COS Contributor Andrew Walker wonders if Rafa days are numbered.
Get Liverpool Tickets at Fantastic Prices Now!
Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny
Stuff/Features!
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.
Your Gameweek 19 Captain, Fernando Torres
After Boxing Day, we'll be exactly
half-way through the Premier League season. Exciting stuff. We'll have 5 more months of fantasy
footie, a brilliant title race brewing, a few weeks off - and then bam: South Africa! But for now -
our attention is focused strictly on the league.
West Ham v Manchester United
English Premier League
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Upton Park
Kickoff: 15:00 GMT
A big game for United as they try to put pressure on league leaders Chelsea who play City later
in the day. For West Ham though, it's all about survival.
Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano believes the team must use Sunday's Barclays Premier League
clash at home to Arsenal as an opportunity to rebuild their battered reputation.
An early exit from the Champions League - for the first time since manager Rafael Benitez took over
in 2004 - and stuttering domestic form have had some critics writing off the club.
Thank you all for coming out in the chilly weather to join the Soccerlens crew at the Soccerlens
Match Viewing Party. The Liverpool v Arsenal game ended 1-2 with yet another away win in the
Premier League this weekend.
Seems like this weekend was a good time to go play away from home in England as Birmingham City
was the only team to get the three points at their home against West Ham United.
The performance may have given us less to shout about – but the circumstances are so similar.
On October 25, Liverpool came off the back of that defeat to Sunderland and gave Manchester United
a torrid time in a 2-0 victory which we all hoped would kick-start the season.
It was more of a false dawn, as it turned out.
The U.S. will open up its 2010 World Cup Campaign against England in Rustenburg on Saturday,
June 12. The game is sure to bring up memories of that shock defeat during the 1950 tournament in
Brazil.
Also in the U.S. group will be Algeria and Slovenia and the U.S. has to feel that it can qualify
2nd in this group.
The stage is well and truly set. What a weekend for Arsenal fans so far! Title challengers have
dropped points as Chelsea were held at home and United defeated in their own backyard. Top four
contenders Citeh march on in their quest for the all time record for drawing matches and the tiny
Tots just gave us another chuckle.
Here are some more early World Cup 2010 trash talk competition entries from Algeria and fans.
Ex-Charlton centre back Madjid Bougherra says Algeria play with heart and can beat England. He's
entitled to his opinion, of course, as are the fans who regard these comments as a heaven sent
opportunity to have a go.
First-class Siamese Twin gurnage from last night's big game in the Championship (photos of the
match to follow, btw), starring Jay Simpson (left) and the frankly ridiculously surnamed Gianni
Zuiverloon.
MORE GURNS
Oh and that's a bad miss...
There's something about English football culture that manages to permeate the whole of the country
whilst still remaining somewhat under the surface. In North America, your average sports stadium
will be visible for miles around, with garish signs directing you to pastel-coloured,
officially-licensed merchandise stores, and box restaurants to get your feed on before "the big
game.
Melbourne v Sydney is always a big game in the A-League. Big crowds, send-off's thrashings we've
had the lot.
This Saturday's is bigger than most.
Should Melbourne win they would be six points clear with 8 to play. Who would bet against them
finishing top of the league and grabbing that crucial first Asian Champions League qualification
spot.
Another big game this evening then as an Arsenal team bumped down into 4th place by Villa's win
last night look to keep the momentum going. We'll be looking for our third league win a row tonight
at Burnley, but anyone thinking this is an easy game would be wise to look at Burnley's home
record.
Their home form has been excellent and it's what's keeping them alive this season.
The Sunday turnaround is still fresh in my mind. It's been a while since we won against a "big"
team, away from home, after conceding a lead. I guess the last one was at Stamford Bridge over a
year ago. That win didn't turn out to be very significant at the end of the season. Will this one
be any different?
The United States Soccer Federation has announced two World Cup warm-up games for the U.S. next
year.
First up for the U.S. national team will be Honduras at the Home Depot Center in Carson,
California on Jan. 23. This date is not an official FIFA date, so none of the U.S. (or Honduras)
players who play in Europe will playing.
Mark Hughes' dismissal was the least surprising news of the weekend, the managerial mayhem of
the Premier League almost guaranteeing it, the media confirming it before Manchester City's
encounter with Sunderland. Hughes may well be upset, believing that his team were on the verge of
something big but a divergence of defining that between himself and the club is at the root of the
matter.
2:45pm, live in the US on Setanta
Last 4 head-to-head:
1-3 Villa (h) 08.23.09
5-0 Liverpool (h) 03.22.09
0-0 (a) 08.31.08
2-2 (h) 01.21.08
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 2-0 Wolves (h); 0-2 Portsmouth (a); 2-1 Wigan (h)
Villa: 0-3 Arsenal (a); 1-0 Stoke (h); 2-0 Sunderland (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Torres 11; Benayoun, Gerrard, Kuyt 5; Ngog 4; Babel, Johnson 2; Skrtel 1
Villa: Agbonlahor 8; Carew, Milner 4; Dunne, Young 3; Heskey 2; Collins, Cuellar, Davies
1
Referee: Peter Walton
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Insua
Lucas Gerrard
Kuyt Benayoun Aurelio
Torres
So, will we see the same team as Saturday's?
