Premier League Picks Of The Week 21

Sports - Football - Premier League - Week 21

The 21st week of the Premier League action saw:

226 shots - most by Tottenham = 21
29 goals - most by Arsenal, Tottenham & Everton = 4 each
247 fouls - most by Everton & Man United = 17 each
31 bookings - most by West Ham = 4
0 red cards - lucky escape for Pogba once again, read below...
2 penalties - 2 scored (Stanislas for Bournemouth & Milner for Liverpool)

Video evidence of:

Pep in shock

Pogba wrestling

Andy's stunner

What a game! Merseyside v Manchester as Sky billed it... The Scousers won! Big time! More at Goodison Park than at Old Trafford, but the reactions showed who was on top and expected more! Everton made their chances count and totally outshone and stunned City, leaving Pep Guardiola in shock suffering his biggest defeat ever. Liverpool lead thanks to consistent and reliable penalty taker James Milner (10/10 for him, 6/6 for LFC), and were in control for most of the match, until Zlatan Ibrahimovic spoilt Jürgen Klopp's show with a late leveller, more to that one below... And in my match report.

What a team! Tottenham were the most convincing contenders if anything or anyone can compete or catch up with Chelsea. The Blues moved seven points clear at the top thanks to Marcos Alonso's double, downing champions Leicester 3-0. But Harry Kane stole the show at White Hart Lane, with a convincing hat-trick, contributing to Spurs' total dominance and 4-0 thrashing of West Brom, which takes Slaven Bilic's men up to second place, level on points with Liverpool in third.

What a man! Chelsea forward Diego Costa and West Ham midfielder Dimitri Payet should both be banned/fined/punished for their their disgusting, unprofessional and greedy behaviour! Do contracts mean anything nowadays?! Or is it all just pounds/euros/dollars/whatever the Chinese currency is?! You either love the game or just yourself!!! Both were dropped because of their spoilt-brat antiques leaving both their managers fuming. The bigger point was made and proved with both sides winning, it is not all just about you!!!

What a goal! This weekend saw another awesome, brilliant, beautiful scissor kick, this time starring Andy Carroll for the Hammers, heels over head, as they thrashed Crystal Palace 3-0 at the Olympic Stadium. This season is turning into football porn with stunners like this becoming a weekly feature! See link above to see for yourself.

What the hell?! Ok, I'm maybe not the most neutral reporter, but how the hell did Paul Pogba stay on the pitch after head-locking/choke-slamming Jordan Henderson to the ground?! Oh, and how convenient for United as well, that the linesman did not see a clear offside in the buildup to Ibrahimovic's equaliser, mentioned above! Funny José Mourinho did not mention nor moan nor pick on the referee after the match on this occasion... Click here to see for youself what drives me so mad about United's luck!!! And in my match report.

My Predictions - Actual Results
Tottenham 2:1 West Brom - 4:0
Burnley 1:0 Southampton - 1:0
Hull City 2:1 Bournemouth - 3:1
Sunderland 1:0 Stoke City - 1:3
Swansea 1:4 Arsenal - 0:4
Watford 1:0 Middlesbrough - 0:0
West Ham 1:0 Crystal Palace - 3:0
Leicester 1:2 Chelsea - 0:3
Everton 1:2 Man City - 4:0
Man United 2:1 Liverpool - 1:1 or click here to read my match report

Click here for last week's Premier League Picks.

Pictures taken from the BBC match reports.

Suarez spares Reina's blushes

Sports - Football - Europa League Qualifying Play-Off

Luis Suarez spared Pepe Reina's blushes with a last-gasp equaliser as Liverpool drew 1-1 with Hearts at Anfield which made it 2-1 on aggregate and took the Reds through to the Europa League group stage.

Brendan Rodgers' side dominated the second leg of their qualifying round play-off against the Scottish side. But the home side wasted their chances and were punished for not adding to their 1-0 aggregate lead, an all-too familiar tune for the Reds, Suarez especially.

With just under six minutes left on the clock, Hearts forward David Templeton saw his strike squirm through Reina's grasp, a classic blooper moment for the usually solid and consistent Spanish keeper.

But with extra time looming, Liverpool stepped up a gear and Suarez broke free off a Steven Gerrard free kick, down the left and fired across goal from a tight angle, keeper Jamie MacDonald left wondering how the hell that found its way in.

