Cast your vote now!
The Reds will return to Champions League action on Wednesday when they face Sevilla at Anfield.
Liverpool began their Champions League group stage campaign with a 2-2 draw with Sevilla at Anfield on Wednesday.
Liverpool endured a frustrating afternoon at Anfield as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley on Saturday.
Liverpool is keen to make up for the frustration of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Burnley.
Fernando Torres rediscovered his scoring touch to earn Liverpool a thoroughly deserved 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers on Sunday afternoon.
The 26-year-old's winner was his first goal since the win over West Brom on August 29.
It came at the end of a crazy five minutes in which Sotirios Kyrgiakos had given the Reds a lead only to see it cancelled out by a Jamie Carragher own goal.
Liverpool will be without star duo Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres for their Europa League trip to Trabzonspor, Roy Hodgson today confirmed.
Gerrard has a back problem while the club has decided not to risk Torres playing a third successive game following his injury troubles.
Both are expected to be fit for Sunday's clash with West Bromwich Albion. The recurrence of the back problem for Steven Gerrard and Hodgson needs to protect his star striker, Torres, has left Liverpool’s squad a little bit short of firepower.
Milan Jovanovic did not travel to Turkey for today's Europa League clash with Trabzonspor after figuring in all five of the Reds' fixtures so far this season.
However, Hodgson confirmed Jovanovic could return to face the Baggies.
Hodgson will also be without Daniel Agger (concussion) and Maxi Rodriguez (illness) for the jaunt to Turkey.
Liverpool squad v Trabzonspor: Reina, Gulacsi, Hansen, Johnson, Kelly, Skrtel, Carragher, Krygiakos, Aurelio, Cole, Spearing, Poulsen, Lucas, Pacheco, Shelvey, Babel, Kuyt, Ngog, Eccleston.
Source: LiverpoolFC.tv
Stay tune for more news and follow me on Twitter.
Roy Hodgson is pondering whether to give Fernando Torres his first start of the season at Eastlands tonight.
"I thought Fernando looked very good against Trabzonspor and he will be all the better for the 45 minutes.
"He almost scored with his first touch of the ball and we are really pleased that Fernando is back. We know what he can produce and he didn't look like he was short of fitness.
"He showed he is back to his best and his energy and enthusiasm were vital for us. It did make a difference but when you have players of his class it does make a difference.
"We know what we've got in Fernando and it's really nice to see him back. It's important now we manage his fitness because it's quite early for him to be playing now.
"We have got until Monday until we play again so those days will do him good.
"Luckily we were able to rest some important players against Trabzonspor so we will have a lot of them coming back in on Monday night. It was a bit of a gamble in some ways but we won the game.
"They have had a longer rest and that is advantageous to us. We will have on paper at least a stronger team than what we had out on Thursday." the boss told Liverpoolfc.tv.
Hodgson will make changes after rotating his resources in last Thursday's 1-0 Europa League victory against Trabzonspor at Anfield.
Martin Skrtel, Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt are all expected to start having been rested in midweek, while Liverpool are hopeful Javier Mascherano will recover from a calf injury.
Hodgson, though, will make a late decision on Daniel Agger, who suffered concussion in last week's 1-1 home draw with Arsenal, and is contemplating a first start of the season for Fernando Torres, the Spaniard having come through 45 minutes against Trabzonspor.
Definitely absent will be Joe Cole, the midfielder beginning a three-match suspension following his red card against Arsenal eight days ago.
Christian Poulsen made his debut for Liverpool last week following his arrival from Juventus, and Hodgson believes the Denmark midfielder is capable of appearing this evening.
Source: LiverpoolFC.tv, Daily Post UK
Stay tune for more news and follow me on Twitter.
Liverpool FC announced yesterday that Fernando Torres will faced up to three weeks on the sidelines after suffering an adductor injury in Sunday's final.
The scan has revealed Torres suffered a small tear and the Spanish medial staff didn't consider it to be too serious at the time.
“He should be able to resume training within two to three weeks and be able to play again within three to four weeks." Head of Sports Science and Medicine Peter Brukner told www.liverpoolfc.tv
Stay tune for more news and follow me on Twitter.
