the run of play, Villa took the lead after 33 minutes when Lucas gave away a free-kick in midfield. Young swung the set-piece towards the near post, and it was the unfortunate Lucas who rose to head the ball past Reina for an own-goal.

Villa grabbed a second on the stroke of half-time when Curtis Davies headed in Nicky Shorey's corner at the near post.

The Kop urged Liverpool forward as they lay siege to Villa's goal after the break. And as the pressure mounted, with Dirk Kuyt heading against the post after Carragher flicked on Gerrard's cross, Torres threw Liverpool a lifeline with 18 minutes remaining as he steered in a simple finish following good work from Emiliano Insua.

Hope was revived inside Anfield, but was snuffed out inside three minutes when Gerrard's badly-mistimed tackle on Reo-Coker resulted in a penalty, which Young converted calmly.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

Rafa knows that his Liverpool side needs to improve dramatically on their performance if they wish to stake a claim for the Premiership title. Immediate attention is needed on the handling of set-pieces as all five goals that Liverpool have conceded so far this season have come from either free kicks or penalties.

This Saturday, Liverpool will play their second away game of the campaign against Bolton Wanderers. The Reds have enjoyed a good record at the Reebok Stadium in recent seasons - last term, goals from Kuyt and Gerrard secured a comfortable 2-0 victory, while back in 2007-08, Aurelio scored his first goal for Liverpool in a fine 3-1 victory, with Gerrard and Babel also on target for Liverpool.

Liverpool bounces back with thumping win over Stoke

Liverpool bounces back from their opening day defeat at Tottenham with a convincing 4-0 victory over Stoke at Anfield.

The win stretches the Reds' unbeaten home record to 31 games and quashes any worries that the Anfield faithful may have had after last weekend's setback at Tottenham Hotspur.


Rafa Benitez made two changes from the side that lost on the opening day of the season.

Spanish defender Daniel Ayala was handed his full debut replacing Martin Skrtel who failed to recover in time from a bruised jaw sustained in the Spurs clash, while Yossi Benayoun came in for Ryan Babel.

Steven Gerrard created the first goal of the season for Fernando Torres, the Spaniard drilling home from 12-yards early on.

Glen Johnson, who had an outstanding game on his home debut, hooked in the second a minute from the break, and then aided Gerrard’s advance to set up the third for Dirk Kuyt.

Substitute David Ngog headed in the fourth from under the bar after another fine run and cross from Johnson had deflected into his path in injury-time.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

Liverpool next lock horns with Aston Villa at Anfield on Monday evening with the Reds hoping to continue an impressive home record against the Midlanders. The Merseysiders have only lost once to the Villans in front of the Kop in the last ten meetings.

Last season, a Steven Gerrard hat-trick helped Liverpool to an emphatic 5-0 victory over Villa at Anfield. Steven Gerrard has scored ten goals against Aston Villa in his career (including nine in the league) – that’s his highest tally against any one club.

Reds disappoint in opening game defeat

It was a disappointing day for Liverpool fans as the Reds slump to an opening day 1-2 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

The home team had the better of the exchanges in the opening 45 minutes, and full-back Assou-Ekotto fired Spurs into the lead just before half-time with a powerful drive into the top corner.

Indeed, Liverpool would have been more than 1-0 down at half-time had Anfield old boy Robbie Keane not do his former team mates a favour by missing a couple of clear chances.

The first half also saw centre-backs Carragher and Skrtel involved in an ugly head collision which left Carragher with a head wound that required several stiches, while Skrtel appeared to be badly shaken with a bruised chin and jaw.

The Reds showed greater determination in the second half, and was rewarded with a well-deserved penalty in the 54th minute when Johnson was brought down by Spurs keeper Gomes after breaking clear into the box.

Gerrard gave the Reds hope by converting the penalty, but it was a short-lived one, as debutant Bassong restored Tottenham's lead with a towering header from a freekick.

The introduction of Benayoun, replacing Babel who was having a quiet game, did make the Reds look more lively, and Liverpool were unfortunate to have a strong penalty appeal waved away with five minutes remaining as Andriy Voronin was shoulder charged off the ball by Assou-Ekotto after being put through by Benayoun.

Minutes later, Assou Ekotto was at the centre of another spot-kick claim as Torres' centre appeared to be blocked by the hand of the Tottenham defender.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

Assistant manager Sammy Lee was sent from the Liverpool bench by referee Phil Dowd as tempers frayed over the rejected penalty claims, and the Reds were unable to find an equaliser on what will go down as a day to forget at White Hart Lane.

The Reds must now put in a much better display when they entertain Stoke at Anfield this Wednesday to avoid further slip ups in the title challenge. At this early stage, the Reds are already playing catch up to the other Big Four teams i.e. Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal, all of whom won on the opening day.

Last season, Premier league new boys Stoke fought out 0-0 draws with Liverpool both at home and away, and will be looking to frustrate the Reds again.

