Image: blogdelosfamosos.com.

As we all already know, Fernando Torres missed last night's Liverpool match against Aston Villa to witness the birth of his second child. We're now giddy-with-glee to confirm that Olalla gave birth to a baby boy, Leo, late yesterday. The footy world was rocked to its core [as were the pastry shops within 10 kilometers of our flats] so much so that the baby's birth was not reported according to the time of day, but rather, what minute mark of Liverpool's match (the 74th, FYI).

Liverpool will let Glen Johnson join Juventus, but only if the Italians include striker Amauri in any potential deal.
According to the Daily Mail, the Merseysiders have reluctantly accepted Johnson wants out of Anfield and Juventus are ready to pounce for the England defender.
However, Liverpool will reportedly attempt to get as much out of the deal as possible by demanding Juve offer Italy forward Amauri plus cash if they are to sign Johnson.

We are mere weeks away from the January transfer window and without doubt, a few of the league's managers will be champing at the bit to get some business done to save both their jobs and the club's aspirations or in some cases, reputation. Among these managers is, unsurprisingly, Roy Hodgson.

Although much criticised this season, Hodgson is adamant that he is not fearful of getting the sack.

We are mere weeks away from the January transfer window and without doubt, a few of the league's managers will be champing at the bit to get some business done to save both their jobs and the club's aspirations or in some cases, reputation. Among these managers is, unsurprisingly, Roy Hodgson.

Although much criticised this season, Hodgson is adamant that he is not fearful of getting the sack.

Jamie McDonald - Getty Images

Next stop: London Heath Row ... and then on to Emirates Stadium.

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Once a year some buddies and I make a little cross-Atlantic hop to take in a few matches in England.

Liverpool have made a €15m (£12.5m) bid for Ajax striker Luis Suarez, but the Dutch side are holding out for closer to €25m (£20.9m), according to media reports.
Italian publication Tuttomercato comments that the Reds want to pair the Uruguayan with Fernando Torres at Anfield, and have made initial enquires to bring Suarez to the club in the January transfer window.

Roy Hodgson has told Joe Cole he must accept any role in the team, not just his preferred position behind the striker, if he is to make an impact at Anfield.
"Joe has to come to terms with the fact that he has come here after an unsuccessful period at Chelsea with high hopes of taking Liverpool by storm and unfortunately it's not happened," said the Liverpool manager.

Liverpool have stepped up their interest in Japan star Keisuke Honda, and are reportedly in talks over a January move.
According to Japanese daily Sports Nippon, the Reds have commenced negotiations over the €12 million-rated playmaker with his current club CSKA Moscow.
Honda has built up quite a reputation thanks to his swashbuckling displays for Japan at the World Cup; some of which led Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger to label the 24-year-old a 'genius'
"This Japansese team is based on a solid and collective defence in which everybody knows exactly what to do," Wenger told Eurosport.

Liverpool are beating Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield, with Babel and Ngog getting the goals. Watch them both here!

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Barcelona midfielder Xabi Alonso watched his former team-mates rip Aston Villa apart at Anfield tonight 3-0.

Liverpool showed former manager Gerard Houllier that life without him at Anfield was much better after he claimed that in his time at the club he dragged them into the 20th Century, while also taking the credit for making Steven Gerrard the World Class midfielder he is today.

Reina
Johnson Kyrgiakos Skrtel Konchesky
Kuyt Meireles Lucas Maxi
Ngog Torres
Goals:
Nolan 15'
Kuyt 49'
Barton 80'
Carroll 90+2'
Yet more utter embarrassment away from Anfield and no more than Liverpool deserve.
Other than 10 minutes after the interval, including a lucky equalizer from Kuyt and a couple of clear chances to take the lead for Torres and Ngog, Liverpool were awful again.

Liverpool have reportedly held talks over the potential signing of Charles N'Zogbia.
According to the Daily Express, the Reds are ready to table an offer of around £7 million after scouts were dispatched to watch the Wigan winger at close quarters.
It's not the first time Liverpool representatives have been to watch the 24-year-old Frenchman, with three Anfield scouts - including chief talent-spotter Eduardo Macia - allegedly deployed to monitor N'Zogbia during Wigan's Carling Cup victory against Swansea in October.