Liverpool’s Head of Sport Science and Medicine, Peter Brukner will be flying to Madrid to meet up with Fernando Torres to assess the damage. Fernando Torres, who is beginning an extended break, has undergo a scan yesterday.
Initial fears that he pulled up with a hamstring injury appear to have diminished and he is now believed to have suffered a groin injury which could be out for 3-8 weeks out depending on the severity.
"It certainly looked like it might have been bad but it seems not too bad.
"We are optimistic it is not going to be too bad." Reds doctor told BBC Sport
Chelsea are reported to open the bidding for Torres, in the region of £50million. This injury may have put the bidding in doubt for the moment. Liverpool FC has slapped a £70million price tag on Torres and Chelsea’s offer somehow fell short of Liverpool’s valuation.
Stay tune for more news and follow me on Twitter.
Former Liverpool chairman David Moores has resigned from the Club's Board of Directors. Moores will, however, retain his position as Club Honorary Life President.
However, with the club in need of increasing investment he sold his majority shareholding to current American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks two years ago.
The move proved to be an unpopular one among fans after the pair borrowed £350million to finance the takeover and then grand plans for a new stadium were continually delayed.
Moores himself admitted last year he felt "heartbroken and let down" by the owners, and his disappearance from the board follows the decision by chief executive Rick Parry - who helped negotiate the takeover with Gillett and Hicks - to step down this summer after 12 years at the club.
Time for the current co-owners to bring out their cheque books. They came with promises of bringing Liverpool Football Club forward but until now we still back tracking, lacks of big-names signing.
So here are my suggestions;
Total spending - £110million
And ship these players out of Anfield;
Total recouped - £45.5million
Total funds needed from the co-owners, another £44.5million after minus the promised £20million for Rafa’s spending. If Rafa can convinced Alonso to stay, then let Mascherano go for £35million should increased Rafa’s coffer and the co-owners just need to give Rafa another £9.5million on top of the £20million.
Spending £30million a season are considered the lowest among the big four team in Premiership. Last season, Manchester United was able to splashed £32million on Berbatov alone. It’s time for Rafa to wave his magic wand again, we can trust Rafa to sell his flops soon.
LIVERPOOL XI
Reina
Johnson – Carragher – Skrtel – Aurelio
Alonso
Valencia – Gerrard – Silva
Villa – Torres
You must be wondering why sell Arbeloa? If the Reds do signs Johnson, Rafa must sell before buy. Philipp Degen won’t attracts any suitable club after he was sidelined for the whole season through injury. Degen would be the cover for right-back position.
The probabilities of Javier Mascherano leaving are very high, if Barcelona are willing to pay £35million for him. But in order for Mascherano to leave, Rafa must keep Alonso. If both of them left, it would be a disaster!
Why bring in Valencia? Well, the Reds hasn’t had an out-and-out right winger for a long time. Dirk Kuyt has done relatively a great job for Liverpool last season but the formation are still unbalance without a proper winger.
David Silva, aren’t we all hope he’ll sign for us? Getting rids of Babel and Dossena has freed up the left-hand side of midfield with Albert Reira as the backup left winger for Silva.
David Villa, the on-form striker at the moment. His partnership with Torres on international level are phenomenal. Linking him up with Torres at Anfield, we are the team to beat next season.
All of these are just my two cents. If Liverpool do get the right players in on time before the season kick-off, the painful and long wait for a league championship will be over soon. Come home number 19.
What do you think of it? Leave your thoughts here.
Stay tune for more transfer news and rumours. Follow me on Twitter.
Get 10% OFF Official Liverpool FC Merchandise from eXosports. Don’t forget to get the voucher code from me.
YNWA,
Red's Fury™
Then, another Group A match between New Zealand and the current Fifa’s world number one ranking team, Spain kickoff later at Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenberg. The match saw Fernando ‘El Nino’ Torres tore apart the Kiwis with a hat-trick all inside the first 17 minutes. First, he curled with his right foot, then side-footed his second with his left and headed in his third.
