When Rafa Benitez splashed out £17 million on Roma sensation Alberto Aquilani, you could fully understand Liverpool supporters' optimism that their Champions League winning coach had taken their team another giant step closer to winning their first league title in nearly twenty years.

Play along with me here while I speculate a bit about Landon Donovan's future.

There is simply too much chatter out there regarding a move to Everton (most likely a loan) to be dismissed. If I were a betting man, I'd wager my prized collection of cross stitch art that Donovan will be announced as the Toffees' bell cow of spring reinforcement, probably this week.

COS Contributor Andrew Walker wonders if Rafa days are numbered.

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Liverpool fans have finally come to the end of their tether over Liverpool's form this season in the Premier and Champions league made clear by a deafening silence at the end of another loss at Anfield to Arsenal followed by an inept display at bottom of the table Portsmouth.

And lots of it.

One of the several benefits of popping fish oil pills is that it improves concentration. I could also suggest this and this but the legitimacy of using these could be questioned. Moreover, the side effects can be particularly unpleasant. Taking fish oil supplements is not as dangerous and certainly not illegal.

"I'm handy."

The Meerkat played through the pain barrier at Anfield on Sunday, having barely trained all week because of a foot injury. He scored the winning goal with a quite brilliant finish, prompting Arsene Wenger to praise the Russian's rock-like hardness:

Wenger said: "I've not met many with his pain threshold.

SOS - the embarrassing and xenophobic Liverpool FC 'fan' group that shamelessly uses Bill Shankly's name to legitimise their thuggish agenda - has hatched a dubious plan to physically restrain Tom Hicks and George Gillett from entering Anfield on their next visit. Perhaps now, Liverpool fans will finally wake up and realise that SOS is doing nothing but damage to the public image of the club and its fans?

When is Rafa going to play our newest signing Alberto Aquilani?The guy cost between £17 and £20 million from Roma.He arrived at Anfield as an injured player, his ankle being the problem.That meant he had to spend a while in the treatment room with the physios at Melwood as he underwent prolonged rehab and fitness courses.

Rafa wants Tottenham cast-offs!

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Reds boss Rafa Benitez is believed to be after Spurs striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.

As the standout match of the weekend looms, I am taken back on memory lane yet again. This time, I was reminded of the heartwrencher at Anfield on 26th May 1989. On that day, Liverpool were three points ahead of closest challenger, George Graham's Arsenal. The Reds needed to avoid defeat by a two-goal margin to be crowned champions.

photo credit: stella_gonzales2003
Jamie Carragher has now called for "character" to be shown in Anfield after another disappointing loss by the Reds this weekend. Like the title says, I don't mean to harp on Liverpool but this is a club that not too many years ago won the Champion's League in a shootout and now they can't seem to buy a goal.

Troubled Liverpool face a Christmas of uncertainty with fresh claims that a Saudi prince is ready to buy the 50 per cent stake of co-owner George Gillett.
Prince Faisal bin Fahad bin Abdullah announced on television that he was flying to England to attend the Barclays Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield on Boxing Day as a guest of Gillett.

Garry Cook, the chief executive of Manchester City, has sparked fury at Anfield by claiming that Liverpool approached Roberto Mancini with a view to the Italian replacing Rafael Benítez as manager.
Cook's latest controversial comments have landed him in hot water with the Liverpool hierarchy, who have refused to comment.

Everton are trying to snatch young star Adam Pepper from bitter rivals Liverpool.
The 18-year-old central midfielder was the most highly-sought schoolboy on Merseyside when he opted to join the Anfield Academy. But his opportunities have been limited since the restructuring of the club's youth system over last summer.

keano's influence tonight will be in the spotlight.

With Pavlyuchenko out of the picture and probably the first player moving this winter transfer window, eyes now move away from his input in our cup campaign; (which notably last season, included a spectacular finish against Manchester United).

Fernando Torres has dashed Manchester City's hopes of luring him away from Anfield by admitting he already feels like a dyed-in-the-wool Scouser.
Liverpool's £21million record signing figures prominently on City's wanted list, with speculation mounting that a £50million bid could be imminent.

"When the bus arrived back in Liverpool, I didn't want to get out. I thought it wouldn't be long until I was out permanently, sent back to the Under-19s with a note marked 'not good enough'."
It was December 1998 when Steven Gerrard felt this way. He was 18, and had just seen his first senior start for Liverpool ruined.

In an interview with 'The Times' today, Rafa Benitez once again laid the blame for Robbie Keane's failure at Liverpool at the feet of the player himself, claiming that he was sold because 'he was not playing at the level we knew he could play'. In my view, Benitez's mis-managment was the real reason Keane did not prosper at Anfield.

When Steven Gerrard, in the coming years, decides that his body and spirit can no longer carry the burden of expectation bestowed upon him by his adoring public, hangs up his boots for good and looks back on his career, the occasion of his 500th game is unlikely to be a highlight.
The Liverpool captain will fear, though, that it may provide an epitaph: Almost, but not quite.

Rafael Benitez has vowed to take Liverpool back into the Champions League as they prepare for the embarrassment of a dead rubber against Fiorentina on Wednesday.
Liverpool are already out of this season's competition having failed to finish in the top two in Group E, a humiliating experience for the five-time European Cup winners.

Steven Gerrard spoke to UEFA.com on the 10th April 2009 after making his 100th European appearance in the 4-0 thumping of Real Madrid to reach the Champions League quarterfinals. He even scored two goals to celebrate his centennial match.
In that interview after the match, he spoke about four players who excite him, the four he mentioned were Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

How many "Liverpool must win" stories can be written about this year's squad?

Well, at least one more.

Already 12 points adrift of Chelsea and headed for the Europa League, the shine off the 2009-2010 campaign is fading fast.

