Finally confirmed out for the season after a day filled with rumors, it's incredibly hard to forecast what Liverpool will do without Lucas. He's missed just three of Dalglish's 39 matches: rested for two, suspended for one. Since 2009, he's missed so few games that it's statistically irrelevant posting win-loss percentages with and without the player: he appeared in 34 of 38 league games in '10-11 and 35 of 38 in '09-10.

The international break's half done, which is good. But that still means there's a half left to go, which is rather less good. As always, you can catch all the week's action on the usual streaming sites—MyP2P, StopStream, First Row Sports, ATDHE, etc.—if your local television options don't have the match you want covered.

Even though tonights game was a International Friendly, It was never gunna be a friendly with all the pre-match hype, Denmark and Sweden have obviously got a big history + rivalry both from being from Scandinavia. Nicklas Bendtner had hit 3 goals and an assist in his last 3 games for Denmark, so he was on fire going into tonight's game.

Even though tonights game was a International Friendly, It was never gunna be a friendly with all the pre-match hype, Denmark and Sweden have obviously got a big history + rivalry both from being from Scandinavia. Nicklas Bendtner had hit 3 goals and an assist in his last 3 games for Denmark, so he was on fire going into tonight's game.

Denmark and Sweden meet again on Friday night in an International Friendly Match, the two Scandinavian rivals met last time in late 09′ for the World Cup South Africa 10′ Qualifiers, in a decider to see who will qualify out of the group. Denmark came out victorious that night, with Bendtner squaring it to Jakob Poulsen, who hit a hard low powerful shot past the keeper from 20 yards, Which saw them qualify.

Nicklas Bendtner has been in fine form for club and country, with assist and goals whilst representing both, N.B-52 has been put out on loan to the North-East of England to the Stadium Of Light, Sunderland, who have had an indifferent start to the season.

Denmark face Sweden on 11th November @ the Parken stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark.

N.B-52 will be starting in Denmark's vitally important clash with Cyprus on Friday evening @ the GSP Stadium in Nicosia @ 19.30PM. The Dane's then face Portugal in Parken @ 19:15, Copenhagen next Tuesday evening. Denmark will be missing key players such as talented attacking Ajax full back N.

The window closes on Wednesday at midnight in England, and with Liverpool getting the bulk of their incomings sorted well before the season even started there may not be all that much room for the excitement of a last minute acquisition or three. Still, there are a few chunks of remaining deadwood the club would desperately love to be rid of at any cost.

Squad sheets: Arsenal v Liverpool

Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool provided one of the horror moments of last season for Arsenal when they equalised in the 102nd minute at the Emirates, and they might not get a better chance to inflict more pain. Arsène Wenger is under siege, with his problems taking in a clutch of injuries and suspensions, Samir Nasri, and the difficulties in making signings.

The difference a year makes. From Hicks and Gillett setting the club's money on fire to FSG opening the checkbook at will. From an owl-faced over-matched media darling who "deserved a chance" as manager to the club's greatest living legend. Checking under couch cushions for the privilege of buying Konchesky and Poulsen to slightly less than £50m spent on Adam, Doni, Downing, Enrique, and Henderson.

Nicklas Bendtner started in the centre forward role this evening wearing the trademark no.11 top he usually don's for his native country, in his first game in pre-season all summer. The Dane's travelled to Glasgow, Scotland to take on the Tartan Army. It was all one way traffic in the first twenty mins with Denmark taking control passing the ball with fluidity around the pitch, Scotland couldn't get near them at times, Eriksen, Kvist, C.

It's not even August, and Kenny Dalglish has been busier than the Pitt-Jolie's au pair brigade when it comes to restocking the barren midfield corps that awaited him last January. Well, it's perhaps disingenuous to call it barren; more like, not stocked particularly well. Like if a $30 dish at a fine dining establishment boasted signature ingredients like soap, anchovies, a box of Rice-A-Roni, and a plunger.

Latest rumours surrounding Serbian International, Milan Jovanovic appear to suggest that the player has almost agreed personal terms with Belgian club Anderlecht.
His agent has claimed that a deal has almost been done between the two clubs and that all that remains now is for the forward to agree his weekly wages with the club.

