By Ollie Irish

More proof, if it were needed, that professional footballers really do punch well above their weight when it comes to attracting the ladies.

Here is Diego Cavalieri, former Liverpool reserve keeper who now plays for Cesena:

And here is his wife, Daniela Cavalieri (a little NSFW nudity ahoy!

Middlesbrough have turned down an offer from Liverpool for Australian goalkeeper Brad Jones, according to Sky Sports.
The Reds had made an approach for the keeper today as they search for a new back up to first choice Pepe Reina.
However, Gordon Strachan will have no intention of selling Jones – and it is not guaranteed the 28-year-old would want to leave.

Yesterday's signing of Middlesbrough keeper Brad Jones for £2.3m, who counts as a homegrown player despite his Australian nationality, appears to spell the end of Diego Cavalieri's tenure at Anfield. All summer long we've seen English players, many mediocre at best, linked with Liverpool ostensibly because of the new homegrown rule.

Player Ratings
1. Cavalieri: Made a few comfortable saves, wasn't at fault for either goal. 6/10
2. Degen: Looked lively early on before fading in the second half.5/10
3. Carragher: Lead the back line with authority, a few nervy moments but took the game to Reading in extra-time.

Okay, seriously this time Liverpool are playing their first friendly.

Streams:

MyP2P.eu
Atdhe.net
ChannelSurfing.net

Liverpool:

Cavalieri
Degen Ayala Kelly Darby
Lucas Spearing
Amoo Aquilani Eccleston
Ngog

Bench: Gulacsi, Irwin, Palsson, Robinson, Shelvey, Ince, Dalla Valle, Riera

Grasshopper:

Team sheet when it's released.

Liverpool: Cavalieri, Agger, Kyrgiakos, Skrtel, Kelly, Jovanovic, Lucas, Spearing, Amoo, Aquilani, Ngog. Subs: Gulacsi, Darby, Shelvey, Dalla Valle, Eccleston, Ayala, Ince.

David Ngog struck twice as Roy Hodgson began his reign as Liverpool manager with a comfortable victory from a potentially tricky Europa League test.
The Frenchman found the net in each half as an under-strength Liverpool side overcame FK Rabotnicki with little alarm in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie in Macedonia.

Liverpool: Cavalieri, Johnson, Insua, Ayala, Carragher, Gerrard, Shelvey, Ince, Eccleston, Cole, Dalla Valle. Subs: Gulacsi, Aurelio, Wilson, Darby, Irwin, Spearing, Aquilani, Jovanovic, Amoo, Suso, Sterling.

By Ollie Irish

Can Uncle Woy take the Reds back into the top four?

Goalkeepers Pepe Reina is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and won't be leaving Liverpool any time soon. He's also a real cheerleader within the team and a very popular figure in the dressing room.

Roy Hodgson confirmed that Diego Cavalieri looks set to leave Liverpool - but...

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LINKS!

Javier Mascherano agrees terms with Barcelona Guardian

Man City unveil new 'Welcome to Manchester' mural The Spoiler

TOP LINK Top 10 freak football injuries Mirror

FIFA assessors come to England to check out 2018 World Cup bid BBC

Guess that football WAG's arse Goaly Moly

Just f**king do it!

spotted at FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL

The saga continues between Mascherano and his current club Liverpool.

Javier Mascherano took a step further towards a transfer to Barcelona with the Liverpool midfielder believed to have agreed personal terms with the La Liga champions.

As the transfer window heads towards a close, Liverpool FC finds itself as one of the leading names in the press for both players departing and arriving at the club. In recent days the club has seen deals concluded that have taken Alberto Aquilani to Juventus in a season long loan deal with the option of a permanent move at the end of the season.

Liverpool are believed to be close to finalising a deal in the region of £4million fee which will see Fulham's left back Paul Konchesky arrive at Anfield.

Manager Roy Hodgson has been a long term admirer of his former player and speculation has been rife in recent weeks that the one time England International would be the next player to arrive in the present transfer window.

How much money has Liverpool and Arsenal spent on transfers between 1990 and the present day? For the first time ever - either online or offline - here is a comparison between the two clubs for that entire period (using official figures).
NOTES
* The figures include all transfers up to and including Roy Hodgson's activity in the transfer market.

Rafa Benitez has named his side to face Reading in the FA Cup replay at Anfield tonight, with Alberto Aquilani again in the starting line up. The team in full is: Cavalieri, Degen, Carragher, Agger, Insua, Aquilani, Lucas, Benayoun, Kuyt, Gerrard, Torres. Subs: Aurelio, Babel, Ngog, Spearing, Skrtel, Gulacsi, Pacheco.

Cavalieri, Degen, Carragher, Agger, Insua, Aquilani, Lucas, Benayoun, Kuyt, Gerrard, Torres. Subs: Aurelio, Babel, Ngog, Spearing, Skrtel, Gulacsi, Pacheco.

Liverpool goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri has targeted a top-four finish and victory in the Europa League as the Reds recover from their FA Cup exit at the hands of Reading.
The Brazilian is already looking ahead to the weekend's game against Stoke City and insists that it is vital Rafa Benitez's men win at the Britannia Stadium.

Rafael Benitez today tried to rally his dejected troops after that deeply disapointing defeat at Wigan.
This season has seen one poor performance after another.
We are down in sixth and likely to remain there with an appalling nine defeats in the League already, this season.
Rafa under pressureThe future of the Manager is again under the spotlight as he tries to salvage something from the season by attempting to win the Europa League.

Atletico win 2-2 on aggregate via away goals.
Reina
Mascherano Carragher Agger Johnson
Gerrard Lucas
Benayoun Aquilani Babel
Kuyt
Goals:
Aquilani 44'
Benayoun 95'
Forlan 102'
Typical of this season that Liverpool were knocked out with a stomach punch delivered by a former Manc less than five minutes after Anfield was sent into sheer ecstasy.

The end is nigh.

Streams:

MyP2P.eu
ChannelSurfing.net
Atdhe.net

Liverpool:

Reina
Mascherano Carragher Kyrgiakos Agger
Lucas Gerrard
Kuyt Aquilani El Zhar
Babel

Bench: Cavalieri, Ngog, Degen, Skrtel, Ayala, Robinson, Pacheco

Hull City:

Duke
Mendy Mouyokolo Gardner Dawson
Atkinson Boateng Cairney Kilbane
Cullen Vennegoor of Hesselink

Bench: Myhill, Cooper, McShane, Olofinjana, Barmby, Geovanni, Fagan

In the run-up:

Let's try to contain our excitement today.

Reports circulating in Israel are suggesting that Liverpool's death-faced midfielder Yossi Benayoun may be on the verge of completing a surprise switch to Chelsea over the next few days, and many of today's papers are speculation as to the whys and what-fors of the move.

However, judging by the thumbnail, it would seem the reason is obvious he just misses JT!

Liverpool reserve goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri would consider a European switch to secure first team football but has distanced himself from a potential move to Corinthians.
Cavalieri, 27, has yet to make a Premier League appearance in two years on Merseyside as he has played second fiddle to Spain World Cup 2010 shot stopper Pepe Reina.

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has told midfielder Lucas Leiva that he does have a future as a player at Anfield, according to a report from The Daily Mail.
The Brazilian has already reportedly been the subject of a £3 million bid from Serie A side Palermo, who have indicated a willingness to go higher with the fee if necessary.

Not much to report ahead of kick off against Kaiserslautern...

Streams:

MyP2P.eu
Empire of the Kop
ChannelSurfing.net

Liverpool:

Cavalieri
Kelly Ayala Kyrgiakos Darby
Jovanovic Spearing Lucas Amoo
Ngog Eccleston

Bench: Degen, Gulacsi, Irwin, Palsson, Robinson, Shelvey, Ince, Dalla Valle, Hansen

Based on the team sheet alone, I'm guessing that we'll see something resembling a 4-4-2 today.

Cavalieri
Kelly Kyrgiakos Ayala Darby
Amoo Lucas Spearing Jovanovic
Ngog Eccleston
Subs:
Degen for Jovanovic 45'
Ince for Kelly 68'
Dalla Valle for Ngog 73'
Shelvey for Lucas 73'
Palsson for Spearing 76'
Irwin for Kyrgiakos 77'
Robinson for Eccleston 81'
Goals:
Mitsanski 32'
A much more interesting spectacle than last Wednesday's friendly, but much more disappointing in many ways as well.

With the departure of longtime club favourite Rafael Benitez, a lack of Champions League football and a hard rebuilding job with minimum cash influx in front of Roy Hodgson, it's indeed a tough time to be a Liverpool fan as the decisions taken by Hodgson, Purslow and Broughton might go on to define the club for the foreseeable future.

Cavalieri
Johnson Carragher Ayala Insua
Ince Gerrard Shelvey Eccleston
Cole
Dalla Valle
Subs:
Jovanovic for Dalla Valle 46'
Wilson for Carragher 46'
Aurelio for Insua 60'
Darby for Johnson 60'
Amoo for Ince 62'
Spearing for Gerrard 62'
Aquilani for Cole 65'
Gulasci for Cavalieri 68'
Irwin for Eccleston 78'
Sterling for Shelvey 84'
Suso for Jovanovic 89'
Goals:
Matmour 8'
It was a very different side from the last two friendlies or the first Europa League qualifier, and it showed.

Technically a neighbor's internet, but it's still an injustice.

Obviously this means that I missed out on the squad's last friendly, but from the sound of things, it was another forgettable performance that thankfully has no bearing on the club's season.

So I'm going to skip out on any sort of match reflection because: a) I'm a frontrunner and b) the only match-related media I've seen is Karim Matmour's 8th minute strike off a Diego Cavalieri/Dani Ayala calamity.

Roy Hodgson insisted Liverpool's flying visit to Moenchengladbach was beneficial despite the day being ruined by some sloppy defending.
The Reds manager was satisfied with the efforts from a squad that was top heavy with young players and, on another day, they might have secured a credible draw.

Tonight's lineup against FK Rabotnicki in the Europa League 3rd Qualifying round: Liverpool: Cavalieri, Johnson, Skrtel, Carragher, Kelly, Jovanovic, Gerrard, Lucas, Cole, Pacheco, Ngog. Subs: Gulacsi, Aquilani, Kyrgiakos, Maxi, Wilson, Spearing, Eccleston.

Middlesborough have announced the sale of their keeper Brad Jones to Liverpool for a fee of £2.3 million.
The Aussie-born player who qualifies as a 'English' player because he has been at 'Boro for ten years, making 57 appearances.
He will act as under-study to Pepe Reina, while Diego Cavalieri is now expected to return to football in Europe.

New Liverpool signing Brad Jones says he is delighted to be a part of Roy Hodgson's side, and he hopes to learn a lot from Pepe Reina and possibly give the Spanish goalkeeper some pressure for the number one spot.

Reina's most recent game ended in disappointment as his gaff cost Liverpool two points, but overall the goalkeeper has been sensational for the Reds.

Diego Cavalieri is set to play his last game for Liverpool on Thursday night against Trabzonspor in the Europa League, as he heads off after the game to complete a medical at Cesena of the Serie A.

With a fee already agreed for the player, the keeper gets the chance to say goodbye to the Anfield crowd and hopefully help the Reds gain a good starting advantage over their Turkish opponents to take into their 2nd leg.

Liverpool have signed 28-year-old goalkeeper Brad Jones for a reported £2.3m from Championship side Middlesbrough. On the surface this may not look like a move that enlists much confidence in Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina who was responsible for letting in a last-minute equaliser against Arsenal, however, the truth of the matter is that Liverpool's current #2 Diego Cavalieri is set to join Italian side Cesena.

Liverpool have confirmed that goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri has left the club and...

Claudio Ranieri's Roma were unable to send out an early signal of their intentions to the rest of Serie A last night as they were held by Cesena at the Stadio Olimpico. The new boys to the league who featured Ghana's Stephen Appiah in midfield, were well worth the point they took from last seasons' Serie A runners-up.

Took this from another blog, still not in the mood to write:

Gillett: "We have invested more money than our competitors, in keeping with the history of the club"

Hicks: "Our debt is very managable.... and we never use player sales for debt service. The summer window will be big."

Tom Hicks (27 May 2010): "We have no intention of selling any of our top players and we have a substantial transfer budget in place.

According to figures posted yesterday, Premier League clubs paid an inordinate £67.1 million in order to sate the whims of the various agents, middle-men and brokers with which they dealt in the period between October 2009 and September 2010.

The results actually show a slight decrease from the £70.