Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez insisted his side will finish in the Champions League places following their 2-2 home draw with Manchester City.
The Reds have lost five and drawn two of their opening 13 Premier League matches and are now 13 points adrift of Premier League leaders Chelsea.
But a defiant Benitez said: "When we have all our players coming back I am confident we will start winning games. Click to continue reading...

Rafa Benitez needs to drop the handbrake and throw in Alberto Aquilani to put Liverpool's season into top gear.
This is a crossroads fixture for both teams and already seen as crucial for Liverpool and Manchester City.
But City have missed the chance to put daylight between themselves and Liverpool in recent weeks. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres is losing his fight to be fit for next week's Merseyside derby.
Liverpool's Spanish striker is sidelined by a groin injury since playing through the pain barrier in the Champions League draw with Lyon at the start of the month. He returned to training last week and was expected to return this week. Click to continue reading...

Mark Hughes will make another audacious bid to prise Fernando Torres away from Anfield if Manchester City replace Liverpool in the Premier League's so-called Big Four this season.
Manchester City had a £70million offer for Spain striker Fernando Torres rejected last summer but will go back for him if they qualify for the Champions League for the first time. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool hosted Manchester City in the English Premier League on Saturday, November 21, 2009. The match took place at Anfield as Steven Gerrard returned to the line-up for Liverpool but Fernando Torres was out with an injury. Were Liverpool able to get a much needed win or did Manchester City show they are ready to challenge for a top four finish?

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Video goal highlights from the Liverpool vs Manchester City Premier League game on Saturday, November 21, 2009. Game kicks off at 12.45 UK time at Anfield, Liverpool. The Reds will have Steven Gerrard in their starting lineup, but will be without Fernando Torres. Manchester City go into this game having drawn their last five games [. Click to continue reading...

The International break is over and it is time to get back to Premier League action. The big game this weekend has to be the lunch time match up between Liverpool and Manchester City.

Liverpool v Man City
This is really a huge game for two teams who have Champions League ambitions.

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The International break is over and it is time to get back to Premier League action. The big game this weekend has to be the lunch time match up between Liverpool and Manchester City.

Liverpool v Man City
This is really a huge game for two teams who have Champions League ambitions.

Click to continue reading...

The first Premier League match of the weekend also happens to be one of the biggest, as Liverpool look to revive their season when they take on top four chasing Manchester City.
The Reds' 2-2 draw with Birmingham City last time out stretched their horror run to one win in nine games. With five league losses already, it would appear that their title race is all but run. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benitez acknowledges that Liverpool's clash with Manchester City on Saturday is 'make or break' to their hopes of ensuring Champions League football next season.
The stakes are very high for boss Benitez, who has sent four players - Yossi Benayoun, Albert Riera, Glen Johnson and Fabio Aurelio - to Belgrade this week for unorthodox placenta cell treatment on their injuries. Click to continue reading...

Ian Ayre, the commercial director of English soccer club Liverpool, has paid tribute to the club's Spanish links, following the acquisition of the Spain Tourist Board as a sponsor and the success of Spanish driver Adrian Valles in the team's Superleague Formula motorsport franchise.
Turespaña, the Spain Tourism Board, signed a three-year contract with the club, which is managed by Rafa Benitez and has a number of Spanish stars including goalkeeper Pepe Reina and striker Fernando Torres. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool clash with Manchester City this weekend and Rafael Benitez will be hoping the international break will have given his side the opportunity to turn their recent shoddy form around.
Roaming right-back Glen Johnson, according to Benitez, has received the experimental placenta massage that Arsenal striker Robin van Persie elected to try following the injury he sustained while representing Netherlands. Click to continue reading...

Rafa Benitez said he would quit Liverpool if Fernando Torres is sold. The Spanish striker could have been sold last summer to Manchester City if Benitez had accepted their offer – and there will no doubt be more enquiries coming in for Torres until the day he does actually leave.
But what is remarkable about the offer made to Liverpool last summer is the scale of the City bid: £70million for Torres plus and additional £30million for Javier Mascherano. Click to continue reading...

The congestion of international, domestic and cup competitions is beginning to show as the injury lists grow longer. Several top stars will be missing from the Matchday 5 stage. Let's take a look at how this might impact the results and standings.

