Nathan Eccleston scored the all important goal to give Liverpool the bragging rights in this derby.

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A lot of you might have noticed the poppy flower adorning attire of managers, broadcasters, players' shirts etc. to mark Remembrance week. Sportsmail (or, indeed, the Daily Mail) have led this campaign to get all Premier League clubs to have an embroidered poppy on club kits. Personally, I didn't have much of a problem with a campaign of this sort.

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Rafa Benitez revealed he has held talks with Liverpool CEO Christian Purslow about the consequences of failure in the Champions League this season, about which Benitez said: "The first thing though is that we have confidence we can still reach the last 16 this season".
That is going to need already qualified Lyon to Beat Fiorentina away, not going to happen. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool striker David Ngog wants to score more goals for Rafa Benitez to repay the Spaniard for improving his game.
The 20-year-old has netted twice in the Premier League this term - against Stoke City and Manchester United - in four substitute appearances.
The France Under-21 international has also scored in the Carling Cup against Leeds and for the reserves. Click to continue reading...

Barcelona are reportedly preparing a bid for Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano, who the Merseyside club are preparing to offload during the winter transfer window according to Spanish publication El Mundo Deportivo.
The Argentine central midfielder, who holds an Italian passport, was a summer target for the Blaugrana and had showed signs of a desire to make the switch before Reds boss Rafael Benitez insisted he would not be leaving. Click to continue reading...

Fabio Aurelio is winning his battle to be fit to return to action on Monday – and to take his place in the Brazil squad for the first time.
Aurelio, who is in the last year of his current contract, has missed Liverpool's last two games against Fulham and Lyon with a calf problem.
His form before that, though, had been good enough to catch the eye of Brazil coach Dunga, who will take Aurelio and Reds midfielder Lucas to Qatar for next Saturday's friendly with England. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres will defy doctor's orders to try to haul Liverpool out of their slump.
Groin-strain victim Torres wants to play against Birmingham on Monday despite being told not to play for THREE weeks.
It could spark a row with Spain who agreed not to pick Torres, 25, for their prestige date with Argentina. Click to continue reading...

Carlo Ancelotti claimed yesterday that Liverpool can no longer win the Barclays Premier League title, although such a dismissive attitude will not stop him seeking to follow their example when Chelsea face Manchester United on Sunday.
Chelsea can open a five-point gap at the top of table by beating United at Stamford Bridge and victory would put them 12 points clear of sixth-placed Liverpool, who host Birmingham City on Monday night. Click to continue reading...

The shrill of Franck de Bleeckere's final whistle had barely subsided when the phone-ins started, looking to apportion blame for Liverpool's Champions League struggles.
Predictably, the names were the same. Angry of Anfield and Worried of Woolton all knew which players were culpable for stopping Liverpool securing a win in Lyon which would have kept them in control of their European destiny. Click to continue reading...

Aaron Ramsey has been rewarded for his superb Carling Cup performance against Liverpool — by being handed a start against Wolves this evening. Gunners striker Eduardo is also given a chance upfront alongside the in-form Robin van Persie, while Kieran Gibbs continues at left back due to Gael Clichy's stress fracture. Click to continue reading...

3pm, live in the US on espn2
Sorry this is late, but I wanted to wait given the injuries and the game being on Monday. Posting on Friday morning like usual would have meant even more baseless speculation over who's available.
Last 4 head-to-head:
2-2 (a) 04.26.08
0-0 (h) 09. Click to continue reading...

Goal video highlights from the Wolves ( Wolverhampton Wanderers) vs Arsenal Premier League game on Saturday, November 7, 2009. Game kicks off at Molineux at 17.30 UK time. Arsenal are the only four out of the big four to be playing on Saturday, with Chelsea and United clashing on Sunday and Liverpool playing Birmingham City [. Click to continue reading...

No matter what happens from now until the end of the season, and whether we finish in the top 4 or not, there are a number of recent transfer deals that bother me greatly - signings, sales or missed opportunities that could've improved our squad and afforded us more depth than we currently have.
The deals relevant to last season may even have turned some of those nagging draws in wins, maybe giving us enough points to have snatched the title from Man Ure. Click to continue reading...

Gerrard out. Johnson out. Aurelio out. Torres half-fit. Several other players doubtful. Two defeats in three CL games. Third in the CL group table. eight defeats since the start of the season. Liverpool have no chance of beating Lyon on their own ground, right? WRONG.
Liverpool thrive on being underdogs and if history has proven one thing about the club it's this: in times of adversity, and when everything looks hopeless, Liverpool can and will triumph. Click to continue reading...

The decision of Manchester United and Liverpool not to have an embroidered red poppy on their shirts has caused quite a fuss. United have said that the poppy will not show up on their shirts and with all the work and charity they already do for the armed forces, don't feel that joining other Premiership clubs in having a poppy on their shirt will add to the contribution.

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Goal video highlights from the Tottenham vs Sunderland Premier League game on November 7, 2009. Game kicks off at White Hart Lane at 15.00 UK time. Tottenham Hotspur are fifth in the table going into this game, and Sunderland, who are currently 8th could move above Harry Redknapp's side if they beat Spurs on Saturday [. Click to continue reading...

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For those of you are brave enough to describe the above picture with words, it's caption time!

Bonus points if you can find Lisandro in this picture.

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On this week's podcast we focus on the history of the game and in particular folk football. Damon and I have had to endure a tough week as both Liverpool and Tottenham continue to struggle. All these stories and more feature in this week's podcast. Come along to the site at languagecaster.com to read more.

