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liverpool maintain their slender lead over the premier league, thanks to a great display against bolton wanderers in last night’s traditional boxing day clash.  the reds began well, controling the ball and dominating possession. bolton had very few opportunities to threaten, as liverpool pushed forward in search of the opening goal.

they only had to wait 20 minutes before the deadlock was broken. bolton had conceded a succession of corners and their defence had begun to show cracks. from a great steven gerrard corner, reira angled a deflection into the near post, beating the bolton keeper.

liverpool finished the half with 70% possession and a one goal lead. then, after the break, the reds continued their good form and dominated the match, denying bolton any opportunities to attack.

in the 53rd minute, under fire striker robbie keane went on a rampage, scoring two goals in five minutes.  the first goal came after a great gerrard cross. keane’s first touch controlled the ball and his second touch was smashed into the net. keane struck again after a move started by reina, who threw a long ball to alonso. the spaniard found benayoun who crossed to keane. the irish striker again smashed the ball home, to the rousing cheers of the anfield faithful.

keane celebrated his return to form, having scored three goals in two games, and also silenced his critics - who have accused keane of being a failure since his move to anfield. the reds were riding high and were full of confidence. agger, gerrard and even carragher were taking shots at goal. carragher’s powerful left footed drive flashed across goal.

liverpool retain their lead by a single point after rivals chelsea also won their match. manchester united won, and are 7 points behind but with two games in hand. if united win both of their extra games, there will be a single point separating the top three teams … creating a very tight race for the title.

liverpool now look to sunday’s lunch time game against newcastle united. the reds will be hoping that torres will be able to return from injury and take his place in the side. liverpool need to continue their winning form and ensure they remain in the hunt for the title.

liverpool’s young stars have given the reds a thumping 3-1 victory over psv eindhoven in the netherlands overnight. although a dead rubber, since liverpool have already qualified, the anfield squad headed into the game hopeful of finishing on top of the group, ensuring an easier draw during the knockout stages.

liverpool did it in style, thanks to a commanding performance by their young gun players.

the reds looked unsettled in the first half, with few passes finding their mark. psv too made a poor start, but were rewarded with the first goal after mascherano failed to clear the ball. babel equalised in first half injury time with a downward header into the bottom left corner. although not a powerful header, the shot was deflected at an angle that was awkward and almost impossible for psv’s keeper to save.

liverpool were a much better side in the second half and came out looking for more goals. they almost got immediate results when babel chose to shoot instead of pass to an unmarked keane. reira though was the one to break the deadlock. surging into psv’s half, the winger released a cracking left footer from 20 yards out, taking the keeper completely by surprise with its pace, and finding the back of the net.

ngog, another of liverpool’s up and coming stars, also got into the goals after a good run by keane down the right wing found ngog, who outran his marker and shot at a difficult angle past the keeper toward the far post. liverpool might have scored a fourth after keane again provided a good ball to lucas who missed a very good chance.

the win puts the reds on top of their group, after marseille held athletico madrid to a goalless draw. that means liverpool will have the luxury of facing a second place team in the knockout draw. currently, liverpool could face inter milan or sporting lisbon. however four more games will be played tonight. the most dangerous group for liverpool is group H, featuring juventus and real madrid. both sides have qualified, but now it’s just a race to see which side will finish on top.

liverpool now return to anfield as they prepare to face hull and continue their race to stay on top of the premier league.

liverpool regain their position at the top of the premier league after a frustrating 0-0 draw with west ham at anfield last night. chelsea fell to arsenal yesterday, clearing the way for liverpool to take top spot. all three points would have given liverpool a useful cushion, however the reds were denied their chance by their resilient visitors.

liverpool started well and dominated possession, controlling the midfield and putting good passes together. however it was former red craig bellamy who almost stunned the home team with a long range drive that was deflected off the post. liverpool’s best chance of the half came when west ham’s keeper brilliantly saved a shot by benayoun. twice more west ham were forced to save off their line, denying reira and hyypia the chance to score.

liverpool continued to apply pressure and were unlucky not to be awarded two penalties, after an apparent hand ball by a west ham defender. hyypia had two more opportunities, both headers missing their mark. kuyt and gerrard also being denied by west ham’s defense.

west ham pushed forward late in the second half, as liverpool began to tire, but were not able to put together any serious attacks.

despite the win, the anfield faithful showed their disappointment with a chorus of jeers at the final whistle. although liverpool now sit at the top of the table, it was clear that the home team’s performance was below expectations. liverpool are beginning to show a predictable pattern of not getting vital wins at home, to teams who are traveling to anfield looking for a draw.

