• Home
• News
• Archives
• Subscribe
• Contact

Subscribe

Preview: Liverpool vs Newcastle (Team)

Its an a relatively unchanged side for tonight’s encounter with Newcastle. No preview from me today but here’s the team…

Pepe Reina, Steve Finnan, Jamie Carragher, Danny Agger, Fabio Aurelion, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Momo Sissoko, Steven Gerrard, Craig Bellamy, Dirk Kuyt.

On the bench… Jerzy Dudek, Sami Hyypia, Mark Gonzalez, Peter Crouch, Steve Warnock.

Kickoff is in 20 minutes at Anfield. If you’re looking to catch the game on the TV you’ll find highlights of it on Sky Sports 2 at 10pm as well with delayed coverage and highlights on LiverpoolFC.tv tonight.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Kewell Under The Knife, Again

We know that Harry Kewell is back in Australia to receive treatment for the foot injury that has ruled him out of action since the World Cup in the summer. What transpires now according to the BBC this evening is that Kewell has to undergo a second operation on the same foot.

The surgery will help determine when we might see Kewell back at Anfield - if we seem him back at Anfield at all. With all the injury trouble over the past few seasons, coupled with the arrival of Mark Gonzalez and Riise rejuvination for a strong left midfield player we might well have already seen the last of Harry Kewell at Liverpool.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Wave Of Yellow For Momo

You could look at it as someone with a problem with attitude. Or maybe someone who is just too aggressive with their playing style. Or look at it as someone with a lot of heart for his club. Whatever way you look at it, Sissoko is heading for hot water soon enough as he’s been booked in three out of the four games so far this season.

He showed his colours on the pitch last year and wound up in double figures for yellow cards as well as having a red tagged to his record while he was lucky to be able to walk off the pitch without Mike Riley’s marching orders raining down on him as we lost to Chelsea at the weekend.

Rafa Benitiez thinks that the new boys are being victimised…

It is easy to show a yellow card to a young player who is not a big name. You watch other games and see big names who do not get yellow cards at all and their tackles are maybe even worse.

Me? I like to think he’s playing with heart. He’ll settle down before the season is out.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Don’t Concede To Chelsea

Thats my message.

You get to read during the week all the reports of people saying how vital the Chelsea game is, or “if we lose this, we lose the title”. Now, while Liverpool and Rafa Benitez don’t seem to pressed, going with the mentality that if we lose, the title is far from over. However true that may be, I would hate to think that there’s a view creeping into the side that because we had a good end to the season last year that we’ll be able to manage a late flurry of activity in the league again this year.

The bare minimum we should be coming away with is a draw, and thats being kind to Chelsea as well. One game at a time, go out and play like the league depended on it. None of this “ah we can lose this game here, and that game there, and we’ll be ok”. We thought we’d be ok against Sheffield United, ends in a draw. Mistakes were rife against West Ham. Everton made bits of us in Goodison Park and we couldn’t find the goals against PSV - but at least we walked away with a clean sheet.

Chelsea mind you haven’t had the perfect start to the season that they expected, their one loss coming against Southgate’s rejuvinated Middlesbrough who now, as it happens, site two places further aback in the table than us with just 4 points from 4 games (Boro). A win for us tomorrow would leave us two points adrift of Chelsea with a game in hand. John Terry thinks different…

We put Liverpool out of it when we won up at Anfield at the start of last season and I can see why people might be saying that it’s down to us and United if we can both win.

True that. Nobody expected the hammering we took last October. That was a bit of a wakeup call for Liverpool though who went on a great run after that but THIS is the time to be picking up those victories and points, not later on in the season. We’ve a game in hand over United but we’re 8 points behind. That said, we’re doing better than Arsenal who seem to be having a rough start to the season and at this stage still don’t look like challengers - moreso with Arsenal taking on Man United tomorrow.

We’ve got the talent, we’ve got the drive, but we need to kick it all into gear and take three points in London!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Result: PSV Eindhoven 0 - 0 Liverpool

Two good things came out of last night’s game that I can think of.

1. Pepe Reina kept a clean sheet, Liverpool’s first in a long time (competitively)
2. Galatasaray and Bordeux played out a useless draw as well

Thats about all the real positives one can take out of last night in a game that I actually thought we had a chance at winning. Sure enough, the team came close and were at least able to find the woodwork in the latter stages of the game - and Steven Gerrard was seriously unlucky with his chance that he clipped the post low, but I expected more on our 2006/07 Champions League debut.