The festive season is only a few days away so goodwill to all is normally the name of the game but sadly that's not always the case. There can be little doubt that football should only be about...
Continue to the full story

By Eric Beard, writing from Boston

As Florent Malouda rushed to the Chelsea bench after scoring what would be the winner for the Blues as they defeated the ever-resilient Bolton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge, there was nothing but a hint of desperation in the air.

By AVI CREDITOR

Villarreal striker Nilmar is set for an extended spell on the sidelines after returning to Brazil to have surgery to fix a cartilage problem in his right knee.

It is unclear exactly how much time Nilmar, who has led all Villarreal scorers in La Liga play with 10 goals, will have to miss.

"We came here tonight really hoping that after not playing for a while we would get out and give a great performance," he says.

"Might be nice if that mastery of the obvious extended to how you set out the side," I say.

"It was probably as bad a team performance as we've given, certainly here at Anfield, and to compound the problems we gave them a goal as well, so we don't have a disappointing nil-nil, we have an even more disappointing 0-1.

You know a manager is feeling the pressure when he starts to blame the fans, and that is exactly what Roy Hodgson did today.

Hodgson's side are only three points above the relegation zone after last night's 1-0 defeat at home to bottom side Wolves and he was not happy to hear the Kop singing the name of former player and manager Kenny Dalglish, a living legend at Anfield, and also ironic chants of "Hodgson for England".

As an ex member of Manchester United's Stretford End, Liverpool have always been at the top of the list of teams to "hate". I can't tell you the number of times back in the 70′s that I stood in raw disbelief as my beloved United were torn to shreds by that awesome Liverpool team that swept all that came before it.

As an ex member of Manchester United's Stretford End, Liverpool have always been at the top of the list of teams to "hate". I can't tell you the number of times back in the 70′s that I stood in raw disbelief as my beloved United were torn to shreds by that awesome Liverpool team that swept all that came before it.

Fernando Torres is set to be rested from Liverpool's Europa League clash with Steaua Bucharest after Roy Hodgson revealed he would not be travelling with the squad.
The Reds boss also made it known Scottish youngster Danny Wilson will replace the injured Jamie Carragher for the trip to Romania.
Torres is being rested with the Anfield club's match against Aston Villa in mind while Wilson gets his opportunity after Carragher was ruled out for three months following surgery on his shoulder.

Roy Hodgson will accelerate his search for reinforcements after learning that Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher will be out for at least three months because he needs surgery on his dislocated shoulder.
The former England defender will have an operation this week to repair the injury which was sustained during Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Tottenham.

Liverpool are off to Romania as group play winds down.

It's a return to the scene of the crime for me last time these teams met and I wrote a preview, it was apparently filled with errors and written "like" I was drunk. Not a good way to attract Romanian readers.

Not this time, friends.

Bayern Munich are preparing a bid for Dirk Kuyt, according to reports in Germany.
4-4-2 suggests the German giants are planning to swoop for the Dutchman in January and are confident of concluding a deal.
Liverpool are reportedly willing to listen to offers for Kuyt - who has two years left to run on his contract at Anfield - and expect Inter Milan to re-enter the race for the 30-year-old.

Steaua have been consistently inconsistent in recent months, as they have been unable to put together a run long enough to have a significant impact on their campaign. Just as something appears to be blooming, they have allowed themselves to be nipped in the bud.
Their last five games showcase the sort of inconsistency they have had, as a goalless draw against local rivals Rapid Bucharest was followed by a domestic cup game against the same side, but away from home.

Liverpool have re-ignited their interest in former France international striker David Trezeguet but face competition from Inter Milan, according to reports.
Trezeguet's agent has admitted he has been approached by the reigning Italian champions but has insisted his client is happy to stay with current club Hercules of Spain.

Liverpool are reportedly monitoring Sylvain Marveaux with a view to a potential free transfer in the summer.
The French starlet has been earning rave reviews for his performances in Ligue 1, and Reds boss Roy Hodgson has been seen at the Route de Lorient after a recommendation from new Director of Football strategy at Liverpool, Damien Comolli.