rafa claimed that liverpool “deserved to win”. yet, there was very little evidence that liverpool deserved anything with their poor finishing.

having taken the lead, liverpool now need to focus on keeping it. the reds have a good run through december. liverpool will be away to blackburn rovers this coming weekend, followed by a midweek game against psv eindhoven in the champions league. liverpool will finish the year with games against hull, arsenal (away), bolton and newcastle. the match against arsenal at emirates stadium will be a tough game, but the rest are easily winable.

liverpool have continued their fine run with a solid 2-0 win over bolton wanderers at reebok stadium last night. the reds completely dominated the first half with fantastic passing. dirk kuyt opened the scoring for a liverpool with a superb header after 30 minutes. the lead should have been doubled when robbie keane missed an absolute sitter in front of goal. all he had to do was connect with the ball and it was in. bolton were also unlucky to be denied a goal in injury time. wanderers scored a header from a corner, but the goal was disallowed after the attackers were adjudged to have interfered with the keeper.

bolton looked much better after half time and took control of the opening minutes. the home side missed another good chance after reina was beaten, but the striker lost his footing and couldn’t direct the ball home. liverpool worked their way back into the game and gerrard became the second red player to miss a gilt-edged chance. torres’ cross fell into the path of gerrard who couldn’t make contact. again, the slightest touch would have been enough for the ball to find its mark.

however, gerrard made up for his miss with liverpool’s second goal. another torres cross fell into the path of the charging gerrard. he nodded it into the corner. lucas leiva, a late substitute, also missed a sitter when his header glanced outside the post.

liverpool were comfortable winners, despite a few scares. the reds had numerous chances, which i’m sure benitez will talk about in training this week. liverpool now look ahead to their game against fulham.

chelsea and manchester united both won their matches. arsenal were defeated by aston villa. that means liverpool and chelsea are tied for the lead, again, with manchester united 8 points behind. man united have a game in hand and could reduce that deficit to 5 points. arsenal are now 9 points behind.

liverpool have returned to the top of the table after a clinical 3-0 win over visiting side west brom. robbie keane scored a brace, his first premier league goals for liverpool.

west bromwich albion traveled to anfield with a record of having never beaten the reds for 41 years, and it was clear from the outset that the visitors were going to be totally outclassed. however, to west brom’s credit, they didn’t park the bus in front of goal. the baggies came with a mind to do some attacking.

keane had an early shot and benayoun was also unlucky not to score in the opening minutes. former red keeper scott carson got his body in the way and blocked benayoun’s shot. a goal looked inevitable as liverpool pressed forward. gerrard pushed a clever ball through to keane who finished with a clean strike. minutes later keane got his brace, doubling liverpool’s lead, after he rounded the keeper and shot into an empty net.

the reds enjoyed a comfortable lead and went into the break without being threatened at all by west brom. however after the break liverpool seemed to be playing in second gear and the visitors tried to work their way back into the game. a chance by west brom went begging and that was all it took for liverpool to regain composure and retake control of the game.

keane came off to give torres a run. the spaniard has been out injured and is making his return. although he didn’t play much of a part in the game, but it was a valuable chance for the striker to regain match fitness.

in the pouring rain, arbeloa’s curling shot gave liverpool their 3rd goal

second before the full time whistle, arbeloa fired a left footed curling shot, giving liverpool their third unanswered goal.

liverpool retake control at the top of the premier league table. arsenal, who are under fire for their recent poor form beat manchester united. that gives the reds some breathing room via a six point buffer between 1st and 3rd. however chelsea are likely to take the number one position tonight when they face blackburn rovers.

liverpool should have a good run for november and up to christmas. the reds face spurs in the carling cup this week, followed by league games to bolton and fulham. liverpool then have a champions league game against marseille, before facing west ham and blackburn.

in past years, liverpool’s season has been completely destroyed by christmas. this year the reds look good enough to continue their good form and run of wins, maintaining pressure on their challenge for the league title.

liverpool have missed their opportunity to guarantee progress to the champions league knockout stage after a lacklustre draw with athletico madrid overnight. the reds were without star striker fernando torres who was unable to recover from his hamstring injury in time.

liverpool were not at their best and allowed the visitors too much space to move. however the reds did have chances and were denied two penalties after fouls by the same madrid player; the first time he dragged agger down, and the second he handled the ball in the box.