At least Sunday's latest all-or-nothing fixture with Arsenal is at Anfield.

What are your memories of our matches with Liverpool? Hopefully these pictures will remind of the good, the bad and the ugly. Here are the pictures that sum up our last 5 league encounters at Anfield.

Fatboy Mellor was the slim shady in November 2004 with his last minute winner.

Liverpool's mouth-watering encounter with Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday is the pick of this weekend's Premier League fixtures. Elsewhere, Aston Villa make the trip to champions Manchester United. Chelsea are aiming to bounce back against Everton, Tottenham Hotspur tackle Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester City head to North West neighbours Bolton Wanderers while bottom-of-the-table Portsmouth meet Sunderland.

The two clubs whose status as members of the 'Big Four' is under most threat this season lock horns at Anfield on Sunday in what could be described as a must-win affair for both of them.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez claims the showdown with Arsenal heralds "the beginning of a new season" for the Reds, whose Champions League campaign ended ignominiously with a 2-1 home defeat by Fiorentina on Wednesday.

Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Aurelio
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres
Goals:
Kuyt 41'
Johnson (og) 50'
Arshavin 58'
I should have gone to the basketball game.
A great first half, but an awful second half. And Liverpool lose despite taking the lead thanks to said awful second half.

This fixture usually gives us goals a plenty, but with Arsenal fielding no out and out strikers and Torres not yet up to full fitness, this could be a tad dreary. Aquilani the promised man, the Italian who will make all the bad things go away isn't fit to start.

Liverpool lineup: Reina, Carragher, Johnson, Agger, Aurelio, Kuyt, Lucas, Gerrard, Mascherano, Benayoun, Torres.

Andrey Arshavin struck the winner at Anfield last night as Liverpool lost to Arsenal 1-2 in a Premier League encounter. This win was a big step forward for the Gunners as they managed to have a grip over the third spot in the league table and also close the gap with leaders, Chelsea. It was Dirk [...

The Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger feels that Liverpool outplayed his team in the first half, but after failing to kill the game off, some "fear" crept int their game, while Arsenal had nothing to lose! "I believe first of all Liverpool played very well in that period and we played with a handbrake because of our [.

A Russian and a fallen

It took a long time coming. Arsenal's last league victory at Anfield was 6 years ago. Last season when we scored 4 goals at Anfield in the league, you would think that we would've won the game. But we didn't. After the first half of yesterday's match, winning the game was far from my mind.

"A lot of football success is in the mind. You must believe you are the best and then make sure that you are. In my time at Anfield we always said we had the best two teams on Merseyside Liverpool and Liverpool reserves."

It's almost impossible to underestimate Bill Shankly's contribution to the Reds.

The agent of Barcelona striker Keirrison has told ESPN Soccernet it is highly unlikely that his client will be joining Liverpool on loan in the January transfer window.
Recent reports in the English media had claimed that Keirrison, 21, could cancel his unproductive loan spell with Benfica in order to sign for Rafael Benitez, who was linked with a move for the striker before he joined Barcelona in July 2009.

Liverpool have joined the race for Crystal Palace ace Victor Moses.
The 19-year-old midfielder is in blistering form and scored against Barnsley on Saturday with a wonderful overhead kick.
Spurs, Hoffenheim and Barcelona are keen on Moses but the Reds reckon they can land him for £5million.

Such is the financial importance of the Uefa Champions League to Europe's elite soccer clubs that even underachievement in the competition is richly rewarded, according to a study commissioned by MasterCard.
Liverpool, the English soccer club that won just two games in the competition this season before being eliminated, secured €9.

Rafael Benítez is facing another financial balancing act in the January transfer window as he attempts to revive Liverpool's floundering season with a budget unlikely to stretch beyond loan signings and player exchanges.
The Liverpool manager is desperate for additions to improve the depth and morale of a squad languishing in eighth place in the Premier League and relegated from the Champions League to the Europa League.

Liverpool have been linked with Aston Villa striker Emile Heskey over the last few days; isn't this a sign of how bad things are getting at Anfield? In pre-season, Rafa admitted David Silva was a target, yet now we are scraping the barrel going for a player who was not deemed good enough during his [.

Liverpool want ‘placenta doctor' Marijana Kovacevic to take a permanent role with the club.
Manager Rafa Benitez and his medical staff have been so impressed by Kovacevic's work with their injured players that they want to discuss a deal that would see her prioritise care for them.
The club want to explore the possibility of the Belgrade housewife, dismissed by some as a quack, establishing a base at Anfield so their players do not have to travel so far for treatment.

Kop flops Andriy Voronin and Ryan Babel could all leave Liverpool next month as Rafa Benitez looks to raise funds in order to strengthen his stuttering squad.
The Spaniard has grown frustrated with the form and attitude of £10million Dutch forward Ryan Babel, who was last seen limping out of his side's draw with Manchester City in mid-November.

Bill Shankly week could not have come sooner for thousands of Liverpool fans unsure of where their club is heading. This week, LFC TV and the club website will air tributes and put together articles that honour the memory of the club's greatest manager.

It was 50 years ago, that Shankly moved from Huddersfield Town to Liverpool then languishing at the bottom of the second division.

Kevin Keegan was sat on a bin the first time he met Bill Shankly. It was May 1971 and the 20-year-old Yorkshireman had been waiting patiently at Anfield to discuss his impending switch from Scunthorpe to Liverpool.
It's an encounter firmly etched in Keegan's memory bank because life would never be the same again.

Rafael Benitez marked the 50th anniversary of Bill Shankly's appointment as Liverpool manager by insisting the club must always aspire to the levels of pride and passion the great Scot achieved at Anfield.
Tuesday marks the day in December 1959 when Shankly was officially appointed manager of the club.