Rumours are circulating that 22 year old France international Yoann Gourcuff could be on his way to Liverpool in exchange for Daniel Agger.
Gourcuff - an attacking midfielder - spent 2 years at AC Milan and is now on loan at Bordeaux, where he has quickly become a first team regular. He has also managed to force his way into the France team and is beginning to establish himself.

No matter what happens from now until the end of the season, and whether we finish in the top 4 or not, there are a number of recent transfer deals that bother me greatly - signings, sales or missed opportunities that could've improved our squad and afforded us more depth than we currently have.
The deals relevant to last season may even have turned some of those nagging draws in wins, maybe giving us enough points to have snatched the title from Man Ure.

Liverpool beat Blackburn 4-0 at Anfield today; with Fernando Torres scoring a contender for goal of the season, and Agger replicating his belter against West Ham from a few years ago - Watch all the g

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Yossi Benayoun's creative contribution over the last year proves that it is in Liverpool's best interests to start him as often as possible, but despite this, he is STILL in and out of the first team. What more does Benayoun have to do to join the list of automatic starters?
I know I've made this point before, but I feel it needs to be made again.

Well we were sweating over the fitness of our two key men, obviously one has recovered quicker than Rafa thought and the doubful Gerrard isn't fit enough to start today. I've been told the team is as follows: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Carragher, Insua, Kuyt, Benayoun, Lucas, Mascherano, Aurelio, Torres.

KAKA has given the green light to join Manchester City after the club increased their offer to a phenomenal £243million. AC Milan last night confirmed they had received the mind-boggling bid which changes the face of world football. More... The Fluminense soccer team announced on Thursday the breakthrough of talk with Fred.

Liverpool: Cavalieri, Degen, Carragher, Agger, San Jose, Babel, Mascherano, Lucas, Benayoun, Voronin, Ngog.

Substitutes: Johnson, Plessis, Torres, Riera, Pacheco, Dossena, Gulacsi, Insua, Alonso, Kelly, Arbeloa, Kuyt, Reina, Spearing, Nemeth.

Come on Rafa!

David Silva has been linked with us longer than Bill Shankly it feels, but can anyone really see him coming to Anfield? surely by the time we sign him he will be past his prime, Aquilani I personally find a strange fit, I admit that I haven't seen that much of him and when I have seen him he seems ok rather than outstanding, his fitness record isn't great plus the success of the Italians in the EPL isn't fantastic.

What is Liverpool's form like in domestic games that immediately follow international breaks? To find out, I've examined all of the club's post-international games since the 2005-06 season. The results, surprisingly, are rather encouraging, which is great news ahead of the must-win Burnley game this weekend.

Yes, I am aware Daniel Agger is not even a left-back but it just shows how badly Insua has been playing. The Reds had their share of problems this season but one of the biggest reasons behind the disappointing results is the fact defence is leaking too many goals. Johnson, Carragher and Skrtel are doing really well when they are fully fit, thus I am positive the back line would be much more stable with Agger replacing completely unconvincing Insua.

Reina
Carragher Skrtel Agger Aurelio
Mascherano Alonso
Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres
Goals:
Torres 31'
Kuyt 64'
Keane 77'
Benayoun 81'
Another good performance despite the match being played at a typical last-day pace, unsentimental Rafa made us wait for Sami, and Robbie Keane's a jerk.

One of the highlights of last season was Liverpool's briliant double over Chelsea. Despite the club's poor overall record at Stamford Bridge - and a frustrating inability to beat the better teams so far this season - today's game is eminently winnable...but only if the formation and tactics are right, and that means aces in their place.

Liverpool make big changes to their team to face Lyon inthe Champions League tonight at Anfield Liverpool Team: Reina, Kelly, Insua, Agger, Carragher, Mascherano, Lucas, Gerrard, Kuyt, Benayoun, Ngog. Subs: Cavalieri, Voronin, Aurelio, Babel, Skrtel, Spearing, Plessis.

Todays Liverpool team to face Manchester United at Anfield! Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Insua, Carragher, Agger, Mascherano, Lucas, Aurelio, Benayoun, Kuyt, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Voronin, Babel, Ngog, Spearing, Degen, Skrtel.

(highlights di Liverpool-Arsenal 4-4)
LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Reina ; Arbeloa, Carragher, Agger, Aurelio; Xabi Alonso, Mascherano, Kuyt (86' El Zhar ), Benayoun, Riera (74' Babel ); Torres . A disposizione: Cavalieri, Skrtel, Dossena, Lucas, N'Gog. All. Benitez.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Fabianski ; Sagna, Tourè, Silvestre, Gibbs; Song, Denilson, (65' Walcott); Nasri, Fabregas, Arshavin; Bendtner (90' Diaby ).