In the end, Liverpool thoroughly deserved the lead and result, a certain Uruguayan forward making amends for a handful of misses earlier in the game.

The youngsters impressed once again. 18-year-old striker Adam Morgan was handed his first start and looked like he rewarded his manager on 34 when he side-footed one home, only to see the goal disallowed as the ball had gone out before Suarez crossed.

17-year-old substitute Raheem Sterling added some speed and enthusiasm to the game agains when he came on with just under half an hour to go.

All in all, Liverpool looked the brighter and better side, with some fine one-twos and breaks and dominance in possession. But just like against Manchester City on Sunday, they were made to pay for their missed chances and stupid mistakes.

With only hour(s) left in the transfer window and Andy Carroll confirmed out on loan to West Ham, Liverpool neeed to add to their squad force to help and assist Suarez on his quest for Red goals and points,

Meanwhile, John McGlynn's men can go back home with their heads held high. They fought till the end, not letting off and not making anything easy for their opposition. Respect.

FT Liverpool 1:1 Hearts (2:1 on aggregate)

Liverpool Goals: 1: 87:23min Luis Suarez (7).

Hearts Goals: 1: 84:03min David Templeton (7).

Liverpool: 25 Reina; 19 Downing, 37 Skrtel, 23 Carragher, 34 Kelly; 33 Shelvey, 24 Allen, 14 Henderson (29 Borini - 76.); 7 Suarez, 50 Morgan (31 Sterling - 62.), 8 Gerrard. 4-3-3
Subs not used: 1 Jones, 2 Johnson, 3 Enrique, 5 Agger, 16 Coates.

Hearts: 1 MacDonald; 3 Grainger (bkd 86.), 26 Zaliukas, 6 Webster, 4 McGowan; 33 Paterson, 10 Taozuil, 5 Barr (bkd 81.), 18 Novikovas (37 Carrick - 75.); 7 Templeton; 9 Sutton (11 Driver - 66.). 4-4-1-1
Subs not used: 31 Hamilton, 8 Robinson, 15 Holt, 19 McGowan, 29 McHattie.

BBC Stats: Liverpool-Hearts
Attempts: 17-9
On target: 12-4
Corners: 11-1
Free kicks: 9-11
Possession: 57%-43%

Referee: Vladislav Bezboradov

Liverpool end pre-season on a 3-1 high

Sports - Football - Pre-Season Friendly

Liverpool 3:1 Bayer Leverkusen

Liverpool completed their season preparations in style, beating German opposition Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 at Anfield, keeping new manager Brendan Rodgers' home record 100% successful with two wins out of two games.

Raheem Sterling curled in a beauty of a shot just a couple of minutes into the match, a magnificent right-footed curl-shot into the corner of the net after cutting in nicely. A gold-medal start for the young winger and the Reds.

The home side continued dominating the field and possession and doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark thanks to Lucas Leiva's tap in connecting to a give-away by Luis Suarez after Leverkusen's defence just fell asleep.

So, the Reds took a comfortable 2-0 lead into the break and the visitors did not form much of a thret at the start of the second half either, the game noticeably slowing down as a consequence.

On 65, Andy Carroll saw his left-footed drive skiddle past the goalkeeper Bernd Leno's leghs, the German keeper not happy with letting that one in but it was clever play by Charlie Adam leading up to the goal plus one happy Carroll to be on the scoresheet and underline his will to stay in the side that lead Liverpool ahead 3-0.

Leverkusen's number 18 Sidney Sam hit a rocket left-footer, diagonal from outside the box, past Pepe Reina, to make it 3-1, no chance for the Spanish keeper. But Super Sam's strike was just a consolation goal for Sami Hyypiä's men, the last quarter of an hour passing ny with the home side in comfortable control and neither goalkeeper being challenged.

This was a nice win for Rodgers' Reds, a good note to end the pre-season and see more names on the scoreboard. All eyes are now on the remaining weeks of the transfer window and kick-off to the new Premier League season next weekend.
I hope and think the Reds are just warming up on both notes!

Liverpool 3-1 Bayer Leverkusen (HT 2-0) at Anfield

Liverpool Goals: 1: 2:08 min Raheem Sterling (31), 2: 28:54 min Lucas Leiva (21), 3: 64:51 min Andy Carroll (9).

Leverkusen Goals: 1: 74:54 min Sidney Sam (18).