Doni
Flanagan Kelly Kyrgiakos Robinson
Poulsen Shelvey
Degen Cole Insua
Carroll
Subs:
• 46' – Kuyt for Degen
• 46' – Aquilani for Robinson
• 46' – Jones for Doni
• 68' – Spearing for Shelvey
• 70' – Ayala for Kelly
• 82' – Coady for Poulsen
• 82' – Wisdom for Carroll
Goals:
Baros 8' 39'
Elmander 85'
Almost exactly like Hull, except the third conceded came much later and was far sloppier, and without the wholesale halftime changes.

**This week's guest post comes courtesy of Joel, who's been commenting regularly and contributed a post earlier in the summer. Written before yesterday's loss at Hull City, he dissects the tactics used in the first two friendlies and what we're likely to see going forward.

First Half
Doni
Kelly Carragher Ayala Robinson
Poulsen Coady
Cole Aquilani Maxi
Ngog
Second Half
Jones
Flanagan Kyrgiakos Wilson Insua
Spearing Adam
Kuyt Henderson Downing
Carroll
Goals
Brady 21'
Koren 34'
Simpson 58'
Let's get the excuses out of the way now.

Liverpool play Hull in their first pre season friendly in the England of the 2011/2012 campaign. Here is how the team lines up. Doni, Kelly, Carragher, Ayala, Robinson, Poulsen, Coady, Aquilani,...

First Half
Jones
Flanagan Carragher Agger Robinson
Spearing Coady Adam
Meireles Cole
Carroll
Second Half
Gulasci
Kelly Kyrgiakos Wilson Insua
Shelvey Poulsen
Kuyt Aquilani Maxi
Ngog
- Hansen for Gulasci 69'
Goals:
Adam 27' (pen)
Rahim 42'
Ngog 68' 70'
Maxi 75' 90+1
Safee 79' 82'
Kuyt 90+4'
Liverpool made sure to entertain on its Far East trip, scoring 10 while conceding six in its two Asian preseason games.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Jozy Altidore's club career since heading over to Europe has not gone as well as he would have liked, and that might explain why Altidore was full of smiles when he announced the next phase in his career.

Liverpool FC 2010/11 3 Best & Worst Performances

AnfieldIndex Liverpool FC Stats | Liverpool FC Blog | Liverpool FC Forum 2010/11 was a season of two halves for Liverpool FC. From the mediocrity of Roy Hodgson to the success of Kenny Dalglish – there were many ups and downs.

First Half:
Gulasci
Kelly Carragher Wilson Flanagan
Poulsen Spearing
Cole Shelvey Pacheco
Ngog
Second Half:
Jones
Wisdom Kyrgiakos Agger Robinson
Coady Adam
Kuyt Aquilani Maxi
Carroll
• Hansen on for Jones 71'
Goals:
Poulsen 19'
Ngog 22'
Steer 45+1'
Coady 72'
Carroll 85'
Liu Lin 90'
Hongbo 90+2'
Three sloppy goals conceded – one in first half injury time, two in second half injury time – take the shine off of what was otherwise one of Liverpool's best first preseason friendly performances in recent memory.

The Liverpool FC line up for today's pre-season friendly in Singapore against Guangdong Sunray Cave, is as follows:

Starting 11:
Gulacsi, Flanagan, Kelly, Carragher, Wilson, Poulsen, Spearing, Shelvey, Cole, Pacheco, Ngog.

Subs:
Hansen, Agger, Kyrgiakos, Robinson, Wisdom, Adam, Aquilani, Coady, Kuyt, Carroll.

The never-ending story finally has its conclusion. Our long international nightmare is over, and Charlie Adam will sign for Liverpool after completing his 17th medical (rough estimate). Danny Wilson and Jonjo Shelvey continue to be mentioned as possible makeweights on loan, but that hasn't been confirmed.

Nicklas Bendtner has been named in the starting eleven for Denmark in the European Championship 12 qualifier against Iceland, confirmed by Denmark Head Coach, Morten Olsen. The match kick's off @ 7:45 PM

The Team;

Sorensen- S.Poulsen- Lars Jacobsen- Bo Svensson- Simon Kjaer; Kvist -Poulsen ;-Rommedahl- -Krohn_Dehli- Eriksen- Nicklas Bendtner * ;

Article By Matthew Collins

This is what Hicks and Gillett did to Liverpool's playing squad.
Yes, Benitez had a Redknappian fondness for wheeling and dealing – and had to rebuild right away despite winning the Champions League in his first season – but an awful lot of that business was compelled by the tumors' poverty and indebtedness, evident in the number of transfers in the last two to three seasons.