the reds were warned of madrid’s intentions to attack after the spanish team fired a threatening shot off target. liverpool’s defenses were undone before the break when a good passage of play opened up liverpool’s back four and allowed madrid the chance to score.

liverpool pushed forward more after the break but didn’t look to be in control of the game. the reprieve came when yet another penalty offense was committed, but this time awarded by the referee. gerrard slotted the shot home during injury time to secure a point for the reds.

liverpool will feel unlucky not to have taken all three points after two other penalty calls were denied, but the reds didn’t play well enough to earn the win. a draw is definitely justified. it was a night of upsets across europe as chelsea lost to as roma, inter milan and barcelona both drew against weaker teams, and bremen lost to panathanaikos.

in group d’s other match marseille beat eindhoven , which is good for liverpool. the reds now need only a single point from their last two games to ensure progress to the knockout stages. it’s likely that liverpool and athletico madrid will both progress.

rafa benitez’s men now look towards two premier league games, which the reds must win to maintain pressure on chelsea at the top of the table.

liverpool have relinquished their lead in the premiership and have lost their first game of the season during the reds’ trip to london to face tottenham last night.

liverpool started brightly with kuyt finding the net after just three minutes. liverpool looked positive and attacking. the reds seemed to have tottenham’s measure, with numerous shots on goal. spurs were lucky not to concede again with gerrard hitting the post and firing in threatening strikes. however, the home team were let off the hook after an uncharacteristic mistake by veteran jamie carragher. the defender headed the ball into liverpool’s own net, gifting tottenham the equaliser.

liverpool pushed for a winner, but were stunned by a late tap in by spurs, allowing them to steal victory.

the result was a disappointment for liverpool, who had started to show real resiliance. however, one loss isn’t the end of the world. liverpool is still tied on first with chelsea. while manchester will play themselves into contention, arsenal seem to be having difficulty finding any form and are unlikely to be a serious threat this year.

the reds can keep pressure on chelsea and force the londoners to continue winning games. both teams are playing well and it should be a good race if liverpool can remain consistent.

liverpool now look to their midweek clash against athletico madrid. the spanish team will visit anfield and the reds will have a good opportunity to take three more points, after madrid’s lucky away draw. following that is west brom in the league, spurs again in the carling cup, then bolton and fulham.

liverpool should be able to win all three premier league matches. a win against athletico will all but ensure liverpool’s progress to the knockout stages in champions league.

liverpool settle for a point after taking an early lead against athletico madrid in spain overnight.

the reds made a positive start when gerrard fed a great ball to keane, who broke through the defence to score. keane’s goal was somewhat controversial, after replays showed that he appeared to be offside. liverpool dominated the entire first half, giving athletico madrid little possession or chance to control the ball.

in the second half, benayoun was denied a goal when he was judged offside and athletico also missed a goal due to an offside ruling. both goals were clearly onside. but madrid looked the better team in the second half, a good strike by simao was kept out by reina and the post. however simao wasn’t to be denied. he scored a soft goal in the 83rd minute thanks to poor defending by the reds, giving simao plenty of room to shoot and score.

in the end benitez claimed that liverpool were unlucky not to win the game, but with keane’s doubtful goal and madrid’s dominance of the second half, a draw seems to be a fair result. the reds knew that athletico madrid would be most difficult team in the group. an away draw with a home game still to come is a satisfactory result for the anfield side.

on sunday liverpool travel to stamford bridge in what will be a showdown between the league’s only two undefeated teams. chelsea look the better side, and liverpool may struggle for strikers with torres still injured and keane limping off during the game against madrid.

the reds have kept with tradition, barely managing to put away belgian team standard liege at anfield last night. the visitors had nothing to lose and played gritty football. they had two good chances denied thanks to the great work of pepe reina. liverpool couldn’t seem to find their paces and the game went into overtime, in search of a result. dirk kuyt came to liverpool’s rescue, side footing in a close range ball to give the reds victory.

tonight liverpool will discover their three opponents for the champions league group matches. fortunately, all four english teams have been seeded, meaning that we cannot be grouped with man u, chelsea or arsenal. however some very strong teams are in the mix, including barca, juventus, madrid and inter milan. none of the other teams look that threatening.

in other news, former liverpool winger and aussie international harry kewell has been finding some decent form at his new club galatasaray. he scored on his debut and socceroos coach verbeek has praised kewell’s return to form. harry will be included in the squad to face uzbekistan in september. hopefully he can stay on his feet this season, helping the aussies into our second consecutive world cup.

although it’s only the second week, liverpool take top spot after a hard earned 2-1 win over middlesborough. the reds hosted boro in their first home game of the season. the visitors got the upperhand with the first goal, but liverpool came back with a rare carragher goal. in stoppage time, gerrard hammered home the winner, guaranteeing all three points for the anfield club.

there have been a few upsets, tottenham losing to sunderland (ex-red djbrill cisse scoring on his debut) and arsenal losing to fulham. however, chelsea, who will play tonight, could claim top position (on goal difference) if they win their game.

none the less, liverpool are off to a solid start when other teams have stumbled out of the blocks. here’s hoping the wins continue to come our way.