Liverpool 1st half: 25 Reina; 3 Enrique, 10 Coates, 23 Carragher, 34 Kelly; 33 Shelvey, 21 Lucas, 8 Gerrard (c), 19 Downing, 31 Sterling; 7 Suarez. 4-5-1
2nd half Subs: All HT: ON: 9 Carroll, 14 Henderson, 20 Spearing, 26 Adam, 49 Robinson. OFF:  7, 19, 21, 8, 3.
Subs not used: 1 Jones.

Leverkusen 1st half: 1 Leno; 24 Kadlec, 3 Reinartz, 4 Wollscheid, 2 Schwaab; 8 Bender, 6 Rolfes (c), 21 Toprak; 38 Bellarabi, 9 Schurrle, 11 Kießling. 4-3-3
2nd half Subs: HT: ON: 5 Friedrich, 14 Hosogai, 18 Sam, 27 Castro. OFF: 21, 9, 38, 24. 68.: ON: 13 Hegeler, 20 Carvajal. OFF:  8, 2. 70.: ON: 7 Fernandes. OFF: 11.
Subs not used: 23 Carlinhos, 22 Yelldell.

1st & 2nd half stats: Liverpool-Leverkusen
Attempts: 4-5 & 5-3
On target: 2-1 & 1-1
Offsides: 0-0 & 1-0
Corners: 1-1 & 1-3
Free kicks: 1-1 & 5-1
Possession: 66%-34% (23.)
Passing Stats: Reina 55 (Accuracy 80%) => his best since 40 v Aston Villa (A) last season, Sterling 19 (94.74%), Coates 64 (96.9%), Kelly 61 (90.2%), Shelvey 59 (84.8%), Carragher 77 (94.8%); 1st half: Downing 34 (85.29%), Suarez 12 (75%), Enrique 21 (80.95%), Gerrard 32 (87.5%), Lucas 46 (91.3%); 2nd half: Carroll 6 (66.7%), Adam 23 (87%), Robinson 30 (94.59%), Henderson 37 (97.3%). 1st half: Coates 29 (100%), Lucas 46 (91.3%).
Referee: Martin Atkinson

Carroll nicks late winner for Liverpool

Sports - Football - Premier League - Blackburn 2:3 Liverpool

Liverpool kept Blackburn in the relegation zone thanks to Andy Carroll's injury-time winner after a dramatic encounter which saw the visitors letting a two-goal lead slip away after seeing their replacement goalkeeper Alexander Doni sent off, one penalty saved by sub-keeper Brad Jones and another spot-kick conceded and put past the Australian keeper.

This fixture was Roy Hodgson's last match last season after the Reds lost 3-1 to the Rovers. Steve Kean's men could not have come into the match more confident having secured more points, scored more goals and won more league matches than the Reds in 2012.

Blackburn's home record looked encouraging with ten points accumulated from their last six matches played, while Liverpool arrived at Ewood Park off the back of four away defeats in a row, having lost six in the last eight Premier League games, and without main keeper Pepe Reina after he saw red against Newcastle for headbutting James Perch.

Last but definitely not least, Kenny Dalglish's men have the Merseyside FA Cup semi-final showdown next on the card. The only encouragement Liverpool could take before the match was that they have won more games away from home this season than they have at Anfield.

So the visitors took command of the game early on when 12 minutes into the game when Craig Bellamy picked up Martin Skrtel's extraordinarily placed clearance. The Welshamn then produced a fine cross himself from the right which was netted by Maxi Rodriguez in the box, just outside the goal line. It was a great counter attack after Blackburn's free kick was eventually cleared from the Liverpool box.

Hardly 90 seconds laters and another great counter attack saw Jonjo Shelvey's shot saved by Paul Robinson, the rebound shot by Carroll blocked by Scott Dann, before Maxi was on the right spot at the right time again to net that rebound which made it two goals in three minutes for the Argentine.

The Reds could not have wished for a better start, but the twist soon followed.

Doni was distraught when halfway through the first half, he saw a straight red card after brining down David Hoilett which will see the Brasilian goalkeeper miss the FA Cup semi-final against local rivals Everton. He went for the ball but caught the Blackburn forward a fraction late, so the referee had no other choice. Cruel but that is the rule.

Ayegbeni Yakubu took a soft penalty kick, a poor take and easy stop for the third-choice-sub-keeper Jones. But the Nigerian striker soon made up for that miss. Ten minutes later, no one picked him up in the box when he headed in David Dunn's free-kick to get one back to make it 2-1, Jones helpess.

