And suddenly, just like that, the business end really starts. Like it or not, Liverpool fans would do well to get behind the new manager Brendan Rodgers, and any other senior staff on the way. Some may have complained that it took too long to appoint him. Yet had FSG been quicker, the conspiracy theorists would have complained about alleged behind-the-scenes pre-emptive discussions between FSG and their new appointment while Kenny was still in charge.

Venue : Liberty Stadium

Kick-off: 15.00 BST

Liverpool

The Reds trail rivals Everton by a point in the league table and will be hoping for a win in Wales to avoid finishing behind Everton for only the second time in 25 years.

Swansea play host to Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday as both sides look to end the season in style.
The home team will be aiming to reward their fans by taking another famous scalp after a memorable first season in the Premier League.
Swansea has won just one of their last eight top-flight games, but they comfortably achieved their aim of securing safety among the elite.

10am ET, live in the US on Fuel TV.
I don't know if your cable service gets Fuel TV. Given Fox's ubiquity, chances are it does, especially if you have any extra sports packages. I suspect most providers bundle it with the same package Fox Soccer comes on. It is channel 618 on DirecTV.
Also, once again, I'd like to thank Fox for this "Survival Sunday," televising six matches with three others available via the internet and City v QPR on espn2.

As many have noted since yesterday, Downing's two strikes against the woodwork bring Liverpool's league total to 33 for the season, a seemingly egregiously large number. Rubbing salt in the wounds, after the 0-1 loss to West Brom, Opta Joe noted that Liverpool would be fourth in the league if all the shots which hit the frame were goals.

Liverpool vs Chelsea 4-1 Highlights 2012 Essien own goal Henderson Agger Ramires Shelvey Goals May 8 Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Liverpool vs Chelsea 4-1 Highlights 2012 Essien own goal Henderson Agger Ramires Shelvey Goals May 8 Video is a post from Soccer Blogger.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish is likely to start £35million striker Andy Carroll against Chelsea following his goal in the FA Cup final against the Blues on Saturday.
Carroll's introduction from the bench during the final gave Liverpool a fresh impetus and he came very close to scoring an equalizer but for a good save from Petr Cech.

Liverpool defender Dan Agger admits that their poor showing in the first hour was the reason for their FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea.
The Reds did not seem to come alive until Andy Carroll's introduction in the 55th minute but by then they were 2-0 down to goals from Ramires, in the first half, and Didier Drogba.

Goals:
Ramires 11'
Drogba 53'
Carroll 65'
So close, yet so far. The Liverpool of old threatened to reappear, but fell just short of another fabled cup final comeback. By millimeters, and "aided" by the woodwork. Just not good enough to make up for self-inflicted mistakes, both individual and tactical, but painfully, frustratingly close.

12:15pm ET, live in the US on FSC
Last four head-to-head:
2-0 Liverpool (a; Carling Cup) 11.29.11
2-1 Liverpool (a) 11.20.11
1-0 Liverpool (a) 02.06.11
2-0 Liverpool (h) 11.07.10
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 0-1 Fulham (a); 3-0 Norwich (a); 0-1 West Brom (h)
Chelsea: 0-2 Newcastle (h); 6-1 QPR (h); 2-2 Barcelona (a)
Goalscorers (all):
Liverpool: Suarez 17; Bellamy 9; Carroll, Gerrard 8; Maxi 6; Kuyt 5; Skrtel 4; Adam, Downing 2; Agger, Coates, Henderson, Johnson, Kelly, Shelvey 1
Chelsea: Lampard 16; Sturridge 13; Mata 12; Drogba, Torres 11; Ramires 10; Terry 6; Ivanovic, Kalou, Meireles 5; Luiz, Malouda 3; Cahill 2; Boswinga 1
Referee: Phil Dowd
Guess at a line-up:
Reina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
Henderson Spearing
Kuyt Gerrard Bellamy
Suarez
For those who think formation doesn't matter, that the tactical eggheads who reduce the game to numbers and minutiae are ruining the fun for normal people, well, you're wrong.

Date : Saturday, May 5, 2012

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England

Time: 17:15 p.m. BST/12:15 p.m. ET/9:15 a.m. PT

Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)

FA Cup Final Wins: Liverpool 7 (last: 2006); Chelsea 6 (last: 2010)

Liverpool FC

This will be the Reds 14th final in the world's oldest domestic cup competition while Chelsea will be appearing in their 11th final.

Venue Carrow Road, Norwich
Date: 28/04/12
Kick-Off: 17:30 BST

Liverpool FC
Liverpool have won just two of their last ten Premier League games. However the Reds away record is better than their home record and Norwich are not in the best form either, having also won just two of their last ten fixtures.

