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liverpool remain top of the table after a 1-1 draw away to arsenal. the gunners, at home, weathered some early pressure from the reds, as gerrard and keane combined to test arsenal’s defenses. however it was van persie who broke the deadlock when arsenal settled in and started to get possession for themselves.

despite some good ball control, arsenal were struggling to deal with liverpool’s long ball passes.

just before half time, a long ball from agger that found keane up front, who smashed home the half volley.

liverpool and arsenal continued to trade shots after the break but neither side could make the most of their chances. liverpool started to dominate possession and arsenal were reduced to 10 men after their captain received a second yellow card. the reds went close with a few shots, agger and el zhar were unlucky not to score, liverpool were not able to claim all three points.

as it stands, liverpool remain top of the table with a two point break over chelsea. however the blues still have a game in hand, against everton tonight, in a match that they should win. it’s likely that chelsea will leapfrog liverpool into top position, by a single point.

liverpool now prepare to face bolton wanderers in the premier league’s traditional boxing day fixtures.

in other news, liverpool have drawn real madrid in the knockout stage of this year’s champion’s league. the reds finished top of their group and drew real madrid who finished second behind juventus. liverpool will be relishing the chance to play madrid, and it should be a cracking match.

liverpool have drawn yet another game they should have won. the reds hosted hull at anfield last night and it seemed from the outset that the home side would walk away easy winners. however, despite liverpool’s dominance, they were unable to put hull away and claim all three points.

hull, recent promotion winners, have enjoyed a great season and are currently in sixth position on the premier league table. the visitors didn’t look to be able to keep up with the anfield squad, however hull got a lucky break and scored early. their lead was doubled after a rare jamie carragher error resulting in an own goal.

liverpool poured forward, seeking much needed goals, after being shocked and suddenly 2-0 down. captain and liverpool hero steven gerrard came to the rescue with two goals. both goals were short range goals after gerrard found himself on the end of good build up play. the first goal came via a perfect kuyt cross. the second came when benayoun put the ball into gerrard’s path, leaving the captain with the simple job of driving the ball into the net.

the reds continued to dominate and missed a mulititude of chances, much to benitez’s chagrin. the spaniard said that if liverpool were still leading the league by new year, they’d be an 80% chance of winning the premiership. however that possibility took a slight dent after last night’s draw.

fortunately, in other games, manchester united and arsenal both drew their respective matches. as a result, arsenal have now dropped down to fifth position, behind aston villa. that’s a dangerous place for the gunners to be. if villa can hold onto fourth, then they’ll nick a champions league place from arsenal next season.

chelsea play their match tonight. a victory will give them a one point lead over liverpool.

the reds now look toward their crucial away game against arsenal. before that, liverpool will discover their next opponents in champions league, which is drawn on december 19th.

liverpool stay on top of the premier league, thanks to a solid win away to blackburn rovers last night. struggling blackburn did all they could to frustrate liverpool, and despite liverpool’s possession, blackburn managed to keep liverpool’s attacking threat neutralised.

in fact, it was blackburn who had the better of the first half chances, after a long drive was deflected off the post by a diving reina. at the other end, kuyt and benayoun missed chances but none were serious threats to blackburn’s back line.

liverpool looked to continue their run of goalless draws, as the half time whistle sounded, to the jeers of the traveling fans. however, after the break, the game got scrappy and both sides had trouble stringing moves together. alonso had a good shot denied, and gerrard’s thumping drive was parried into the path of benayoun, who was unable to put the ball into the net.

alonso wasn’t going to be denied twice. the spaniard got into the penalty box and when blackburn failed to clear, he side footed home an easy goal.  blackburn again missed a good chance before benayoun collected a great pass from kuyt. the israeli captain stepped over a tackle and fired a shot into the bottom corner.

stoppage time - gerrard shoots, scoring liverpool’s third goal

blackburn fought back with a late goal, but the game was put out of their reach when gerrard scored in stoppage time. the blackburn keeper was under enormous pressure from el zhar. the keeper’s clearance found reira who passed to gerrard, leaving liverpool’s captain with a simple task of shooting into an unguarded net.

the game was a good return to goals for liverpool, who have been suffering a goal drought with two goalless draws and torres injured. it was quite a different formation for liverpool. out of form keane was on the bench, while babel and benayoun (who’s unhappy with his lack of game time) both started.

liverpool have made a good start to their december campaign. the reds now look toward their midweek game against psv eindhoven. the game, although important for leading their champions league group, is actually a dead rubber for liverpool, who have already qualified. following that, liverpool prepare to face hull and arsenal, which will no doubt be liverpool’s toughest game in december.