Three Liverpool’s player started in the match, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres and Albert Reira before Alvaro Arbeloa came in for Sergio Ramos in the 54 minutes substitute. El Nino was substituted in the 70 minutes by David Silva.
Spain go on and won the match 5-nil. Cesc Fabregas and David Villa scores one each. Torres also bags the man of the match award and scored the fastest hat-trick in FIFA Confederations Cup history. Now watch all El Nino’s goals against the Kiwis below.
Stay tune for more transfer news and rumours. Follow me on Twitter.
Get 10% OFF Official Liverpool FC Merchandise from eXosports. Don’t forget to get the voucher code from me.
YNWA,
Red's Fury™
Stay tune for more transfer news and rumours. Follow me on Twitter.
Get 10% OFF Official Liverpool FC Football Club Merchandise from eXosports. Email me for voucher code.
YNWA,
Red's Fury™
Chelsea and Manchester United, another casualties of the mid-week international friendlies, also failed to score in their matches. Arsenal suffered a heavy defeat in the hand of Manchester City, crashing to a 3-nil humiliation.
The decision to play Lucas Levia clearly backfired as Liverpool failed to control the midfield area during the first half. Rafa benched Xabi Alonso after the Spaniard featured for the full 90-minute in Spain’s friendly match.
Fulham, with one of the best defensive records in the top flight, have never won at Anfield and rarely looked like doing so this time.
But their dogged performance claimed only their second away point of the season and also secured their third goalless draw in eight visits to Anfield.
At least they had worked out how to contain a Liverpool side who lacked ideas and inspiration. Not even the return of Fernando Torres to the starting line-up helped much.
Benitez insisted his players must take collective responsibility.
He said: "We will always miss a player of Stevie's ability, but we did not beat Fulham because five or so players were all off form together.
"You cannot win games when that happens. He would have made a difference, yes, but it should not be an excuse.
"He is training now and I would expect that he would be fit to play against Marseille on Wednesday."
Fulham’s goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer pulled off to fine saves to denied Liverpool. A half chance fell to Robbie Keane where he fails to convert and smashed a shot straight at Schwarzer from eight yards out.
The Reds were turning the screw and the Fulham stopper had to be at his instinctive best again on 70 minutes when he pushed Dirk Kuyt's effort away after a volleyed cross from Albert Riera.
Dropping points at home wasn't an excused for missing some key players and the mid-week international friendlies. Rafa should always select his strongest eleven, not relying on those fresh legs and haven't started regularly. Hopefully, Rafa pulls his head together and get us through to the next round of Champions League.
The team:
Liverpool: Reina, Aurelio, Agger, Carragher (c), Arbeloa, Riera, Leiva, Mascherano, Kuyt, Keane, Torres
Subs - Alonso, Babel, Benayoun, Cavalieri, Dossena, El Zhar, Hyypia
Fulham: Schwarzer, Konchesky, Hangeland, Hughes, Pantsill, Dempsey, Bullard, Murphy (c), Davies, Johnson, Zamora
Subs - Baird, Gera, Gray, Kallio, Nevland, Stoor, Zuberbuhler
Referee: M Halsey
Join the live chat room, FORTRESS ANFIELD on Palringo during matchday. Don't have one? Get it here for FREE!
YNWA,
Red's Fury™
Posted using Windows Live Writer Beta
Liverpool heading back to winning way after losing twice to Tottenham Hotspurs in the league and Carling cup. Two headed goals from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard ensured Liverpool came away with all three points at the Reebok Stadium last Saturday.
cruciate ligament in Sunday's 3-2 win at Manchester City and had a scan on Tuesday afternoon.
Unable to blog in the past two weeks due to work commitment. I will continue to update this blog after 19th August when the season gets underway. I will miss the season opener against Sunderland.We conceded some terrible goals through poor defending but Torres is a a top striker, a fantastic player who is at another level. He is in a top-four team with a lot of good players who can tear you apart on the day.
Make no mistake, Liverpool can beat anybody on their day and the top four teams are at another level to everybody else in this division.
LEICESTER CITY
2-3
