davidsmeaton.com

liverpool exit the carling cup after being defeated by cup holders tottenham on wednesday. the reds came into the match having already lost to spurs in the premier league, the loss was their first of the season in all competitions. tottenham scored 3 first half goals, but liverpool scored twice to put themselves back in the game. liverpool’s goals came on either side of the break with reserve player damien plessis heading in the first and sami hyypia heading in the second after half time. however the spurs’ fourth goal put the game out of liverpool’s reach.

the reds will not be too disappointed about the loss. with the exception of torres and agger, the entire liverpool side was made up of reserve and bench players. tottenham, still trying to claw their way out of a terrible start to the season, played a strong team.

having exited the carling cup, liverpool can now focus on maintaining their strong start in the league. liverpool travel to bolton this weekend and are at home to fulham next weekend. both games are ‘must win’ matches for the reds.

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.

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 end their season with a comfortable 2-0 victory away to tottenham. the reds scored 2 second half goals, the first by vororin from close range and the second a solo effort by torres. vororin scored a much needed goal, since his season at liverpool has not been much of a success … on the other hand, torres’ goal was his 33rd in all competitions and 24th in the premier league.

manchester united have won this year’s premier league. on the last day they needed to win to stay ahead of chelsea. united easily beat wigan 2-0 and chelsea drew 1-1 against bolton. there was plenty of excitement as reading looked like avoiding the drop with a 4-0 thrashing of hapless derby. however fulham clawed their way to victory to rescue themselves and stay in the top flight. birmingham, despite a convincing win, also drop. everton beat newcastle to claim the uefa cup spot.

however, game of the day went to middlesbrough, who absolutely smashed manchester city 8-1. it must be hard for city fans to watch their arch rivals win the league on the same day they get hammered by a team 16 points behind them. the fans must also be wondering whether it’s still worth trying to save manager errikson from being sacked. it was nothing short of a shocking turn out by city.

that brings the season to a close and liverpool now look to summer transfers to rebuild their team and make yet another charge at the league title. since benitez came to anfield, every year has begun with hope that this year will be ‘the one’. the past season has been liverpool’s best run, having lead the league in the early weeks, but a poor run of draws over christmas saw the reds drop down to 5th place, behind everton … we spent the rest of the season trying to fight back into contention.

there’s always next season … and maybe, this time, it will be the one.

liverpool have continued their unbeaten streak in the premiership, salvaging a last minute 2-2 draw at home to struggling tottenham hotspurs.

the reds made a good start and had a few chances. mascherano, benayoun, torres, vororin, riise and pennant all started for liverpool. and it was vororin who drew first blood knocking the ball in from close range. liverpool continued to have more chances than spurs, but it was tottenham captain robbie keane who single handedly destroyed liverpool. keane scored on either side of the break to give spurs a 2-1 lead. benitez made some second half substitutions, bringing on babel for aurelio and kuyt for vororin. and although liverpool continued to press forward, and had numerous half chances, it looked as though the reds were going to finally concede their first league defeat.

however, it was not to be … during injury time torres knocked in a great close range header from a finnan cross. liverpool continued to pour forward looking for a late winner, but it was not to be.

i think liverpool are very lucky to have walked away with a point. they were wasting chances and didn’t seriously look like breaking down tottenham’s defenses.

liverpool’s next game is the all important derby against arch rivals everton … and the reds must find some form and start putting more points on the board.