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.

both liverpool and chelsea have blown their chances to take the outright lead over the premier league. liverpool hosted fulham and chelsea hosted newcastle. both home teams were favourites to win their respective matches, however they were frustrated by strong defending and poor finishing.

the reds started without playmakers gerrard (injured) and alonso (benched). torres started but is still getting back to match fitness after an injury.

liverpool didn’t make much of a start in the first half. the players looked tired from midweek international games. liverpool’s passing was sloppy and they allowed fulham too much time on the ball. the reds were forced to defend and gave the visitors a few chances to score.

at the other end keane rarely looked like troubling the defense, but torres made some good runs. however it was keane who had the best chance of the half, his shot heroically blocked by fulham’s aussie keeper mark schwarzer.

the second half was a better affair for the home team. liverpool started to get forward more and alonso’s introduction saw a marked improvement in liverpool’s passing. kuyt had a terrific shot which was also parried away by schwarzer.

the liverpool fans were howling for lucas levia to be substituted off. the young brazilian wasn’t having a good game and gave away too many balls in the midfield. however, he played the full match, with kuyt and riera coming off for babel and el zhar. a better substitution would have been to bring off levia for benayoun, who has been complaining about his lack of games for liverpool. tonight would have been a perfect chance to give him some decent time on the pitch.

as the game headed towards full time, liverpool’s intensity increased. however, the reds couldn’t break down fulham’s defense and find a goal that would give them all three points.

at stanford bridge, chelsea racked up 33 shots on goal to newcastle’s 2 shots. the blues pitched tents in newcastle’s half and spent the game taking pot shots at goal. considering the talent in chelsea’s squad, it’s a huge victory to newcastle to hold them out.

in other games, manchester city are proving their rise to power with a solid 3-0 victory over arsenal. the gunners are having a bad season (by their own standards) and wenger is under enormous pressure to get results … and poor old sheffield wednesday still can’t get a win, going down 0-1 to coventry. the owls have only won 1 of their last 7 matches. their next three games are against lowly ranked blackpool, norwich and southampton. here’s hoping sheffield wednesday find some form.

manchester united, with two games to play, now have a chance to cut back the gap between themselves and liverpool/cheslea.

the reds, meanwhile, turn their attention to the midweek game against marseille. a win or draw will guarantee progress to the champions league knockout stages. next sunday liveprool travel to west ham to begin their all important run through christmas.

update: manchester united also drew, missing a golden opportunity to catch the liverpool and chelsea.

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’s title hopes are being taken seriously after the reds won a comfortable derby against mersey rivals everton. liverpool traveled to goodison for what is usually one of the most torrid derby matches in england, however from the outset the reds completely dominated everton with slick passing and clean movements. the first half was all liverpool, despite few chances at scoring.

the second half started in the same fashion, with liverpool dominating possession and the controling the ball. however liverpool were starting to put a lot of pressure on the toffees’ back line. howard, everton’s keeper, made a few saves from gerrard and kuyt, but was completely undone when keane and torres combined to open the scoring. keen flicked a good lobbed cross into the box, kuyt ran an angle and took everton’s defense with him, leaving torres wide open to smash the ball past the keeper.

strike sensation fernando torres celebrates his second goal against everton

a minute later, torres claimed the rebound after kuyt’s shot. he doubled the score with a volley that ricocheted in off the top post. liverpool were on fire and everton had no answers. kuyt found the net, but his shot was ruled off side, and torres also hit the net again but was denied too after an ufair foul ruling against kuyt.

everton’s aussie player tim cahill had a good game, until he was red carded for a foul on alonso. it seemed not to be a serious foul, but he walked away from the referee, which is why i think the red was given. and in other news, arsenal were defeated by promoted team hull. hull are celebrating a shock 2-1 win over the gunners, which for them will be just as good as winning the league.

aside from a draw at stoke, liverpool have beaten two important teams in the league, and now look forward to their midweek game against psv eindhoven. a win in their champions league group will put liverpool in a great position. after that, the reds have a good run of games. liverpool face manchester city and wigan athletic, before they face athletico madrid. at the end of october, liverpool face the all important crunch match against co-league leaders chelsea.

liverpool are currently 2nd in the league, behind chelsea. we’re equal on points, but behind on goal difference.

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.

no, this is not deja vu … the titanic battle between liverpool an arsenal continues as the reds traveled for their second game at emirates stadium in four days.

after the 1-1 draw on wednesday, liverpool made a number of changes to the team which faced arsenal in the champions league match. crouch, riise, pennant, lucas and benayoun all made starts. gerrard, alonso and torres were benched, and rested, for tuesday’s crucial game, also against arsenal, at anfield.

liverpool made a good start to the game. arsenal’s back line was high and liverpool had a lot of possession and exploited arsenal’s defense. a number of shots went wide, riise missing a great chance and crouch had some half chances. but it was crouch who opened the scoring after a long ball by reina was headed to crouch. he controlled the ball well and made space to shoot a low drive past the keeper.

the reds had the lead but arsenal began to threaten, missing a few chances and turning possession to their favour. bendtner, arsenal’s villain on wednesday, became the hero today when his header brought arsenal level.

as the game progressed, arsenal dominated and became more desperate to find a goal and give them the match. liverpool held on. gerrard and torres came on as late substitutions to give liverpool some extra life. vororin also came on as a late substitute, squandering two decent chances to put liverpool ahead.

after being bundled out of two cups by arsenal last year, liverpool have held the londoners to two consecutive 1-1 draws in the space of four days. the teams will take a three day break before squaring off again, in front of the kop, to decide which team progresses in the champions league.

liverpool hosted arsenal last night in a top of the table clash that pitted the premier league’s only undefeated teams against each other. both sides had their share of chances to claim the victory and all three points, however the game ended in a well deserved draw.

liverpool had the better start, getting possession and moving forward while arsenal, still settling in, played in their own half. 10 minutes in to the game the reds took the lead through a blistering free kick by captain steven gerrard.  the arsenal wall broke early as players raced forward, gerrard’s shot found the gap and curled  past the keeper. liverpool were jubilant  about their early goal, but couldn’t keep the high tempo up as arsenal found their feet and started pushing forward.

liverpool, again guilty of not making their passes and chances count, started to suffer as arsenal quickly counter attacked. the reds were on the back foot often and having difficulty holding arsenal at bay. defensive errors by liverpool’s veteran back line gave arsenal a few glorious opportunities that they were unlucky not to capitalise on, including an open net shot that should have gone in.

torres and alonso both played, returning from injury, and liverpool’s midfield looked much better with alonso at the centre. however torres injured himself on the stroke of half time and was replaced in the second half by peter crouch. the game resumed after the break with arsenal continuing to threaten. their forwards missed another open goal shot and hit the post on a separate occasion. liverpool had chances too and were not using their build up play to their advantage. it was inevitable, however, that arsenal struck back, through a soft toe-poke from fabreglas. reina was caught flat footed and barely moved as the ball was nudged past him.

both sides went hard at it for the last 10 minutes, looking for the winner.  but neither side was able to  break the deadlock. i think liverpool should be happy with this result, because arsenal clearly outplayed the reds for large parts of this match.

however liverpool got a point out of it and can look towards their next match against cardiff city in the carling cup (a return home for robbie fowler against his old teammates) and next weekend’s game against blackburn rovers.

liverpool have been handed victory over arch rivals everton, thanks to two second half penalties. the game started poorly for liverpool after they gave away the opening goal to everton. a defensive error resulted in hyypia scoring an own goal. liverpool were struggling for possession and playing long passes but couldn’t break down their opposition.

the second half started with a penalty to liverpool. hibbert was sent off and kuyt did the honours from the spot. the game looked set to end in a draw, however some good play from liverpool during injury time got them in the box where, the keeper beaten, phil neville handballed on the line. everton’s second red card and second penalty resulted, kuyt again converting from the spot to give liverpool a controversial 2-1 victory.

this is liverpool’s first victory over their derby rivals in over a year … and the players were rightly delighted with the result, even though the result was more luck (and everton mistakes) than it was quality football by liverpool. now that the international break is over, liverpool return to their busy schedule - this wednesday the reds face bestikas (away) in the champions league group, followed by arsenal at home next weekend.