Sami Hyypia got to sit out the game, which was ok. Agger looked well in place of him, partnering the centre with Jamie Carragher. Hyypia, for the most part, had looked sluggish at the weekend, slow to get off the mark, something which couldn’t be afforded last night.

Credit to PSV though, they looked powerful in the first half. Kone looked sharp as did Edison Mendez and Farfan.

Last night’s game was tough on the selection too. Zenden lasted the full 90 minutes, where I would have preferred to see Garcia enter in his place through the later stages of the game. Gerrard started on the bench and when he came on he replaced Bellamy with 20 minutes to play. Bring out Steve Warnock, switch Garcia and Gerrard, and increase the service to the front two. There were signs of it getting there towards the end with both Kuyt and Gerrard going close but they left it too little too late, certainly should have been more of a drive and aggression throughout both halves.

So, we come away with a draw and at least a point, which is still nothing to be sniffed at. No Gerrard, Alonso, Garcia, Hyypia or Crouch in the starting eleven - something which shocked Ronald Koeman after the game.

When I saw their team sheet I was shocked. No Gerrard, no Alonso, no Hyypia, no Crouch. In the end though I was happy with a draw, especially because Liverpool used eight men behind the ball for much of the game.

So now its onwards and upwards, or downwards to London with the visit to Chelsea just a few days away. They’re coming off the back of a nice 2-0 win last night - nothing too convincing against Bremen mind you - but they looked well. Essien’s finish, to some sloppy Bremen defending, was quite good while Ballack nearly bore a hole in the net with his penalty. Everywhere you turn there’s a Chelsea man up front waiting for the ball. But we’re not here to talk about Chelsea! At least not until Sunday anyway.

Final score from Holland last night, PSV Eindhoven 0, Liverpool 0.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Preview: PSV Eindhoven vs Liverpool

Our first serious jaunt in Europe for this year kicks off tonight as the Reds travel to PSV, this time with a little insider information courtesy of Dirk Kuyt who I’m hoping will start the proceedings tonight.

With everyone still reeling from the demolition by Everton at the weekend, we’ve got a good chance to set things right before greeting Chelsea on Sunday afternoon in London. No better stage to do it on that in Europe.

When Kuyt travelled to PSV at Christmas with Feyenoord he came out on top and bagged the winner and to date has three goals in two games against them which is good going. Tonight, Rafa Benitez, the squad and the fans will all be hoping that he can find that vein of form again and get our Champions League campaign off to the start our league campaign should have been - with a win.

So far, our only absence is John Arne Riise who will miss tonight’s game and the trip to London at the weekend after re-injuring his ankle in another challenge at the weekend against Everton. Jamie Carragher will hopefully have his wits about him as the Liverpool back line will be rejoined by Danny Agger and Gabriel Paletta. Craig Bellamy, who didn’t have any involvement at the weekend should start up front, hopefully with Dirk Kuyt alongside him.

We’ve never taken on PSV in a competitive fixture before, but we do have the experience of playing against Patrick Kluivert who could well make his first appearance for his latest club having been picked up in the last few weeks. Interesting statistic too for Liverpool - in our last four proper Champions League games (not qualifiers), we haven’t registered a win and haven’t been able to find the back of the net. I would hate to think that the aftermath of Saturday’s disaster extends into tonight.

Bring on PSV, bring on a win for Liverpool and lets get this campaign started in proper Liverpool fashion.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Harry Kewell - Where Are You?

Just when I thought I was out…. they pull me back in.

Must be like that for Harry Kewell. Just when he thinks he has a chance of getting a decent season of football, something else pops up. Turns out that Harry, who had an ok season last year by my reckoning, is off back to Australia to seek out medical advice and treatment for his ongoing groin and foot problems, problems which he hasn’t been able to shake off since the World Cup back in June/July.

I’ve been everywhere in Europe. We’ve got to a point where we’d try Australia because Australia’s got the best surgeons in the world.

To that end, he doesn’t actually know when he’ll return for Liverpool and if he can even set a goal or deadline to return. Are we looking at a Christmas exit for Kewell?

Spurs perhaps?

Popularity: 3% [?]

Riise To Miss PSV, Chelsea

Liverpool have confirmed this evening that following Riise’s injury in the second half today against Everton that he will sit out the clash with PSV and later with Chelsea after suffering a reoccurrance of the injury that has kept him out since the first day of the season.

Initial reports suggest that it isn’t as serious but he’s still looking at two weeks out at least. Riise fell heavily on his ankle going in for a challenge on Arteta, subsequently getting booked as he was stretchered off.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Result: Everton 3 - 0 Liverpool

This is not the Champions League.

Istanbul is a thing of the past.