Norwich striker James Vaughan is pressing for another Premier League start after his recovery from a frustrating injury spell.
Former Reds centre-back Zak Whitbread (hamstring) remains sidelined and will not be playing against his old club.
Fellow defenders Marc Tierney (groin) and Daniel Ayala (knee), another former Liverpool man, are ruled out of the season.

I think it would be fair to say if you were to ask most people to people look back at what has set this Premier League season apart from others the answer you'd get would have to be: high-scoring games. For a slightly more pessimistic view: bad defending.

It is in the big games where this has been most noticeable.

Liverpool will aim to improve their stuttering Premier League form when they host Roy Hodgson's West Brom on Sunday.
The former Reds boss returns to Anfield for the first time since being sacked in January 2011, knowing his Albion side can move within just one point of Liverpool with a win.
And there is much to encourage the Baggies given that Liverpool have just one Premier League win at home in 2012 - and that was against an under-strength Everton side.

Consider this an addendum to Noel's depressingly unsurprising post on Liverpool's defensive statistics with and without Carragher over at Liverpool Offside.
The numbers speak for themselves, but I've seen multiple people (not in Noel's post, by the way) credit Liverpool's inferior record with Carragher to Liverpool having to play a deeper back line thanks to Carra's notorious lack of pace.

7:30am ET, live in the US on FSC
Previous rounds:
Liverpool: 2-1 Stoke (h); 6-1 Brighton (h); 2-1 United (h); 5-1 Oldham (h)
Everton: 2-0 Sunderland (a); 1-1 Sunderland (h); 2-0 Blackpool (h); 2-1 Fulham (h); 2-0 Tamworth (h)
Last four head-to-head:
3-0 Liverpool (h) 03.

Andy Carroll scored an injury-time winner to give Liverpool a 3-2 win over Blackburn on a night when stand-in goalkeeper Alexander Doni received a red card which will rule him out of Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Everton.

Alexander Doni 5.5

The Brazilian was unlucky to be sent off after he fouled Hoilett when the Canadian was through on goal.

Lucas Injury
• 1.77 points per game before, 1.05 after [-0.62 PPG]
• 1.31 goals per game before, 1.05 after [-0.26 GPG]
• 0.92 goals conceded per game before, 1.11 after [+0.19 GCPG]
Suarez Suspension
• 1.72 points per game before, 1.

Premier League; Sunday 1st April 2012

Venue : Sports Direct Arena, Newcastle

Kick off 13:30 GMT

Liverpool

The Reds travel to the north east to face Newcastle United this weekend, looking to get their league form back after suffering back-to-back defeats against QPR and Wigan.

8:30am ET, live in the US on Fox Soccer Plus
FYI: I'm away all weekend, posting from the road thanks to the magic of the internet, so there will be no review for Sunday's match. Here's hoping history doesn't repeat itself, as the last match I didn't watch live was last season's wonderful contest against Northampton.

Let's hope he can give a thumbs up come 90 minutes...Liverpool face Wigan at Anfield on Saturday and after falling to a terrible defeat against Queens Park Rangers in the week, the Reds are desperately after all 3 points. Wigan themselves have more than one reason to be battling for the points as they look to get themselves out of a relegation battle.

11am ET, live in the US on Fox Soccer Plus
Last four head-to-head:
0-0 (a) 12.21.11
1-1 (h) 02.12.11
1-1 (a) 11.10.10
0-1 Wigan (a) 03.08.10
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 2-3 QPR (a); 2-1 Stoke (h); 3-0 Everton (h)
Wigan: 1-1 West Brom (h); 1-1 Norwich (a); 0-2 Swansea (h)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Bellamy, Suarez 6; Gerrard 5; Carroll 3; Adam, Kuyt, Maxi, Skrtel 2; Coates, Henderson, Johnson 1
Wigan: Di Santo, Gomez 4; McArthur, Moses, Watson 3; Caldwell, Diame, Rodallega 2; Crusat 1
Referee: Lee Mason
Liverpool's bad luck charm in past campaigns, Mason did an excellent job in the away leg of the Carling Cup semi-final and Liverpool have won the three matches when he's been in charge this season.

12pm ET (stupid daylight saving time), live in the US on FSC
Previous rounds:
Liverpool: 6-1 Brighton (h); 2-1 United (a); 5-1 Oldham (h)
Stoke: 2-0 Crawley Town (a); Derby (a); Gillingham (a)
Last four head-to-head:
0-0 (h) 01.14.12
2-1 Liverpool (a; Carling Cup) 10.

Reina is beaten by van Persie...Liverpool fell to defeat at the hands of Arsenal on Saturday as the van Persie show turned up at Anfield. The Reds were arguably the better of the two sides but whilst Wenger's boys converted their chances, Liverpool didn't. Even a penalty couldn't aid Liverpool's score sheet and it fell to an Arsenal player to get the Reds their sole goal.