Up until the last four games, Jay Spearing's rarely looked liked having a long-term future at Liverpool. Admittedly, he also hadn't gotten a consistent run in the side until Gerrard's season-ending injury, only once playing more than two consecutive games: earlier this season against Steaua and Northampton.

Danish national manager Morten Olsen has confirmed Nicklas Bendtner's injury has got better and he will be fit enough to start for The Dane's in Oslo. There was a scare on Wednesday morning when NB limped off the training field holding his ankle but it seems to have cleared up now.

Danish manager confirmed the starting line up will be .

When Liverpool lined up against Braga last night, it was hard to see where our attacking threat was going to come from with Poulsen, Lucas and Spearing starting in the centre of midfield, and the first half performance against the Portuguese outfit was clearly below par.

read more

1pm ET, live in the US on GolTV
Round of 32:
Liverpool: 1-0 Sparta (h); 0-0 Sparta (a)
Braga: 2-0 Lech Poznan (h); 0-1 Lech Poznan (a)
Group Stage Results:
Liverpool: 0-0 Utrecht (h); 1-1 Steaua (a); 3-1 Napoli (a); 0-0 Napoli (a); 0-0 Utrecht (a); 4-1 Steaua (h)
Braga: 0-2 Shakhtar (a); 2-0 Arsenal (h); 1-0 Partizan (a); 2-0 Partizan (h); 0-2 Shakhtar (h); 0-6 Arsenal (a) [Champions League]
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 3-1 United (h); 1-3 West Ham (a); 1-0 Sparta (h)
Braga: 2-1 Benfica (h); 0-0 Naval (a); 2-0 Lech Poznan (h)
Goalscorers (Europe):
Liverpool: Ngog 5; Gerrard 4; Kuyt 2; Cole, Jovanovic, Lucas 1
Braga: Lima 5; Alan 2; Echiejlie, Paulo Cesar 1
Referee: Serge Gumienny (BEL)
Guess at a lineup:
Reina
Carragher Kyrgiakos Skrtel Johnson
Lucas Poulsen
Maxi Meireles Cole
Kuyt
We knew that Shelvey, Kelly, Aurelio, and Agger would definitely be out.

8:30am ET, live in the US on FSC
Last four head-to-head:
0-1 United (a; FA Cup) 01.09.11
2-3 United (a) 09.19.10
1-2 United (a) 03.21.10
2-0 Liverpool (h) 10.25.09
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 1-3 West Ham (a); 1-0 Sparta (h); 0-0 Sparta (a)
United: 1-2 Chelsea (a); 4-0 Wigan (a); 0-0 Marseille (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Meireles 5; Gerrard, Kuyt 4; Maxi 3; Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ngog 2; Cole, Skrtel, Suarez 1
United: Berbatov 19; Chicharito, Nani 9; Rooney 7; Park, Vidic 4; Fletcher, Giggs 2; Evra, Fabio, Macheda, Owen, Scholes 1
Referee: Phil Dowd
Guesses at a line-up:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Skrtel Aurelio
Lucas Gerrard
Kuyt Meireles Maxi
Suarez
So, who's fit?

Liverpool escaped Europa League exit at Anfield as Dirk Kuyt finally found the net with only minutes to spare against Sparta Prague.
The approach and attitude from Liverpool was good, pass, move, go forward, attack the opposition at all times and the defence was comfortable with everything the Spartans had to throw them.

1pm, live in the US on DirecTV channel 481 (HD on 481-1)
0-0 on aggregate
Group Stage Results:
Liverpool: 0-0 Utrecht (h); 1-1 Steaua (a); 3-1 Napoli (a); 0-0 Napoli (a); 0-0 Utrecht (a); 4-1 Steaua (h)
Sparta: 1-1 CSKA Moscow (h); 2-2 Palermo (a); 3-1 Lausanne (a); 3-3 Lausanne (h); 0-3 CSKA Moscow; 3-2 Palermo (h)
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 0-0 Sparta (a); 1-1 Wigan (h); 1-0 Chelsea (a)
Sparta: 0-0 Liverpool (h); 1-1 CSKA Moscow (h); 2-2 Palermo (a)
Goalscorers (Europe):
Liverpool: Ngog 5; Gerrard 4; Babel, Cole, Jovanovic, Kuyt, Lucas 1
Sparta: Kadlec, Kladrubsky 2; Kweuke 1
Referee: Milorad Mažić (SRB)
Guess at a lineup:
Reina
Carragher Skrtel Agger
Kelly Lucas Spearing Johnson
Meireles Cole
Kuyt
With the resumption of league matches on Sunday after a two-week respite, pre-match questions remain the same.