… and congratulations to javier mascherano who claimed a gold medal after argentina won the men’s gold in football.

liverpool’s preseason continues to show promise. after a few disappointing draws, especially against villareal, the reds handed rangers a thumping last night 4-shit. torres opened the scoring and keane looked dangerous around the box but wasn’t lucky enough to find the net. after the break, new youngster ngog, from paris st germaine, opened his scoring account. benayoun also scored and alonso smashed home a late penalty.

liverpool are looking very strong, with torres and keane up front. gerrard and kuyt are in support with benayoun and alonso controling the midfield. barry could still join the squad. babel, mascherano and leto are all away on olympic duties. the anfield team is starting to look very impressive indeed.

as usual, transfer season is dramas and bitchiness all round. liverpool have been doing a good job at staying in the thick of it with their deals involving garreth barry and peter crouch. barry is in the shithouse with villa, after criticising the club and then being fined and banned from the premesis. villa will sell barry, but now it’s a mudslugging mess with the only thing left to decide is the value of the inform midfielder. xabi alonso will probably depart the club to make way for barry, with juventus seeming the most likely suitor. barry and alonso will probably fetch about the same price, with will suit benitez.

peter crouch seems likely to depart soon with portsmouth reluctantly ponying up 10 million for the striker. not a bad return on a man who lived on liverpool’s bench, for whom we paid 6 million. pompey don’t want to pay that much, but poo are holding out and look likely to get their asking price.

riise, as reported, as left for as roma.

on the aussie front, kewell’s inevitable departure has been made official as he heads to the far east, joining turkish champions galatasaray. personally, i was surprised that he took the offer from the turkish club, thinking that he might want to stay closer to england, however it might prove to be a good decision … and it also means that i might get a chance to see harry play. interestingly, galatasaray have also said they’re interested in lucas neill. which would give them 2 aussie players.

poo have done a little bit of spending. defender philipp degan comes to anfield on a free transfer. the 25 year old swiss player was with borussia dortmund. the reds have also bought andrea dosenna, an italian left back who will replace riise. benitez has also got his eye on yet another keeper, brazilian dieg cavalieri.

it appears that liverpool were interested in tottenham’s robbie keane, but that rumour seems to have gone cold … which is a shame, cause he’s a good player with a proven record in the premier league.

finally, the two biggest players to be discussed this transfer season, christiano ronaldo and ronaldhino, are still in the air about who they’ll represent next season. ronaldo is desperate to join real madrid, while chelsea and manchester city have been left cold by ronaldhino’s courtship by ac milan. it would have been great to see ronaldhino play in england, but definitely not against liverpool. ronaldo, too, i hope goes to madrid … it’s heartbreaking to watch him tear up the premier league every week.

liverpool’s fantastic champions league run came to an end last night when the reds were defeated at stamford bridge last night. liverpool went into the game tied at 1-1. kuyt had given liverpool the lead, but riise’s own goal during injury time gave chelsea the advantage.

the game at chelsea was high tempo, but both teams were erring on the side of safety, reluctant to push too far forward, should they be caught on the break. however, chelsea broke down liverpool’s defense when drogba scored in the first half.  after the break, liverpool were much stronger and evened the tie when fernando torres netted. the reds were finishing strongly and had a few chances to seal the match. the full time whistle saved chelsea, who had time to regroup before extra time began.

chelsea again enjoyed good possession. the blues had thought they’d scored but the goal was disallowed when the touch judge ruled the chelsea players offside. it was a controversial decision, but made little difference when shortly after chelsea were awarded a penalty when hyypia was deemed to have fouled a chelsea player in the box. fatty lumpard scored and chelsea had the lead again. almost immediately at the other end, hyypia fully deserved a penalty call, when he was denied a chance to shoot at close range.