We won’t always come back from a few goals down - despite contrary belief.

The team need to understand this!

Head in my hands at full time after watching Andy Johnson and the Everton boys crush Liverpool 3-0 at Goodison Park, putting a major dent in the start of our season and leaving us with 4 points from a possible 12. The game, which saw the return of Jamie Carragher and John Arne Riise to action was nothing short of a disaster for Liverpool who were well and truely beaten all ends up with mistake after mistake, sloppy play and an overall sense of sluggishness around the pitch.

There seemed to be poor communication between Carragher, Hyypia and Fabio Aurelio; Xabi Alonso was too busy wrestling with Tim Cahill; while Peter Crouch and Robbie Fowler never really got a look in. To make matters worse, Riise was taken off almost as soon as he had come on, damaging the ankle he has just been trying to build back up after missing all the action since the first half of the Sheffield United game until now.

I thought all these mistakes were behind us. Where is the defence we saw last season, and more importantly, why does the start of this season resemble last year when we left it too late to actually start winning games and controlling things on the pitch. On paper it looked a good side, physically it looked a good side but today’s game told an entirely different story when matters unfolded on the pitch.

Tim Cahill always looked like scoring. Hell, he’s done so twice against Liverpool in his last two games anyway so why shouldn’t today be any different. Surely with the number of times he was caught offside, someone in the back line could have said “keep an eye on Tim there… just in case” and low and behold, unmarked at the back post and he drives in Everton’s first. Andy Johnson made it 2-0 before the break, beating Reina at the near post when neither Sami Hyypia or Jamie Carragher could do anything to stop Johnson inside the Liverpool box.

Deep into extra time in the second half, Andy Johnson should have been shaking hands with Pepe Reina for the gift of a third goal instead of celebrating, Reina parrying AJ’s shot high, only for the ball to drop behind Pepe and leave Johnson to stick his head on the end of it. Disaster ending really for Liverpool.

Chances didn’t go our way either - Graham Poll ignoring Jo Yobo’s blatant jersey pulling in the first half while dismissing penalty claims on Fowler and Sissoko during the game while also missing a handball from Tony Hibbert.

Dirk Kuyt stepped into the game on 53 minutes with Jermaine Pennant coming on 10 minutes from close but neither could impact the game, the closest to scoring being Steven Gerrard who managed to rattle the woodwork once or twice.

Leaving Goodison Park for the short trip home up the road, each and every person on the Liverpool squad have a lot to think about before heading for PSV and Chelsea, hopefully where we’ll see a turnaround in fortunes.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Preview: Everton vs Liverpool

The first of our clashes of the season with the other side of Liverpool kicks off in just over a half hours time and I can’t wait. Internationals are over for another while and its back to concentration on the league, no better way to kick off than against the Toffees.

No live blogging for this one as I’ll most certainly be out for the match like everyone else, a highly charged contest on the cards. There have been plenty of snipes out of the Everton camp over the last two weeks in the build up to the game. Andy Johson the new strike force for Everton, Craig Bellamy in for Liverpool with “man of the moment” Peter Crouch. Can’t fault Crouchy for his performance for England against Andorra and Macedonia, coupled with his game against West Ham.

Can’t forget about Dirk Kuyt! Scored for Holland, looked like a man on a serious mission when he came off the bench against West Ham and no doubt he’ll be out to make a mark on his first taste of a mersey derby. No stranger to it in Holland though, Kuyt with a great record against big Dutch rivals Ajax and PSV during his time at Feyenoord.

While we might see Momo Sissoko in action, it is still unlikely that Jamie Carragher or John Arne Riise will take part as they near recovery following the double injury against Sheffield United on the opening day of the season.

Today is vital in terms of points though, Everton have a nice little bit of momentum on the back of their last three league games and Liverpool need to be taking all the points on offer if we’re intent on making a good run at the league this year - in particular today against Everton.

Rafa has a 3-derby win over David Moyes, 8 goals for Liverpool in the last three games against Everton, conceding just 3, Everton having also won just one of the last 8 derbies at Goodison Park so the omens look good for Liverpool. That said, it is certainly no time to be getting comfortable in the surrounds, there’s a lot at stake, a lot of big games on the horizon still to come.

I’m going for the win for Liverpool, wouldn’t mind seeing the scoreline settle around 3-1 as well with a drop from Dirk Kuyt though after conceding against Sheffield United and West Ham, I would be hopeful that we don’t see any more mistakes out of Pepe Reina - go for the clean sheet Pep!

Popularity: 8% [?]

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Copyright © 2007 - 2008 Football Access Blog Network | RSS