Luis Suarez vs Thomas Vermaelen

Both technically strong,this would be one big battle worth watching.The No 7's ability to charge through defenses, hold the ball up to set his teammates up and to dribble past defenders, simply is a nightmare for any defender.Although Suarez scored 2 goals in in his last three outings for the reds, there has been a significant dip in form of his overall game.

Liverpool have been hit with a hefty blow after X-rays confirmed that the Centre back has cracked a rib during the Carling Cup win at Wembley and is expected to be sidelined for a minimum of four weeks.

The 27-year-old Centre back was substituted after 86 minutes of Sunday's Carling Cup final with Cardiff City at Wembley with a suspected broken rib.

When Joe Mason slotted Cardiff's first goal of the night through Pepe Reina's legs, putting the underdog Championship side up 1-0, it may have in fact been the worst goal conceded by Liverpool this season. Past contenders for worst of the year have come when a series of individual mistakes over a fairly short period of time have conspired to hand an opponent a goal, and as bad as the markers given up against the likes of Stoke and Norwich may have seemed at the time, as with most any side will concede they came from a series of minor mistakes that slowly added up to the ball hitting the back of the net.

It was intense, it was dramatic, and at times it was downright ugly. But Liverpool won the Carling Cup. Here are five things we learned.

Martin Skrtel is one of the best defenders in the League

Liverpool have the second best defense in the league behind Manchester City and a big part of that is the presence of Martin Skrtel.

Official starting Lineup for Liverpool:
Reina, Enrique, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Henderson, Gerrard, Adam, Downing, Suarez and Carroll

Briefly, I thought I'd revisit a graphic from almost exactly a year ago.
At this point last season, Liverpool had used 22 different starting defenses through 40 matches. No back-line had started more than five matches together. Six weeks into his reign, in the wake of Hodgson's havoc, Dalglish was experimenting with every possible defensive combination, hands tied by injuries and a lack of fullbacks, including notable three-at-the-back wins over Chelsea and Stoke.

Suarez has been recalled to the starting lineup in what promises to be a heated encounter against Manchester United.

Liverpool: Reina, Enrique, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Spearing, Gerrard, Henderson, Downing, Kuyt, Suarez.

Subs: Doni, Carragher, Bellamy, Carroll, Adam, Shelvey, Kelly.

Suarez has been recalled to the starting lineup in what promises to be a heated encounter against Manchester United.

Liverpool: Reina, Enrique, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Spearing, Gerrard, Henderson, Downing, Kuyt, Suarez.

Subs: Doni, Carragher, Bellamy, Carroll, Adam, Shelvey, Kelly.

I HATE HIMLiverpool face Man Utd at Old Trafford on Saturday lunch-time in what may look like a daunting task, to earn points away at the Manchester venue.
On paper, it seems a difficult job to get anything from the game, but I believe Liverpool are in the right frame of mind to gain at least a point, if not all three against Ferguson's creaking side.

I HATE HIMLiverpool face Man Utd at Old Trafford on Saturday lunch-time in what may look like a daunting task, to earn points away at the Manchester venue.
On paper, it seems a difficult job to get anything from the game, but I believe Liverpool are in the right frame of mind to gain at least a point, if not all three against Ferguson's creaking side.

As I predicted earlier today, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has left Luis Suarez on the bench for tonight's game with Spurs at Anfield. Jose Enrique is injured, which probably means Glen Johnson will play at left-back.Full Team: Reina; Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Spearing, Adam, Gerrard, Kuyt, Bellamy, Carroll.

Kenny Dalglish has made five changes for the game against Wolves tonight.FULL TEAM: Reina, Enrique, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Spearing, Adam, Kuyt, Henderson, Bellamy, CarrollSUBS: Doni, Carra, Coates, Kelly Aurelio, Shelvey, DowningIt looks like Steven Gerrard has been rested for this game, which is understandable after the heavy fixture list recently.

Daniel Agger scored an excellent headed goal against Man United in the FA Cup earlier today, and whilst he's happy that Liverpool won the game and got through to the next round, the Dane is fully focused on the premier league, and he's called for an improved performance against Wolves next week.

There really isn't much that needs to be said here. Manchester United v. Liverpool, the FA Cup, Anfield. Manchester United: De Gea; Rafael, Smalling, Evans, Evra; Scholes, Carrick, Giggs; Valencia, Welbeck, Park. Subs: Lindegaard, Fabio, Ferdinand, M Keane, Pogba, Berbatov, Hernandez Liverpool: Reina; Kelly, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique; Carragher, Maxi, Gerrard, Henderson, Downing; Carroll Subs: Doni, [.

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Carragher, Henderson, Gerrard, Downing, Maxi, Carroll.
Subs: Johnson, Coates, Kuyt, Adam, Doni, Shelvey, Bellamy.

Man United: De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Evans, Evra, Park, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Valencia, Welbeck.