I'm reflecting on the scathing post that I put up yesterday and am wondering now if I was too harsh in my assessment. Clearly, we put on a second rate display (at best). But is it fair and realistic to expect the players that took the field to perform at the standard that we're used to expecting from our first team?

3:05pm, live in the US on GolTV
Group Stage Results:
Liverpool: 0-0 Utrecht (h); 1-1 Steaua (a); 3-1 Napoli (a); 0-0 Napoli (a); 0-0 Utrecht (a); 4-1 Steaua (h)
Sparta: 1-1 CSKA Moscow (h); 2-2 Palermo (a); 3-1 Lausanne (a); 3-3 Lausanne (h); 0-3 CSKA Moscow; 3-2 Palermo (h)
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 1-1 Wigan (h); 1-0 Chelsea (a); 2-0 Stoke (h)
Sparta: 1-1 CSKA Moscow (h); 2-2 Palermo (a); 2-0 České Budějovice (h)
Goalscorers (Europe):
Liverpool: Ngog 5; Gerrard 4; Babel, Cole, Jovanovic, Kuyt, Lucas 1
Sparta: Kadlec, Kladrubsky 2; Kweuke 1
Referee: Florian Meyer (GER)
Meyer has actually done a Liverpool match before: a 2003 UEFA Cup tie against Steaua at Anfield, which Liverpool won 1-0.

Nikola Saric struck a late winner as Liverpool Reserves continued their fine form with a 1-0 friendly success against Crewe on Tuesday afternoon.
The Danish striker cut in on his left foot and unleashed a low drive into the far corner on 84 minutes as a young second-string side edged out the Railwaymen in front of the watching Kenny Dalglish.

10am ET, live in the US on FSC
Last four head-to-head:
1-1 (a) 11.10.10
0-1 Wigan (a) 03.08.10

2-1 Liverpool (h) 12.16.09
1-1 (a) 01.28.09
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 1-0 Chelsea (a); 2-0 Stoke (h); 1-0 Fulham (h)
Wigan: 4-3 Blackburn (h); 2-2 WBA (a); 0-0 Bolton (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Gerrard, Kuyt, Meireles 4; Maxi 3; Kyrgiakos, Ngog 2; Cole, Johnson, Skrtel, Suarez 1
Wigan: Rodallega 7; N'Zogbia 4; Cleverly, McCarthy, Watson 3; Alcaraz, Gomez, Moses, Stam 1
Referee: Kevin Friend
Guesses at a line-up:
if 3-5-2
Reina
Kelly Carragher Agger
Johnson Gerrard Lucas Meireles Aurelio
Suarez
Kuyt
if 4-3-3/4-2-3-1
Reina
Kelly Carragher Agger Johnson
Lucas Gerrard
Maxi Meireles Suarez
Kuyt
Will Liverpool stick with three at the back?

By Chris Wright

Whereas it's easy to dismiss them as being futile exhibitions of nothing in particular, international friendlies do serve a purpose they provide a platform for experimentation in a competitive (if not by name) atmosphere, and afford national managers the stage to tinker with the personnel at their disposal with the safety net of being assured that the outcome will be completely non-decisive.

Nicklas Bendtner has been selected in the Denmark 21- squad for their upcoming game this Wednesday Vs England @ the Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Viewers in England can catch the game on ITV 1, It should be an interesting game with NB52 expected to start.

The squad is as follows . . .

**With no real breaking news on the transfer front and Ed and I feeling as though there's little more to say that hasn't already been said, it seems as though it wouldn't hurt to bump this post on tactics back to the top of the page. It went up while people were already occupied with the initial Torres rumours, and an hour later the Suarez story broke and completely buried it.

By Chris Wright

Perhaps an indication of the 'short-term' nature that has engulfed everything pertaining to Liverpool FC over the past few years, it seems that one win over a patchy Wolves outfit has transmogrified a universally panned rabble into a fluid unit akin to that of the legendary 1970′s Dutch national side at least as far as 'Deadly Dirk Kuyt is concerned, who also jibed former manager Roy Hodgson's slightly 'agricultural' approach:

"[Playing under Dalglish] comes close to the old Dutch style.