Torres on fire as Liverpool destroy Hull

Fernando Torres scored a stunning hat-trick as the Reds crushed Hull 6-1 at Anfield.

This was the fourth Liverpool hat-trick for Torres, who took his goal tally for the season to eight in seven matches including five in the last two league games.

After a shaky start to the season, Liverpool have now won their last six matches, scoring 18 goals in the process. They currently lie third in the Premier league table, and have the best goal difference.

Rafael Benitez made one change to the side that won at West Ham last weekend, with Riera replacing Mascherano in a more attack-minded selection.

The Spanish winger had an immediate impact as his low ball in from the left was shifted out of his feet by the quick-thinking Torres before he rolled into the far corner.

It was far from an ideal start for Hull, who had lost their previous three matches, but they quickly hit back when Skrtel could only flick the ball up in the air from a cross into the box, and Geovanni cooly directed it into the corner from 10 yards.

Torres restored the lead on the half hour mark, slipping on to a Benayoun through pass, rounding Sonko and Myhill before side-footing into the net.

Hull simply could not live with the Spanish marksman and he sealed his hat-trick two minutes after the break, again found by Benayoun and again coming inside Sonko before firing home.

Liverpool began to run riot, and Gerard scored Liverpool’s fourth with a cross-shot from the left that swirled over Myhill's head and flew in-off the crossbar. Babel then converted Kuyt’s cross at the near post for the fifth, and in injury time Riera's shot struck Babel and looped over Myhill to make it six.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

Liverpool next head to Florence knowing that a victory would put them well on course for a place in the knockout stage of the Champions League. The Reds got off to a winning start in Group E with a 1-0 success over Debrecen and another three points against the Italian side would leave put them in a strong qualifying position. The Italians suffered a 1-0 defeat against Lyon in their first match and need a positive result to get their campaign back on track.

Winning start for Liverpool in Champions League

Dirk Kuyt's strike on the stroke of half-time gave Liverpool a narrow 1-0 win over Hungarian champions Debrecen in their Champions League opening game at Anfield.

Wednesday night's game was Rafa Benitez's 300th match in charge of the Reds and he afforded himself the luxury of naming the same Liverpool team that beat Burnley 4-0 at Anfield on Saturday.

In the first half action, Riera had two fierce strikes saved in the 38th and 39th minute, with Kuyt seeing a follow-up cleared off the line.

But after Gerrard sidefooted inches wide of the upright, the breakthrough came on 45 minutes when Debrecen's goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic parried a Torres shot and was helpless to prevent Kuyt from converting the rebound.

It was all Liverpool after the interval, with Gerrard whistling a 20-yard volley inches over the crossbar, Yossi Benayoun being denied by a fine save and Lucas Leiva and Torres heading good chances off target.

Despite failing to carve out a bigger victory, Liverpool fans will be happy that the main goal of making a winning start in Group E has been achieved comfortably.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

In their next match, Liverpool are back on the road in the Barclays Premier League and will travel to Upton Park to take on West Ham United. The Reds will be looking to secure their second away victory of the season - and they have enjoyed several good results in East London in recent years. Last season, Ryan Babel added to a Steven Gerrard brace as Liverpool ran out comfortable 3-0 victors. However, in 2007-08, West Ham claimed a 1-0 win with an injury-time Mark Noble penalty.

Yossi hat-trick inspires Liverpool to fine victory over Burnley

Yossi Benayoun fired a hat-trick as Liverpool beat Premier League new boys Burnley 4-0 at Anfield.

Liverpool made two changes to the side that won at Bolton a fortnight ago.

Martin Skrtel returned to central defence in place of Greece international Sotirios Kyrgiakos, and with Javier Mascherano picking up a muscle injury while on international duty with Argentina, Yossi Benayoun came into midfield.

The absence of Mascherano meant that Steven Gerrard played in a much deeper role, alongside Lucas Leiva in the centre of midfield, while Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt were left to play just behind Fernando Torres.

The creativity produced by Benayoun showed he can help ease the pressure on Gerrard and Torres, and the lively Israel captain scored the opening goal with a fine individual effort in the 27th minute. He surged from midfield, turned away from Graham Alexander and moved into the box to fire across Jensen and into the bottom corner.

Liverpool went further ahead after 40 minutes with a dynamic five-man break from defence. Torres and Insua combined to set up Benayoun for a 20-yard shot that Jensen blocked, but only as far as Kuyt, who clipped the ball home from five yards.

Gerrard, playing in a deeper midfield role, still made an impact in attack as he forced his way into the Burnley box before squaring a ball for Benayoun to tap in for his second, and Liverpool’s third goal.

With the points secure, Benitez took the opportunity to give Philipp Degen his league debut 14 months into his Anfield stay.

This was Benayoun's day, however. The Israeli was denied a hat-trick by the offside flag after pouncing on another Jensen parry but he was not to be denied a second time when in the 81st minute, Voronin’s pass sent him clear in the box and he side-footed the ball past an exposed Jensen, having being played onside by Jordan.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

In their next match, Liverpool will kick-off their 2009-10 Champions League campaign with a home encounter against Debreceni on Wednesday. The Hungarian champions are something of an unknown quantity to the Reds as the two teams have never faced each other before.

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.