Gerrard, Carragher to be fit for Spurs opener

We have good news all round concerning Liverpool's injury crisis going into this Sunday's Premier League opener at Tottenham.

Carragher is making good progress after twisting his ankle in last Saturday's 2-1 friendly defeat to Atletico Madrid, and is expected to play at White Hart Lane.

Skrtel is also reported to be in training and is expected to be fit in time to face Spurs. The Slovakian central defender has been out since suffering a hamstring injury in the friendly against Thailand on July 2.

Meanwhile, Liverpool is confident that Gerrard will be fit to lead the Reds out at White Hart Lane. The Reds skipper had earlier pulled out from the England squad for last night's international friendly against Holland in Amsterdam due to a tight groin (match ended in a 2-2 draw).

Gerard is desperate not to miss out on the chance to get the club’s title charge off to a flying start. Interestingly, it will be the sixth successive campaign that Liverpool have started away from home - Liverpool have never started with a home game under manager Rafa.

The Reds' Spanish trio of Torres, Reina and Riera also returned from their international friendly against Macedonia without any injury scares. We are especially pleased with that since Torres has come back injured from international duty three times in the past two years. Both Torres and Riera scored in the 3-2 win over Macedonia, showing that they are close to returning to top form.

Meanwhile, former Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham believes Liverpool can win the Premier League title this season. The Reds finished in second position behind Man United last season however, Sheringham believes Liverpool could be lifting the title in 9 months’ time.
"I’m going for Liverpool," Sheringham said. "They looked so good at the end of last season.
"They will be the team to beat. United fans won’t like me saying it, but it’ll be their year.

All Reds fans are certainly looking forward to a good start against Tottenham this Sunday, and build up the momentum to challenge for the Premiership!

Reds can win Premier League 2009/10

I am looking forward to the new 2009/10 season of the English Premier League with hope and excitement.

It has been almost two decades since Liverpool last won the Premier League (I think it was called the First Division back then). And the time has come for us to reclaim the crown, and not let MU break our record for the most number of titles!

Last season, we came agonisingly close, finishing second, despite Torres playing only 20 games due to injury. If Torres and Gerard stay fit, I reckon we have a team that is strong and experienced enough to push for the title. Most squad members from last season are still around, except for Arbeloa and Alonso who have moved on to Real Madrid. Rafa has spent the money well to bring in exciting new talents Glen Johnson and Aquilani as replacements - these two players will add attacking flair to the side.

We definitely need to attack more and make extra effort to win games - we had too many draws last season which proved to be our undoing. Glen is an attacking right back who likes to go forward - he can put in those high quality crosses for Torres et al to bang them in. I have not seen enough of Aquilani to comment, but from what I have read about this guy, he is a great passer of the ball, just like Alonso. The guy is also more dangerous and has a better strike rate than Alonso - sadly however, he is still injured so we need to wait to see what the guy can do.

Meantime, we have Lucas who is more than capable of filling in for Alonso. Lucas has been in good form during the pre-season, scoring a goal in the recent1-2 friendly loss to Atletico Madrid. I must admit that I am somewhat disappointed with Liverpool's poor pre-season form, who only managed wins against an outclassed Singapore side and minnows FC Lyn.

Results from Liverpool's pre-season friendlies:
St Gallen 0, Liverpool 0
Rapid Vienna 1, Liverpool 0
Thailand 1, Liverpool 1
Singapore 0, Liverpool 5
Espanyol 3, Liverpool 0
FC Lyn 0, Liverpool 2
Liverpool 1, Atletico Madrid 2

I hope the team will put all those pre-season games behind them now, and give Liverpool a good start to the League competition when it opens this weekend.

By the luck of the draw, we will be playing in the first match of the season, the same team that we played in the final match of last season i.e. Tottenham Hotspur.

We easily brushed Spurs aside 3-1 in that last home match played at Anfield. However, this weekend's match will be an away game, and I am sure all of us still remember that this was one of only two away games that Liverpool lost throughout the whole of last season. We will be looking to avenge that defeat, which was caused by an unfortunate own goal by Carragher and a heart breaking last-minute goal scored by Russian striker Pavlyuchenko.

Both teams' central defence are facing injury problems going into the match. Liverpool defender Carragher took a knock on his ankle during the Atletico Madrid game, and both Agger and Skrtel are also racing to be fit in time for this weekend's game. Spurs has a much bigger crisis at hand, with Michael Dawson, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate all sidelined by injury. Redknapp has signed Sebastien Bassong from Newcastle as replacement, but the player will miss the Liverpool game as he is suspended for the first two matches. The game may also see ex-Liverpool striker Peter Crouch playing in his first match for Spurs against his former team mates.

Previous league results between these two teams:
2008/09 Liverpool 3, Tottenham 1
2008/09 Tottenham 2, Liverpool 1
2007/08 Liverpool 2, Tottenham 2
2007/08 Tottenham 0, Liverpool 2


Enjoy your football!