chelsea continued to attack and were rewarded again. anelka’s pass found drogba who slotted his second, sealing hte match. liverpool scrambled and were desperate to try and level the scores. the reds almost succeeded, after babel scored late and liverpool had a few last gasp chances.

at the final whistle, chelsea won 3-2 (4-3 agg) and head to moscow to face manchester united in the first ever “all english” champions league final.

liverpool return to anfield to lick their wounds and see out the remaining two games of the season.

ninety minutes of great work by liverpool at anfield tonight were undone by a last gasp own goal by substitute john-arne riise.

this is the third meeting between chelsea and liverpool in champions league finals … the reds were on top for most of the game and earned a goal thanks to hard work by dirk kuyt. liverpool controlled the ball for much of the game, and torres almost doubled the score during injury time, but was denied by some good keeping. gerrard and babel played well. kuyt was a workhorse all night. chelsea can thank the referee for helping them out with plenty of calls in their favour and lots of injury time to keep them in the game.

however, all of liverpool’s hard work was completely destroyed by handing chelsea a free away goal after riise headed into his own net. defending a chelsea attack, riise kept in front of anelka, but a low ball was mis-cued and headed past reina into the liverpool goal.

the result was a massive lifeline for chelsea who looked off tempo all night. liverpool are rueing their luck, having given chelsea the lead now for their game at stanford bridge next week.

liverpool progress to the champions league semi-finals after a stunning victory against arsenal. liverpool’s third game against the gunners was a decisive match, after the sides drew 1-1 in their previous two encounters. three games against arsenal in the space of a week proved too much for wenger’s men who, despite early dominance, couldn’t go distance against a classy liverpool side.

the game started in arsenal’s favour, the gunners dominating the first quarter of the game with good passing. liverpool were chasing shadows and losing midfield battles with gerrard playing on the left and the midfield being held by mascherano and alonso. arsenal made the most of their possession, scoring an early goal at the kop end.

arsenal held the lead for about 20 minutes, until sami hyypia equalised. liverpool earned a some possession and a rare corner. captain gerrard curled the shot away from the keeper into the path of the unmarked hyypia, his header finding the top right corner of the net. after the goal, liverpool sprung to life, finishing the first half with more of the ball and had a few half chances to score.

after the break, liverpool continued with their good run, dominating possession. both teams had opportunities to score. arsenal, in particular, missed some golden chances. with 20 minutes to go, wonderboy torres found himself in the box with the ball at his feet. torres turned away from two defenders and unleashing a stunning drive into the top right corner. liverpool had the lead and the kop exploded into celebration.

arsenal, desperate to equalise, brought on walcott and the still recovering van persie. it turned out to be a marvelous substitution, with walcott breaking in his own half, and running almost the length of the pitch to set up an arsenal goal. arsenal now had the lead, on away goals. but moments later, liverpool’s substitute ryan babel, was brought down in the penalty box. the referee pointed to the spot. the penalty was a similar situation to the penalty arsenal were denied last weekend. however, a different referee and a different result, and liverpool had a chance to restore their lead.

captain steven gerrard placed the ball on the spot, then in front of a thundering kop, nailed the ball into the top left corner, completely out of the arsenal keeper’s reach.

with only minutes remaining arsenal surged forward, desperate for another goal. in injury time, arsenal took a long free kick to try and create an opportunity to score. the ball was cleared to ryan babel who caught arsenal on the break. his solo run beating the defender and his shot driven past the keeper, put the result beyond doubt … 4-2 to liverpool.

the game was probably the most exciting match liverpool have played all year. three times this season the reds have drawn 1-1 against arsenal, who are renowned for their flamboyance and skill. this time however, liverpool’s determination, and a bit of luck, saw them through. the gunners had everything going for them in january; they were in 4 cups and lead the league by 6 points. now they’re out of 3 competitions and struggling to catch man united at the top of the table … the londoners are looking at their 3rd straight season without silverware.

liverpool however proved how dangerous they are in europe. the reds have dispatched inter milan and arsenal. now we face chelsea, for the third champions league clash in 4 years, after they beat fenerbache 3-2 on aggregate. the first game will be at anfield and the return match, in chelsea’s favour, will be at stanford bridge.

the other champions league results look certain to go in barcelona and manchester united’s favour. those two teams will play off for a finals berth. it’s possible that liverpool could face all three english teams in their search for more european glory. if we beat chelsea, whether we face barca or manu, it doesn’t matter … the champions league final in moscow is only two games away … and liverpool must be feeling confident that they’re going to make it.