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Several Premier League clubs announced today changes to their January fixtures so matches can be moved to TV timeslots. As a result, we can infer which matches will be shown on the US soccer TV networks.

January's highlights include:

• Arsenal v Manchester United, Sunday, January 31, 11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel
• Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspur, Sunday, January 10, 11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel
• Birmingham v Man United, Saturday, January 9, 12;30pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel
• Hull v Chelsea, Saturday, January 9, 7:45am ET, ESPN2

Be sure to read the complete TV schedule of Premier League matches shown in the US.

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Ligue 1 teams had an amazing week in the Champions League (not so much in the Europa) that somewhat validated my prediction of French teams being real contenders this year. While Bordeaux won with class and Lyon once again upset Liverpool in the same manner they did 2 weeks ago, Marseille destroyed Zurich and are now in a position to make Real and Milan sweat. Click to continue reading...

Aside from the Manchester United scalp, Liverpool are winless since late September - a feat Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish hopes won't be remedied when his side take on Rafael Benitez's Reds on Monday evening.
McLeish, however, empathises with Benitez over the situation that has engulfed Anfield.

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Liverpool defender Daniel Agger is taking heart from the Reds' positive performance against Olympique Lyonnais this week, despite the disappointing result – a 1-1 draw placed the Merseysiders' hopes of progress in the Champions League in severe doubt.
"You get what you deserve in football and you have to look at closing the game down otherwise you get punished in the way we did in Lyon," he told the club's official website.

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Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is looking at Hamburg's Dutch midfielder Eljero Elia to help solve his Anfield crisis.
Benitez has sent scouts to watch the 22-year-old midfielder this season and is desperate to strengthen his squad, despite him being under pressure to save his job.
Under-fire Benitez has suggested agreeing a deal for Elia - who joined Hamburg from FC Twente for £7m in August - and then allowing him to stay in Germany until next summer as he is so keen to get him. Click to continue reading...

Steven Gerrard believes there are several exciting prospects at the Academy who could one day take the Premier League by storm.
Not since Gerrard broke on to the scene in 1998 has Liverpool produced a world-class star.
The skipper, though, thinks all that could soon change as the new-look Academy led by Frank McParland and Kenny Dalglish looks to get players into Rafa Benitez's first team. Click to continue reading...

I have to say I'm quite liking Arsenal's current situation; the team is playign really well and everyone off the bench also fits in exceptionally, which is great and the first time I believe this in a while! To add to this the media are not rating us this may be a bit down heartening for the players but there is currently no pressure on them, unlike Chelsea Man Utd and Liverpool.

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While Wednesday's heartbreaking draw against Lyon didn't seal Liverpool's place in the Europa League it did put our chances on life support. Aside from needing to defeat Debrecen, Liverpool will also need some help from Lyon to keep the potential miracle alive. But what if Lyon and Fiorentina draw? Click to continue reading...

The 4-1 thumping of Alkmaar in midweek was an immensely satisfying affair, a triumph of footballing philosophy over the defensive nous of coaches such as Ronald Koeman, and yet another demonstration that this Arsenal team is serious about combining footballing beauty with tangible success.

But prior the the match, there was a definite sense of relaxation amongst the fans, as if the game really didn't matter, so assured was our progress regardless of the result.

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Liverpool will feel that they should have won the game at the Stage Gerland against Olympique Lyonnais, as they dominated for the most part, but crucially lost their concentration towards the end. Ryan Babel scored a scorcher from 25 yards with a little over five minutes to go, giving the Merseysiders a great chance of walking [. Click to continue reading...

Better him than Usmanov

News fluttered in yesterday that the American tycoon, Stan Kroenke has purchased more Arsenal shares to bring his shares to 29.9%. Just 0.09% short of needing to make a move for the rest of the shares. Now I've reserved my thoughts on this matter for quite some time as it has already been highlighted in many other blogs and there is no need for me to talk anymore about it, but with Stan so close to a takeover, I guessed now is as good a time as any to give this topic a special mention.

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The agent of Andrea Dossena has released a statement denying that the player is in talks with Napoli ahead of a potential return to Serie A in the January transfer window.

The Italian international has struggled to settle in the Premier League following his £7m transfer from Udinese in the summer of 2008 and has failed to hold down a regular starting place in a Liverpool shirt.

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Injury problems. Shoddy defending. Indifferent form. His burgeoning interests off field. Rio Ferdinand's season has been on the wane.

It was on display against Ukraine and since then it has gotten worse. A struggling Rio futilely pulling on Fernando Torres jersey in the Liverpool match as the Spanish striker blasts the ball past Van Der Saar.

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Why didn't Alberto Aquilani play any part of the Lyon game? Can someone please explain to me the logic behind keeping him on the bench for the full 90 minutes because I just don't get it.
Aquilani was on the bench against Lyon therefore he must be fit. He was even warming up at one stage. Click to continue reading...

Chelsea-Manchester United

First off wowsers!  When we say this weekend is a big match we don't exaggerate (like some other weeks) as number one hosts number two in this fight for the top spot. These two clubs have passed off the honor of being the Premier League's best week by week and this week seems to be the match where we will find out which team truly is the better squad.

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This post, which is totally for subscribers only, examines the performance of the English refereeing team for the Europa Cup match in Croatia yesterday between Dinamo Zagreb and Ajax Amsterdam.
The referee was Mike Dean, neatly fitting this event in between two live BSkyB matches.
Will he match his skip of delight at giving Birmingham their penalty last Sunday? Click to continue reading...