7:45am, live in the US on espn2
Last 4 head-to-head:
1-1 (h) 02.22.09
3-2 Liverpool (a) 10.05.08
1-0 Liverpool (h) 05.04.08
0-0 (a) 12.30.07
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 2-2 Brum (h); 1-1 Lyon (a); 1-3 Fulham (a)
City: 3-3 Burnley (h); 0-0 Brum (a); 5-1 Scunthorpe (h)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Torres 10; Gerrard 4; Benayoun, Kuyt, Ngog 3; Babel, Johnson 2
City: Bellamy 5; Adebayor 4; Petrov 3; Tevez, Wright-Phillips 2; Barry, Ireland, Lescott, Richards, Toure 1
Referee: Phil Dowd
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Gerrard Aurelio
Ngog
Okay, so what's going on with this Serbian horse placenta lady? Click to continue reading...

I know the decade technically isn't over for another year. Don't care. As far as I'm concerned, and for our purposes here, the decade is from 2000-2009.
And since we had such fun with the ‘compare the squads' vote a few weeks back, I thought another poll or nine would be entertaining. Plus, it's easy content! Click to continue reading...

Four months into the season, and Liverpool still hasn't deployed the first-choice XI thanks to injuries. And last week we got word that both Benayoun and Riera could be out for a month. Awesome.
Injury problems have consistently troubled Liverpool this season, but with those two missing, the left flank is a massive concern. Click to continue reading...

I probably filled my quota of Major League references with the one about Jobu a few weeks ago. I apologize to international readers and those who aren't connoisseurs of marvelously cheesy sports movies, but this is too apt. Plus, it's Major League 2.
Just like weak-hitting, voodoo apostate Pedro Cerrano, right now, Liverpool has no marbles. Click to continue reading...

Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Benayoun Kuyt Riera
Ngog
Goals:
Ngog 13'
Chucho 26'
Jerome 45+3'
Gerrard 71' (pen)
The beach ball season rolls on. That's seven league games without a win against Birmingham.
And both sides will feel cheated. Click to continue reading...

3pm, live in the US on espn2
Sorry this is late, but I wanted to wait given the injuries and the game being on Monday. Posting on Friday morning like usual would have meant even more baseless speculation over who's available.
Last 4 head-to-head:
2-2 (a) 04.26.08
0-0 (h) 09. Click to continue reading...

From the comments of the last post:

Anonymous said:
I disagree about Babel. I'd much rather see him starting for Voronin rather than coming off the bench. Then bring in Aqua at the 70 min mark. Voronin just looks a half step slow in everything he does. At least Babel has the potential for moments of brilliance along with the mistakes.

Click to continue reading...

Reina
Carragher Kyrgiakos Agger Insua
Kuyt Lucas Mascherano Benayoun
Voronin
Torres
Goals:
Babel 83'
Lisandro 90'
This season in a nutshell, except it's the first draw in 17 games. Ecstasy and optimism followed by a kick in the teeth. A brilliant Babel opener off the bench, but a sloppy Lopez equalizer in the 90th after Liverpool couldn't completely clear late pressure, ending with a Bastos flick-on to Lisandro, who out-muscled Kyrgiakos to beat Reina. Click to continue reading...

2:45pm, live in the US on FSC
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 1-3 Fulham (a); 1-2 Arsenal (a); 2-0 United (h)
Lyon: 1-0 St Etienne (a); 1-4 Nice (a); 2-1 Liverpool (a)
Group Stage:
Liverpool: 1-2 Lyon (h); 0-2 Fiorentina (a); 1-0 Debrecen (h)
Lyon: 2-1 Liverpool (a); 4-0 Debrecen (a); 1-0 Fiorentina (h)
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
De Bleeckere was the man in the middle for wins over Inter and Real in the last two seasons. Click to continue reading...

Reina
Degen Carragher Kyrgiakos Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Voronin Benayoun
Torres
Goals:
Zamora 24'
Torres 42'
Nevland 72'
Dempsey 87'
Once again, you have to be kidding me. Another delicious mix of awful luck, costly mistakes, fluke goals, and questionable substitutions. Click to continue reading...

11am, live in the US on Setanta
Last 4 head-to-head:
1-0 Liverpool (a) 04.04.09
0-0 (h) 11.22.08
2-0 Liverpool (a) 04.19.08
2-0 Liverpool (h) 11.10.07
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 1-2 Arsenal (a); 2-0 United (h); 1-2 Lyon (h)
Fulham: 2-2 City (a); 1-1 Roma (h); 2-0 Hull (h)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Torres 9; Benayoun, Gerrard, Kuyt 3; Babel, Johnson, Ngog 2
Fulham: Duff, Murphy, Zamora 2; Dempsey, Gera, Kamara, Konchesky 1
Referee: Lee Mason
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Degen Carragher Agger Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Benayoun Aurelio
Torres
Still can't get around those injury concerns. Click to continue reading...

Cavalieri
Degen Skrtel Kyrgiakos Insua
Spearing Plessis
Kuyt Voronin Babel
Ngog
Goals:
Merida 19'
Insua 26'
Bendtner 50'
Any loss is disappointing, especially when the team's already lost six, but this one doesn't sting too bad. Arsenal, with Nasri, Bendtner, and Eduardo in the line-up, didn't exactly play the Super Teens, and probably deserved their victory. Click to continue reading...

3:45pm. As with the last round, it looks like it's only available on ESPN360.com, even though United at Barnsley is on Setanta today. So, most of us will be stuck with streams. Check the usual places; my first stop will be MyP2P.eu.
Last 4 head-to-head:
4-4 (h) 04.21.09
1-1 (a) 12. Click to continue reading...

In the midst of the Alonso summer saga, I posted the results from different midfield pairings. Lucas/Mascherano's line looked like this:
6 wins, 4 draws
2-0 West Brom, 3-0 West Ham, 4-1 United, 1-1 City, 1-1 Wigan, 0-0 Stoke, 5-1 Newcastle, 3-1 PSV [4-4-2], 0-0 Fulham [4-4-2], 2-1 Marseille
Let's ignore the PSV and Fulham games because of the 4-4-2 formation in Gerrard's absence (and Torres' against PSV). Click to continue reading...

Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Insua
Mascherano Lucas
Benayoun Kuyt Aurelio
Torres
Goals:
Torres 65'
Ngog 90+6'
His armband proved he was a Red, Torres, Torres
‘You'll Never Walk Alone' it said, Torres, Torres
We bought the lad from sunny Spain
He gets the ball and scores again
Fernando Torres, Liverpool's number nine
Magic. Click to continue reading...