The game continued at high pace, end-to-end stuff, the fans and players only able to gasp a couple of breaths at half time.

On the hour mark, Jones looked all over the place and took too much time with the ball when Yakubu approached him and was pushed down, winning a second penalty for the home sides.

The Reds could utter a sigh of relief when the goalkeeper was only cautioned with a yellow, the referee believing the ball was out of Yakubu's reach, so it was not a goalscoring opportunity.

The striker netted this spot-kick though to make it all level at 2-2 and heat up the last 30 minutes - as if the game was not feisty enough already!
Both sides fought on, missed opportunities to grab a winner and it looked like the game was going to end in a stalemate - before injury time.

Liverpool saw their corner cleared, Sebastian Coates followed with a long hoof forward which found Daniel Agger, whose header found Carroll in the box, who made no mistake this time and headed the ball into the back of the net to give the visitors an injury-time lead and winner.

The celebrations showed how much this meant to the under-fire striker, his team mates and fans, especially before their FA Cup clash against the blue side of Liverpool at Wembley on Saturday!

Blackburn: Robinson; Orr (booked 29), Grant Hanley (booked 90), Dann, Martin Olsson; Formica (booked 65) (Rochina 73), Nzonzi, Dunn (Lowe 75), Marcus Olsson; Hoilett (booked 62), Yakubu (scored 35:53 & 60:53).
Subs not used: Kean, Givet, Goodwillie, Petrovic, Pedersen.

Liverpool: Doni (sent off 25); Flanagan (booked 12) (Jones 26) (booked 61), Coates, Skrtel, Johnson (Agger 53); Maxi (scored 12:38 & 15:10) (booked 46) (Jose Enrique 78), Henderson (booked 86), Spearing, Bellamy (booked 71); Shelvey, Carroll (scored 90:41).
Subs not used: Aurelio, Suarez, Kuyt, Carragher.

1st & 2nd half stats:
Blackburn-Liverpool:
Attempts: 5-4 & 7-5
On target: 3-3 & 4-2
Offsides: 0-2 & 2-1
Corners: 0-0 & 4-4
Free kicks: 7-5 & 6-8
Possession: 53%-47% (35), 52%-48% (BBC HT), 53%-47% (Sky HT), 51.2%-48.8% (Sky 2nd half), 52%-48% (BBC FT), 52.1%-47.9% (Sky FT), 50%-50% (Sky FT)

Sky Stats:
Blackburn-Liverpool:
Passing Success: 76.5%-77.1%
Tackles/Success: 14/78.6%-15/60%
Territorial Advantage: 56.3%-43.7%
Action Areas: Blackburn 27%-45%-28% Liverpool

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Man of the match: Ayegbeni Yakubu

FT Summary: Cardiff 1:1 Liverpool

Sports - Football - Carling Cup final - FT Cardiff 1:1 Liverpool

2nd half notes:

Liverpool kick off the second half.

47 Free kick to Liverpool on the left, after Miller pushed Enrique, soft one, Gerrard takes it, blocked, Henderson blasts it nowhere near goal.

49 Miller shot wide, after clever flick by Cowie.

50 Suarez nicks the ball into the Cardiff box, Carroll stuck on his feet, could have had a chance there.

51 Free kick cleared, following corner cleared, Cardiff's back line tested, so far so solid. Another block, corner, Cardiff hold on tight.

52 Henderson booked for diving challenge on Mason, first yellow of the day.

55 Poor ball by Agger, Cardiff into attack, ball out for throw-in. What a bunch of wasters in red! High and far throw, punched out by Reina, rebound taken and thrown out for counter. Spaniard under pressure.

57 Fantastic tackle by McNaughton on Suarez who was just about to pull the trigger in the box, corner comes to nothing.

58 Bellamy on for Henderson, was about time for Liverpool, the Welshman is cheered by both sets of fans, goosebump moment.

60 Carroll shot off corner, Suarez heads it onto the post, Skrtel puts rebound past Cardiff defence through Heaton's legs! 59:31, 1:1! FINALLY something to cheer about for the Reds!

65 Mason pops one shot into Reina's gloves, could have been an awkward one.

66 Downing corner comes to nothing, Cardiff working hard.

67 Downing forces another corner on the right, ends in a goal kick. Finally there's some signs of hunger from the Reds.

71 Gerrard smashes into Gunnarsson who goes down injured, requires treatment. The Red skipper is lucky to get away with that one without a card to his name!