First Half:
Cavalieri
Degen Carragher San Jose Agger
Benayoun Mascherano Lucas Babel
Ngog Voronin
Subs:
Gulasci for Cavalieri 46'
Riera for Babel 46'
Insua for San Jose 46'
Kuyt for Benayoun 61'
Torres for Voronin 61'
Plessis for Mascherano 61'
Pacheco for Lucas 61'
Nemeth for Ngog 61'
Spearing for Degen 61'
Kelly for Carragher 61'
Reina for Gulasci 78'
Alonso for Agger 78'
Dossena for Riera 78'
Goals:
Voronin 45+1'
Riera 54'
Nemeth 73' 83'
Torres 80'
Bit different than the first three friendlies, eh?

Where would Tottenham Hotspur's second XI finish in the Premier League? You be the judge. I've got: Cudicini - Naughton (or Hutton), Dawson, Woodgate, Bale - Bentley, Jenas, Bostock, Kranjcar - Pavlyuchenko, Crouch.

Is that better than Liverpool's second XI: Diego - Degen, Agger, Kyrgiakos, Fabio Aurelio - Lucas, Plessis - Benayoun, Voronin, Babel - N'Gog?

There's no option to italicize,bold and increase the font to 15 of the word "Bad" there. But I think you got the message already so I leave it to you. Listen, this whole global warming thing is sickening. There's also widespread poverty and a lot of kids with AK47 guns. Added to that are extra problems like say the rising Fuel prices, water problem and traffic through the city.

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.

Following one of the most astonishing turnarounds in transfer history, Kaka's move to Manchester City has now officially fallen through. It was reported on SKY Italia at just past 2230 CET that Milan and Manchester City had agreed a fee, and that a transfer was almost certain, with only Kaka's signature required to complete the [.

div align="left"In a recent interview with the Danish press, Daniel Agger displayed the kind of attitude and loyalty that I want to see in every Liverpool player.span class="fullpost"br /br /More and more these days, it seems like players are increasingly loyal to the MANAGER rather than the CLUB. This is not the way it should be - players should want to play for Liverpool FIRST and the manager second.

Liverpool travel to the Hawthorns knowing they need seven points from two games, which won't be easy. West Brom desperately need a win to try to escape the drop, and if they can't get all three points they are sure to be relegated.

Liverpool Starting XI:
Reina
Arbeloa-Carragher-Agger-Insua
Mascherano Lucas
Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres

Bench: Cavalieri, Dossena, Alonso, Riera, Babel, Ngog, Skrtel

West Bromwich Starting XI:
Kiely -
Zuiverloon-Olsson-Martis-Donk
Brunt-Mulumbu-Greening-Koren
Fortune -Menseguez

Bench: Carson, Moore, Teixera, Meite, Valero, Simpson, Wood

Lfc Team: Cavalieri, Degen, Agger, Carragher, Insua, Kuyt, Babel, Lucas, Plessis, Ngog, Nemeth.

Subs: Reina, Gulacsi, Johnson, San Jose, El Zhar, Pacheco, Torres, Riera, Dossena, Kelly, Skrtel, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Spearing, Voronin.

First Half:
Cavalieri
Degen Carragher Agger Insua
Kuyt Lucas Plessis Babel
Ngog Nemeth
Second Half:
Gulasci
Kelly Skrtel San Jose Johnson
El Zhar Mascherano Spearing Babel
Pacheco Voronin
Other Subs:
Dossena for Skrtel 55'
Arbeloa for El Zhar 58'
Reina for Gulasci 79'
Riera for Babel 80'
Torres for Pacheco 81'
Goals:
Babel 6'
Sutee 72'
My mantra for preseason football is usually ‘As long as the ideas are right, the execution doesn't really matter.

There's no real surprises here, but it's interesting to note that Kelly got the nod over Degen for the group stages. Aside from that, it's business as usual and there's just 10 days left before we start our campaign.
Goalkeepers - Reina, Cavalieri, Martin
Defenders - Johnson, Agger, Insua, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Kyrgiakos, Darby, Kelly, Dossena
Midfielders - Aquilani, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Riera, Benayoun, Babel, Spearing, Plessis
Forwards - Torres, Kuyt, Voronin, NGog, Amoo, Eccleston

Good news from Anfield as summer signing Alberto Aquilani has begun running after his protracted ankle problem finally seems to have been cleared up, lets hope he is soon fit for first-team as I am dying to get a look at the play maker bought to try to replace the Great Xabi Alonso. That's for another day as we face Hull at Anfield today where we will be looking for a good win to avenge last season's 2-2 draw in the same fixture when Stevie Gerrrard brought us back from the dead with two fine goals after Hull had gone two up after a McShane header and a Carra own goal had left us scratching our heads at half-time.

Rafa Benitez must be blowing a gasket this week with the news that three of his players have picked up injuries playing for their countries when they had already qualified for the World Cup.
Key striker for the reds, Fernando Torres had to be taken off at the weekend on 54mins with a leg strain with his International manager Del Bosques saying he will only play this Wednesday in another meaningless match, 'if he is 100% fit.

Danny Agger fans, we know you're out there. Do come forward and make yourself heard.

We do tend to neglect Mr. A here on Kickette for no reasons of ill will just mostly because we feel the forehead wrinkle angle is well-covered by Steven Gerrard and the freckle situ is handled considerably well by Fernando Torres.