Eric Abidal D Barcelona
The 30-year-old suffered a thigh injury on international duty with France and will miss games against Athletic Club Bilbao at the weekend, Internazionale on Tuesday, and their massive derby with Real Madrid five days later.

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EA Sports' FIFA franchise strives for realism, to approximate the experience of being a footballer or managing a club. When you see the gaudy, arcade style interface of FIFA 10 for the Wii, you realize this will be a very different game.

Creating for the Wii constrains developers.

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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:
I. Click to continue reading...

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...

RAFA BENITEZ is confident David Ngog will be available to face Manchester City this weekend – despite breaking his nose on international duty.
The young striker sustained the injury during a training session with France's Under-21 squad last week and has returned to Melwood for treatment. Click to continue reading...

Glen Johnson and Fabio Aurelio have become the latest Liverpool players to visit radical therapist Mariana Kovacevic in an attempt to end their injury problems.
Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun flew to Belgrade earlier this week to see Kovacevic, who has become famous for treating sportsmen with the liquid from horse placenta. Click to continue reading...

Rio Ferdinand will not play for Manchester United again this year.

The England centre-back has been told he needs another six weeks of rest and physio work before his back will be strong enough for Premier League football.

Ferdinand, 31, had been playing with back problems since last season leading to a calf injury this term.

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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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España volvía a pisar el terreno de juego que le vio coronarse como Campeón de Europa, el Ernst Happel austriaco, dónde el 29 de junio de 2008, Casillas levantó la Eurocopa tras vencer en la final a Alemania con gol de Fernando Torres.
Ayer el rival no era Alemania, era Austria, un rival muy asequible. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez would rather win the Premier League trophy than another Champions League title.
Following a disappointing start to the season which has seen them lose five league games already, many are ruling Liverpool out of the title race this term.
Nevertheless, Benítez, who brought the Champions League trophy to Anfield in 2005, is desperate to claim the domestic crown. Click to continue reading...

On Saturday afternoon, just before 12.45, a big-spending manager will take his seat in the dugout at Anfield aware that his side is desperate for a victory to ease the mounting pressure. Defeat will bring an avalanche of criticism. Yes, Mark Hughes could be in for a torrid afternoon if his Manchester City side is beaten by Liverpool. Click to continue reading...

Eintracht Frankfurt manager Michael Skibbe admits the club might be priced out of a move for Andriy Voronin.
The Liverpool striker has been linked with a move away from Anfield after failing to establish himself in the Reds first team, with manager Rafael Benitez preferring David Ngog as back-up for star forward Fernando Torres. Click to continue reading...

Rafa Benitez today revealed that he originally bought Robbie Keane to be the linkman between Gareth Barry and Fernando Torres.But when he failed to sign Barry, Robbie Keane was quickly sold "as collateral damage".That clears that one up then. I thought Keane was sold because Benitez didn't fancy him as a player. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool have been given a boost ahead of their crucial Champions League tie with Debrecen by the news that captain Steven Gerrard should be back for the game.

The club currently sit in third place in Group E on four points and are five behind Fiorentina in second place with only two games remaining.

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- Egypt and Algeria are into the play-off which is slated to be played on Wednesday. It's amazing how important this game is. It took a dramatic 2-0 win by Egypt on the final match day to force this one-game winner-take-all match where the victorious team will enter the 2010 World Cup while the loser will [. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez finally catches a break as he knew this week that he could count with Steven Gerrard and David Ngog to face Manchester City on Saturday. The odds for this game can change a bid in any good sports book as these two players are available to play. Gerrard has been vulnerable for [. Click to continue reading...

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...

Steven Gerrard is confident of making his first Liverpool start for a month against Manchester City on Saturday after revealing an anti-inflammatory injection has alleviated the need for groin surgery.
The Liverpool captain had the injection almost two weeks ago in an attempt to avoid an operation on the adductor problem he suffered playing for England against Ukraine on 10 October. 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...

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by FRANCO PANIZO

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has warned the club he would quit if striker Fernando Torres were ever sold without his consent.

Speculation has surrounded the Spanish international's future with the club due to its largely-publicized financial debt.

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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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