74 Skrtel volley off corner stopped by goalkeeper.

75 Carroll heads one wide, looked like he didn't have a clue where he or the ball was.

77 Now Hudson is down, with a cramp, in his box, play is stopped.

78 Downing shot from outside the box saved by Heaton, fine jump to his left.

80 Push by Downing on Miller, looked more like a slip, but free kick given, in dangerous position, goes straight into the wall. Gunnarson's long throw into box cleared.

82 Johnson puts one wide, 8 Cardiff players in front of him!

84 Cardiff get ball into box, Turner heads it just wide. Excellent chance.

86 Agger smacker held well by Heaton.

87 Carragher on for Agger. Corner taken by Liverpool comes to nothing, goal kick.

88 Golden chance again for Cardiff, goal gaping, missed again, Miller puts it high. Brilliant first touch, looked promising, 2nd touch let down.

90 Ball smacks off Clattenburg to Cardiff's advantage, Carragher not happy, gives away a free kick.

4 minutes added on.

91 Suarez onside, takes to long, wastes it wide.

92 Gerrards shoots high off corner.

94 Suarez takes ball beautifully to see it deflect out for a goal kick. Sarcastic smile by the Uruguayan.

FT 1:1 Liverpool comeback not complete after promising header by Skrtel made it 1:1, Cardiff holding on, hard! 30 minutes of extra time coming up and if it stays level it goes to penalties! 

2nd half stats:
Cardiff-Liverpool
Attempts: 4-11
On target: 1-5
Offsides: 0-3
Corners: 0-10
Free kicks: 7-4

Cardiff: Heaton; McNaughton, Hudson, Turner, Taylor; Mason (scored 19), Whittingham, Gunnarson, Cowie; Miller, Gestede. 4-4-2
Subs: Marshall, Kiss, A Gerrard, Earnshaw, Conway, Naylor, Blake

Liverpool: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel (scored 60), Agger, Enrique; Henderson (booked 52, Bellamy 58), S Gerrard, Adam, Downing; Suarez, Carroll. 4-4-2
Subs not used: Doni, Carragher, Spearing, Bellamy, Kuyt, Kelly, Maxi.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
Assistant referees: Simon Beck and Mick McDonough
Fourth official: Anthony Taylor

HT Summary: Cardiff 1:0 Liverpool

Sports - Football - Carling Cup Final - Cardiff 1:0 Liverpool

1st half notes:

Cardiff's 1st, Liverpool's 11th League Cup final. The Welsh side kick the game off.

2 Johnson shot from outisde the box comes off the bar and bounces clear! What a start that would have been!

5 Carroll heads one over but is penalised for a push on Hudson.

6 Downing from left, wins corner, Gerrard takes it.

7 Corner headed out by Cardiff defence, another corner headed into the goalkeeper Heaton's gloves by Skrtel.

10 Miller left-foot shot high over the bar.

13 Carroll gives away another free kick in the box pushing around when Downing was taking the corner.

16 Carroll heads one way wide, could & should have made more of that! Good chance wasted.

34%-66% possession so far, Red dominance

18 Carroll header into goalkeepers gloves, AGAIN, another chance gone too wastefully. Good interplay by Liverpool beforehand.

19 Cardiff take the lead, Miller to Mason, plenty of time & space, puts it through Reina's legs, into the back of the net, 1-0 against the run of play, 18:32! Enrique was not doing his job! Absent second costs Liverpool.

24 Suarez blocked in box, Carroll blasts the ball over and out, that summarises his day so far. Useless!

27 Suarez looked like he could break but blocked again, Cardiff strong on counter, causing Liverpool plenty of headache.

28 Downing cross from left, no one there to take it, Carroll couldn't get there.

30 Enrique curls a shot from the edge of the box, wide.

32 Liverpool appeal for a handball but the ball was shot at the player, couldn't do much about it, slightest of a brush, good decision by the ref. Adam put one wide.

40 Downing from left, strong cross, Henderson blasts but misses, Gerrard blasts it high.

41 Suarez tackles himself in the crowded box, loses the ball.

43 Suarez right-foot shot easily collected by Heaton.

44 Gerrad free kick into the box, Agger heads it straight into Heaton who just about holds on to the ball. Golden chance, missed.

45 Gerrard shot blocked, slips and sends rebound shot high into the sky.

1 minute injury time added on.

Liverpool on last attack of the half, ball goes out.

HT the underdogs in the lead thanks to Joe Mason's fine finish, Cardiff 1:0 Liverpool.

1st half stats
Cardiff-Liverpool
Attempts: 2-11
On target: 1-3
Offsides: 1-0
Corners: 0-4
Free kicks: 6-4
Possession: 34%-66% (17.min), 29%-71% (HT) 
Action Areas: Cardiff 18%-63%-19% Liverpool

Cardiff: Heaton; McNaughton, Hudson, Turner, Taylor; Mason (scored 19), Whittingham, Gunnarson, Cowie; Miller, Gestede. 4-4-2
Subs: Marshall, Kiss, A Gerrard, Earnshaw, Conway, Naylor, Blake

Liverpool: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique; Henderson, S Gerrard, Adam, Downing; Suarez, Carroll. 4-4-2
Subs: Doni, Carragher, Spearing, Bellamy, Kuyt, Kelly, Maxi.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
Assistant referees: Simon Beck and Mick McDonough
Fourth official: Anthony Taylor

Gerrard hits the spot at City

Sports - Football - Carling Cup - Semi-Final - 1st Leg

Man City 0:1 Liverpool

Liverpool take a one-goal advantage to the second leg at Anfield after beating Manchester City 1-0 in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final at the Etihad stadium.

It was a game of two halves with Liverpool displaying a much more confident, professional and productive performance, much in contrast to their absent-minded 3-0 defeat to City in the Premier League only eight days earlier, again without their controversial main man Luis Suarez.

City on the other hand offered a much more shakey, on-and-off performance, with four forced changes since their last meeting, Vincent Kompany sudpended and David Silva injured, whilst both Kolo ande Yaya Toure are out on international duty with the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

Their back line was kept under pressure constantly early on by Liverpool and with Kompany missing, goalkeeper Joe Hart was kept busy and produced good saves against Andy Carroll, Steven Gerrard and Stewart Downing.

Only 11 minutes into the game, Stefan Savic brought down Daniel Agger in the box conceding a penalty with a high, risky tackle on the knee. Gerrard netted the spot kick, Hart guessing right but JUST missing the ball to give Liverpool a well deserved 1-0 lead.

The rest of the half, Liverpool kept dominating, City and Mario Balotelli especially getting more and more frustrated. The home side looked stronger after Samir Nasri came on, the midfield keeping and creating more of the ball.

But Liverpool kept the ball well, dominated possession and chances. They will have felt disappointed that they did not take a bigger lead into the break, having the edge over City.

The second half, City finally came out their shakey shell more, with Liverpool withdrawing more and more, keeping a solid back line.

The best chance came when Martin Kelly's bad backpass found Sergio Aguero in front of goal. But Pepe Reina did well, making himself big, spreading out, coming close and putting good pressure on Aguero, for his shot to go high.

That summarised the day for City, they got closer and closer in the second half, but still nowhere near scoring with Aguero and substitute Aleksandar Kolarov painting the most frustrated picture missing plenty of chances and wasting a lot late on.

Kenny Dalglish can be proud of the improved performance of his side, especially the back line, although Glen Johnson had a mixed display and was caught in controversy late on for his two-footed tackle on Joleon Lescott, although it looked like he did not catch him with both and got the ball. At the front, Carroll left a lot to wish for once again with a below-par performance.

Roberto Mancini was not happy, understandably so, although his half-time talk and changes did make a difference. We will see if he can and whether he will make THE difference in the second leg, because no one on the pitch in the first leg looked like they could. Advantage Liverpool.

Manchester City: Hart; Richards (c), Savic, Lescott, Clichy; Milner, De Jong (Kolarov 72), Barry, Adam Johnson (Dzeko 66), Balotelli (Nasri 39, booked 86); Aguero. 4-5-1
Subs not used: Pantilimon, Zabaletta, Hargreaves, Onuoha.

Liverpool: Reina; Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Glen Johnson; Downing (José Enrique 60), Henderson, Gerrard, Spearing (Adam 23), Bellamy (Carragher 80, booked 86); Carroll. 4-5-1
Subs not used: Doni, Coates, Kuyt, Shelvey.

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
Man of the match: Steven Gerrard

Match stats:
Man City-Liverpool
1st & 2nd half
Attempts: 4-6 & 8-0
On target: 1-5 & 1-0
Offsides: 0-1 & 2-0
Corners: 1-1 & 3-0
Free kicks: 5-5 & 6-5
Posession: 50%-50% after 30min, 47%-53% 1st half; 65%-35% 2nd half up to 78.min, 58%-42% FT

Full Match Summary:

1st half:

• City k.o.
• 5. Carroll denied by Hart, Balotelli stopped by Skrtel on the other end.
• 10. Good save by Hart again, this G.'s shot sneaking in on the right. Downing flicks one in off corner, great save again by Heart.
• 11. Penalty! Agger down! Savic catches him on the knee, high, risky tackle. G. to take the spot-kick.
• 12:17 G. nets it to Hart's right, outstanding penalty, gk got the side right JUST missing it. 0-1.
• 14. Lpool continue storm forward, G.'s shot deflected, Hart catches it preventing corner.
• 16. Aguero's left footer from edge of the box goes high & wide. 1st attempt for home side.
• 22. Spearing down with hamstring, Adam comes on for him.
• 26. Ground's gone quiet, not sold out btw.
• 29. Poor giveaway by Carroll, glad to see Richards lose it. Adam brings down Balotelli has a tantrum after Adam tapped him on his head passing by. Fk to City.
• 30. Balotelli's fk blocked.
• 33. Fk from the right by Johnson, Kelly heads it away. Adam goes down dramatically for a fk.
• 35. Balotelli takes down Johnson, bad lunge, seems off his game, like the whole City side so far. Kelly cross from right into the box, Carroll getting in front of Savic but heads it wide.
• 38. Milner brought down by G., fk, eventually goes out wide.
• 39. Balotelli off, Nasri on. The controversial forward goes straight down the tunnel, looked off, maybe injured, definitely not on the ball!
• 41. City making a meal of getting the ball away, looks wet & slippery out there, not nice.
• 43. G. stops Aguero from left. Nasri shot cleared by Reina, the shot from the wide right bounced just in front if him, took a bit away from the shot, advantage for the Spanish gk.
• 44. City seeing more of the ball with the extra man in midfield.
• 45. Milner puts one high on the edge of the backs after Richards fine break & cross from the right, blew Glen Johnson away.
• 46. 3 minutes added on. Adam down. Looked like Savic got him.
• 48. City's 1st corner of the match off big deflection. Johnson good & strong in box, Skrtel bad outside, gives ball away, fk for City conceded by G. Johnson takes it, curls it high & wide, last kick of the game. HT: 0-1

City looked stronger after changes, midfield kept & created more of the ball. Apart from that, all Liverpool, kept the ball well, dominated possession & chances, they'll feel disappointed that they are not further ahead. So far, Reds have the edge, City look like they still have to get on the pitch & in the game.

2nd half:

• Lpool k.o. 2nd half.
• 46. Early corner for City, looking for a quick come back in the 2nd half, comes to nothing.
• 51. City keeping possession, containing the ball, trying to create chances but are kept out the box well & solid by Lpool. Adam does well taking ball to the corner & deflecting it out for a gk.
• 54. Aguero comes forward, kicks ball too far for Skrtel able to intervene & put the ball out for a corner. Reina catches corner, distribution leads on to Liverpool attack, the game speeding up, crowd waking up.
• 56. Kelly mistake, backpass taken by Aguero, his shot goes high, good pressure by Pepe. Lpool starting to show cracks. José Enrique is getting ready on the side line. Fb on, winger off, looked like Downing's nr will be up.
• 59. Barry drives one up from left, out for a corner. Richards leaping header blocked & stopped brilliantly by Reina.
• 60. Downing off, José Enrique on for Lpool.
• 65. Bellamy loses out ball to Barry, City on counter, 15 takes shot, looks like he slipped slightly, not a strong shot, easy save for Reina.
• 66. Adam Johnson off, Dzeko on for City.
• 68. Fine Clichy cross from left, no one in the box to take the chance. Aguero on next attack, great tackle by Glen Johnson on the edge of the box. Bellamy attach stopped by Richards, City counter deflected, end-to-end stuff here. Much more positive by City.
• 70. Nasri past Glen Johnson, but too high.
• 72. De Jong off, Kolarov on for City.
• 73. Kolarov puts free kick wide from right, nowhere near anyone. G. got instructions from King Kenny to move Kelly & Henderson forward, more attacking.
• 76. Kolarov cross from left, easy take for Reina.
• 77. Kolarov speculative again, takes shot from far left, high, nowhere near again. Was good forward attack run by Richards.
• 79. Barry loses out to Reina.
• 80. Bellamy off, Carragher on, Lpool going over-defensive, wanting to keep hold of the lead at the Etihad stadium.
• 82. Milner shot drags wide, no real pressure or power on it.
• 85. Adam cross from right blocked out for a corner by Agger. Kolarov wastes corner high & wide AGAIN!
• 86. Nasri on Carragher, little push-about by both side, Kolarov getting involved, first booking of the night goes to Nasri, second to Carragher, good refereeing.
• 88. Aguero shot blocked by Kelly. Through all their possession City looked less likely of scoring. YNWA echoes through the ground.
• 90. 3 minutes added on. Adam gives away a fk on the right. Aguero heads it JUST over the cross bar.
• 92. Henderson concedes fk, looks like he got the ball. Milner puts it in the box, Carroll heads it out, packed box, Johnson got ball off Lescott with both feet, similar to Kompany's s.o., got less of the player though. FT: 0-1