2:45pm, live in the US on Comcast Sports Northeast and MSG. The game is on Fox Sports regional networks. I've got DirecTV, and the game is on channels 630 or 635. And it's in HD! I wish I could be more help to those with cable. At the least, it's delayed on FSC at 10pm.
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 0-1 Sunderland (a); 0-2 Chelsea (a); 0-2 Fiorentina (a)
Lyon: 0-2 Sochaux (h); 2-0 Lens (a); 4-0 Debrecen (a)
Group Stage:
Liverpool: 0-2 Fiorentina (a); 1-0 Debrecen (h)
Lyon: 4-0 Debrecen (a); 1-0 Fiorentina (h)
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (SPA)
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Benayoun Gerrard Riera
Kuyt
Yes on Gerrard, No on Torres.

Liverpool:

-Reina
Johnson-Carragher-Agger-Insua
Mascherano Lucas -
Benayoun Aurelio
-Kuyt -
Torres -

Bench: Cavalieri, Voronin, Babel, Ngog, Spearing, Degen, Skrtel

Manchester United:

Van der Sar
O'Shea Ferdinand Vidic Evra
Valencia Carrick Scholes Giggs
Berbatov Rooney

Bench: Foster, Neville, Owen, Anderson, Nani, Fabio Da Silva, Jonathan Evans

After today's bizarre defeat to Fulham which defies description, I have to take a look at the Liverpool's injury list to explain things away.
We were missing Danny Agger, Martin Skrtel, Alberto Aquilani and David Ngog to a virus, not the swine-flu, but a virus nonetheless.
We were also missing Captain Steven Gerrard to a groin injury, Glen Johnson to a calf injury and Fernando Torres wasn't fully fit.

In my NyQuil haze, I screwed up the math. Through some combination of the time change (which happens earlier in England than in the States) and me sleeping through my usual routine of checking multiple sites to figure out the kickoff, I was an hour off. As I slumped into the pub, sucking on a cough drop, I still thought I was early enough to grab a seat and some pre-match breakfast, but I found a room full of sullen Liverpool supporters and a match well underway.

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.

When David N'Gog scored so early on, the game opened itself perfectly for Liverpool: this was the ideal starting point, the launching pad that could lead to a much needed win. Then came the inevitable defensive lapse that resulted in a conceeded goal which was followed up by the sucker punch of Cameron Jerome's splendid but somewhat fortiuitous goal and suddenly it was a repeat of so many games this season.

While I normally hate the dreaded 'International Break',for once, I am glad it is upon us.Liverpool have an injury list as long as your arm and this break of almost two weeks has come at just the right time for us.Obviously, Fernando Torres is the main concern with that Hernia problem as there seems to be no quick fix with that type of complaint.

Rafa Benitez has named his starting 11 to face Man City at Anfield today, with Glen Johnson not making the bench. There is however; a rare start for Ryan Babel. The team in full is : Reina, Skrtel, Carragher, Agger, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Babel, Ngog. Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, El Zhar, Aurelio, Riera, Benayoun, Kyrgiakos.

7:45am, live in the US on Setanta
Last 4 head-to-head:
3-1 Liverpool (a) 12.06.08
3-1 Liverpool (h) 04.13.08
0-0 (a) 11.03.07
0-1 Blackburn (a) 12.26.06
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 1-3 Chelsea (h); 1-0 Fulham (a); 5-0 Villa (h)
Blackburn: 2-1 Spurs (h); 1-1 West Ham (h); 0-4 Arse (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Gerrard 13; Torres 9; Kuyt 8; Benayoun 4; Alonso, Riera 3; Aurelio, Babel 2; Arbeloa, Carragher, Dossena, Hyypia, Ngog 1
Blackburn: McCarthy 8; Roberts 7; Santa Cruz 4; Andrews, Warnock 3; Derbyshire, Ooijer, Samba 2; Diouf, Dunn, Emerton, Tugay
Referee: Mike Riley
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Arbeloa Carragher Hyypia Insua
Alonso Mascherano
Benayoun Kuyt Riera
Torres
With Gerrard having a scan yesterday on a supposed thigh strain, I'd be surprised if he was fit to start tomorrow.

Reina
Arbeloa Carragher Agger Insua
Benayoun Alonso Mascherano Riera
Kuyt
Torres
Goals:
Torres 5' 33'
Agger 83'
Ngog 90'
That's an acceptable response to Wednesday. It looked like it'd be a 2-0 hammering for the majority, but two more in the last ten minutes made the scoreline representative of the match.

1-0 F.Torres 5'2-0 F.Torres 33'3-0 D.Agger 83'4-0 D.N'Gog 90'DISCLAIMER: Calcioplus non hosta alcun video pubblicato su di esso. Tutti i video pubblicati sono caricati da amanti di calcio su siti di video hosting come Youtube e Dailymotion ed ubicati dunque su siti esterni a Calcioplus. Calcioplus non è responsabile del contenuto di tali siti web.

It's nice to get back to reality, even if reality is overshadowed by a difficult time for the club. The middle of April is always a meaningful time for Reds fans, and this year takes on special significance. April 15th is the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster in which 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives.