Has Rafa Benitez lied over the fitness of Alberto Aquilani? Is it fair to label Liverpool's manager a liar over the regularly changing estimates about the Italian's return to fitness? That is the question being considered here.
Let's take a look at the evidence.
AUG 7th 2009: Statement on the official Liverpool FC website:
"Liverpool FC confirmed this evening that Alberto Aquilani has successfully completed a medical and agreed a 5-year contract with the club. Click to continue reading...

Above average finishing ability, Average rat-tail, Below average fitness history
The Premier League is back, and while the World Cup is still top of mind (especially for those Irish and French fans), the greatest league in the world is back from a two week hiatus. Let's get to it:
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Alberto Aquilani is in contention to make his long-awaited full Liverpool debut on Saturday as Rafael Benítez looks to the £20m summer signing to reinvigorate the club's season against Manchester City.
The Italy international has played only 21 minutes for Liverpool since arriving from Roma in August, as a substitute against Birmingham City and Arsenal, because of his recovery from ankle surgery plus illness. Click to continue reading...

According to a report in the Corriere dello Sport, Premier League giants Liverpool are mulling over a bid to lure out-of-favour Juventus 'fantasista' Sebastian Giovinco to Anfield.
The diminutive hitman has only mustered six league appearances so far this term and has slipped further down the pecking order, after the arrival of Brazilian ace Diego over the summer. Click to continue reading...

Sebastian Giovinco's agent has slammed reports that Liverpool are staging a swoop for the ‘Atomic Ant.'
The young Juventus prodigy has been linked with a January move to Anfield, where he would join fellow Italian Alberto Aquilani.
"I don't think we can say there is anything true in these rumours," agent Luca Pasqualin told Goal. Click to continue reading...

After an International break that completed the 32-team field for the World Cup next summer in South Africa, the EPL surges back to action this weekend with an important fixture at Anfield.

That game is on ESPN in glorious high definition. Here's the entire TV schedule.

Now, on to the previews:

Liverpool vs.

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Alberto Aquilani is in contention to make his long-awaited full Liverpool debut on Saturday as Rafael Benítez looks to the £20m summer signing to reinvigorate the club's season against Manchester City.

The Italy international has played only 21 minutes for Liverpool since arriving from Roma in August, as a substitute against Birmingham City and Arsenal, because of his recovery from ankle surgery plus illness.

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Rafael Benítez said last night that he would quit if Fernando Torres is sold against his will. Liverpool's £245m debt has led to questions about whether their US owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, would be tempted to sell, even if he was offered £100m for the striker.
"I'm confident it will never happen," the manager said. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benitez believes that Liverpool must buy relatively unknown players, train them, and sell them to make a profit and eventually reduce the club's mountain of debt.
The Merseysiders are said to be £245 million in the red, and the Kop boss has already threatened to resign if any stars go on sale during January. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool have signed one of the best players in the world according to Alberto Aquilani's former teammate Francesco Totti.
The Italian forward claims his ex-Roma teammate will be a huge success at Anfield despite only featuring in two substitute appearances for Rafa Benitez's side.
The 25-year-old was brought to the Premier League in the summer as a direct replacement for the Real Madrid bound Xabi Alonso, and Totti suggests his compatriot and friend has all the talent to be a huge asset alongside Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Click to continue reading...

As a child, I could never sleep on Christmas Eve. There was a greedy little materialist in me who sneaked into the living room in the dark to count, shake and feel up all the presents under the tree with my name on them and then stayed up all night trying to imagine what the morning would really bring.

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Rafa Benitez gave a bizarre interview to the Times yesterday, and Liverpool fans should be worried that the pressure may be getting the better of their leader. When a manager spends time talking about the support he is getting from the management, threatening to quit, and talking about the legacy he wants to leave behind, he sounds less like a manager worried about this weekend's game against Man City and more like a man who wants to put this whole mess behind him.

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I wouldn't trust my grandmother with Hicks and Gillett!

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Rafa Benitez has admitted he would quit Liverpool if the club ever sold Fernando Torres behind his back to ease the financial pressure at Anfield.

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Liverpool and Brazil midfielder Lucas Leiva has conceded that he would like to emulate his uncle Leivinha by making the final squad that will travel to the World Cup in South Africa next year.
Leivinha played in the 1974 World Cup for the Verde e Amarelo and earned a total of 21 caps, scoring seven goals in the process. Click to continue reading...

There seems to be a lot of confusion over how much Liverpool paid/will eventually pay Roma for the services of Alberto Aquilani. Figures such as £20m, £17m and £5m (!) have been bandied about, but the truth is the total outlay could (potentially) turn out to be much more.
On the 8th August 2009, Roma released official details of Aquilani's transfer fee. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool defender Andrea Dossena has hailed Alberto Aquilani as a "complete midfielder", and believes that the former Roma player can forge a strong partnership with Steven Gerrard.
The 25-year-old made his Premier League debut as a substitute during the club's 2-2 draw against Birmingham City at Anfield, though he was said to be in contention for a spot in the starting line-up. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez wants an amazing £14 million for Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva - and plans to keep him despite needing to sell players.
The Kop chief has been approached by a couple of top European sides who hoped to exploit the Anfield cash problems by landing Lucas in a bargain deal. Click to continue reading...

Amazingly, reports in the press today suggest that Lucas Lieva has been the subject of transfer inquiries.Frankly, I am stunned that the lad is even being pursued by other clubs.After a completely uninspiring start to his career at Liverpool, where he couldn't make a tackle, couldn't pass the ball to a team-mate and was roundly booed by the Anfield faithful every time he was near the ball, the lad is now coveted by some clubs in Europe. Click to continue reading...

Since his seventeen millions pounds move over the summer, Alberto Aquilani's return to fitness has been eagerly anticipated by the Anfield faithful. Rafael Benitez has been relentlessly criticised in signing the 25-year-old midfield maestro, with the Italian's career being blighted by injuries. The ‘little prince' is a replacement for firm fans favourite Xabi Alonso, who [. Click to continue reading...

(video gol highlights di Liverpool-Birmingham City)
Nel classico "Monday night", il posticipo della Premier League, deludente pari (il primo stagionale) per il Liverpool che viene stoppato in casa, per due a due dal Birmingham City. L'undici di Benitez passa in vantaggio al 13' con una violenta conclusione, da distanza ravvicinata, di Ngog, ma subisce il pareggio ospite al 26' (realizzato da Benitez, omonimo del coach spagnolo del Liverpool) e, addirittura, la rete di Jerome che regala, al terzo minuto di recupero, il sorpasso ai biancocelesti. Click to continue reading...

Steven Gerrard's hotly-disputed second-half penalty rescued a point for Liverpool but did little to lift the pressure on boss Rafael Benitez.
It is just one win now in nine matches for the Reds and they must be grateful for the two-week international break which will allow the dust to settle on their faltering season. Click to continue reading...

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Birmingham was hard done by Peter Walton's decision to award a PK after the French striker went down in the box from a tackle by Lee Carsley. Problem was Carsley never touched him. Steven Gerrard subbing for the injured Riera converted the penalty and Liverpool scraped a draw.

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Rafael Benítez believes that Liverpool have been the victims of bad luck this season and has spoken of his conviction that the club will have significantly improved their league position within "one or two months". The Liverpool manager, who has presided over six defeats in the last eight matches ahead of Birmingham City's visit tonight, claimed he was "100% sure" his team would start to climb the table. Click to continue reading...

Time to let his feet do the talking.

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Liverpool's fans will finally get the chance tomorrow to welcome the £20m summer signing Alberto Aquilani to Anfield.

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Rafa Benitez says Alberto Aquilani will finally get his Anfield debut against Birmingham on Monday.
The Italy international was signed for £20 million man in August but has since been recovering from a knee operation and latterly a recent virus problem.
But the 25-year-old - who played for a few minutes in the Carling Cup defeat at Arsenal - now looks set to be thrown on from the bench against the Blues. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool's hearts were broken by a cruel last-minute equaliser that has all but ended their Champions League dreams for a traumatic season.
The much-maligned Ryan Babel had scored a wonderful goal with just seven minutes left and if Liverpool could have hung on to that lead they would still have had a realistic chance of reaching the last 16. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has insisted that he would like to remain as the tactican of the Merseyside club for many more years to come.
The Reds are in a serious crisis, as six losses in seven games has threatened to throw the club's ambitions out the window. A seventh loss - against Olympique Lyonnais in the Champions League - would be catastrophic for the Anfield outfit, as it would be their worst run since the appointment of the legendary Bill Shankly as manager of the club. Click to continue reading...

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Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has lost two further players to injury ahead of Wednesday's crucial Champions League Group E tie in France.

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If English giants and 2005 winners Liverpool lose to Lyon in France on Wednesday night their Champions League dreams could be all but over. Should Fiorentina beat Hungarian outfit Debrecen (a very likely occurrence) Liverpool will be six points adrift with just two games left.

It makes for grim reading for the Anfield faithful, with their Premier League title hopes in tatters the Champions League represents a great chance for them to pick up some silverware and an exit in the group stages is virtually unthinkable.

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The bad news just keeps getting worse for Liverpool with Torres to join Steven Gerrard as a possible candidate for surgery. He has a hernia which could be cured with a long layoff of a month but if symptoms persist then surgery will be the other alternative.

Rafa has no choice but to play Torres in today's match against Lyon at the Stade de Gerland.

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Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, midfielder Albert Riera and defenders Martin Kelly and Martin Skrtel will all miss Wednesday's decisive Champions League match at Olympique Lyon, manager Rafa Benitez said on Monday.
However, Benitez added that he was hoping Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani would recover from a virus that kept him out of Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Fulham for the Group E match. Click to continue reading...

Bill Shankly once said: "Aim for the sky and you'll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you'll stay on the floor". Against Fulham on Saturday, Rafa Benitez didn't aim for the sky or the ceiling; he didn't even aim for the floor! With his cautious approach and maddeningly incomprehensible decisions, Benitez went against everything Liverpool FC stands for and committed the ultimate footballing sin: he gave up and conceded defeat. Click to continue reading...

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. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has hinted that Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani will be ready for a first team start within the next couple of weeks.
The 25-year-old was signed by the Reds during the summer for around £17 million from Roma although an ankle injury has kept him sidelined for the first couple of months of the season. Click to continue reading...

With Liverpool preparing to play Fulham at Craven Cottage in a matter of hours, injury problems continue to plague the the Anfield club. Captain and perennial talisman Steven Gerrard will not play due to his nagging groin injury, while fullback Glen Johnson will miss action because of a thigh strain.

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