Liverpool have reportedly joined the race to sign Belgian starlet Jelle Vossen.
The Racing Genk striker has scored 14 goals in 11 Belgian pro league games this season, and Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is thought to have started monitoring the player.
A 21-year-old with five international caps to his name already, Vossen came to prominence during a loan spell at Cercle Brugges last season, with Roma, Aston Villa and Everton all thought to be interested.

Liverpool 3 Aston Villa 0 N'Gog 14 Babel 16 Maxi 55 Liverpool fans welcomed back Gerrard Houllier but his pro-Anfield kow-towing perhaps helped to give us an early Xmas present as we easily beat Aston Villa, unlike the same fixture last season. It was a good match and a great result for us, showing glimpses [.

Kickoff from Anfield at 20:00 GMT, 3:00 EST.

Ways to Watch:

Match shown live on Sky Sports 1 (HD) in the UK and ESPN2 (HD) in the US.

ESPN3.com is also showing the match for those with the service.

MyP2P.eu
Atdhe.net
ChannelSurfing.net

Liverpool:

Team sheet when it's released.

Who: Liverpool vs. Aston Villa
When: 3pm EST
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
U.S. TV: ESPN2
Preview
Hansen:
Houllier and Roy Hodgson will put a win above all other priorities

There's one EPL fixture on Monday, December 6, 2010 as Liverpool hosts Aston Villa. Below is a brief match preview along with a live blog. The live blog will begin coverage around 2:50 PM EST (7:50 PM local UK time).

Match Preview

Liverpool (last 6 EPL matches – WWDLWL)

After a very slow start, Liverpool is slowly climbing their way up the EPL table.

Liverpool are beating Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield, with Babel and Ngog getting the goals. Watch them both here!

read more

Liverpool beat Aston Villa 3-0 at Anfield, with Ngog, Babel and Maxi Rodriguez getting the goals.

read more

LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool ensured there would be no happy return for former manager Gerard Houllier as they beat the Frenchman's Aston Villa side 3-0 in the Premier League here on Monday. Two goals in the space of three first-half minutes from David Ngog and Ryan Babel all but settled the match in Liverpool's favour [.

Gerard Houllier's return to Anfield ended in disappointment as the Reds comfortably claimed three points to continue their climb up the table. Goals from David Ngog, Ryan Babel and Maxi Rodriguez sent Liverpool up to eighth in the league, the highest of this campaign so far. There were a number of notable absentees; Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher missed the game through injury and Fernando Torres was allowed compassionate leave as his wife went into labour and later gave birth to a baby boy, Leo.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but a consistent theme I've stressed in the Statshack series is the need to look at match statistics as a whole and to be suspicious of anyone attempting to leverage a point with the use of a single metric. Passing for example.

Last season, I read many times that the number of complete passes was an indication that our brand of football was dour and failing to improve, except when the statistics didn't back that assertion up and were conveniently ignored.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but a consistent theme I've stressed in the Statshack series is the need to look at match statistics as a whole and to be suspicious of anyone attempting to leverage a point with the use of a single metric. Passing for example.

Last season, I read many times that the number of complete passes was an indication that our brand of football was dour and failing to improve, except when the statistics didn't back that assertion up and were conveniently ignored.

Liverpool attacker Ryan Babel has hailed the team effort following the victory over Aston Villa on Monday night.
The Reds cruised to a 3-0 win over Villa at Anfield in the Premier League, as Gerard Houllier suffered a disappointing return to his former club.
Dutch forward Babel, 23, netted the second goal just two minutes after David Ngog had given Liverpool a 14th-minute lead, and Maxi Rodriguez made sure of the points in the second half.

Luis Suarez at Anfield? The very idea fills me an overwhelming feeling of nausea. The story is probably made up media BS but I want to offer a few reasons why Liverpool should NOT sign brazen, unapologetic cheats like Suarez.
10 reasons why Liverpool should not buy Luis Suarez.
1.

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is ready to raid Aston Villa to sign England star Ashley Young in a major Kop coup in the transfer window.
Hodgson and transfer negotiator Damien Comolli are working on the ambitious project and hope to seal a deal worth £15million for the England winger in January.
Anfield's new American owners are willing to find the cash for Young as they chase a Champions League place.