Liverpool take a one-goal advantage to the second leg at Anfield after a professional, productive performance, decisive in the end in comparison to City's shakey, on-and-off performance (off 1st half, more on it 2nd half, but still nowhere near).

Liverpool grab controversial derby win

Sports - Football - Premier League - Everton 0:2 Liverpool

Liverpool beat Everton 2-0 in an eventful Merseyside derby at Goodison Park after seeing Jack Rodwell being sent off for a challenge on Luis Suarez, Dirk Kuyt missing a penalty as Suarez was brought down by Phil Jagielka before Andy Carroll slammed home his first Premier League goal for the Reds and the controversial Uruguayan striker wrapped things up eight minutes from time.



Everton had started the brighter with Tim Cahill pulling out an athletic save from Pepe Reina who had to tip the Australian midfielder's shot over the top.

Referee Martin Atkinson hogged the limelight when he showed Rodwell the red card halfway through the first half for what replays showed was hardly a tackle on Suarez, giving Liverpool the advantage of an extra man and the Evertonians a very sour apple to bite on.

You could say justice was done when Kuyt's penalty was saved heroically by Tim Howard after Suarez once again fell down dramatically on the corner of the penalty area brought down by Jagielka just before half time.

Charlie Adam hit the bar with a strike from 20 yards out before Atkinson finally blew the halftime whistle, giving Everton the chance to regroup.

The homeside started the second half strongly under the circumstances, Louis Saha clearing Carroll's shot off the line on the one side and keeping Reina on his toes with a low effort from distance that ended up wide on the other side.

Howard had to save another Carroll attempt low at his post with more and more chances coming off set pieces and corners early on in the second half.

Kenny Dalglish rang the changes after 66 minutes replacing Adam and the subdued Stewart Downing by Steven Gerrard and Craig Bellamy as his side still seemed unable to take advantage of the extra man on the field.

The changes seemed to have their effect when with 20 minutes left Bellamy played in Jose Enrique whose cross was avoided by a ducking Kuyt and netted by a grateful Carroll from eight yards.

Ten minutes later, Suarez sealed the deal when he was able to take advantage of a mix up between Sylvain Distin and Leighton Baines to advance into the box and shoot low past Howard to make it 2-0.

The game finished with Everton furious and deflated, Liverpool the happier and more grateful for it. Dalglish said he did not see the red card incident, David Moyes feels understandably angered, it should not have been.

In the end, the incident spoilt what looked like a promising, competitive derby encounter and instead ended up a controversial, negative clash of opinions, incidents and referees' decisions. Shame.

Everton: Howard; Hibbert (Vellios 78), Baines, Jagielka, Distin; Coleman (Drenthe 59), Cahill (booked 27), Osman (Neville 69), Fellaini; Rodwell (sent off 23), Saha.
Subs not used: Mucha, Bilyaletdinon, Barkley, Stracqualursi.

Liverpool: Reina; Jose Enrique, Carragher, Kelly, Skrtel; Downing (Bellamy 67), Lucas (booked 50, Henderson 88), Adam (Gerrard 67), Suarez; Carroll, Kuyt.
Subs not used: Doni, Coates, Flanagan, Spearing.

Sky (& BBC stats:)
Everton-Liverpool
Attemps: 9-12 (& 12-15)
On target: 3-6 (& 4-6)
Offsides: 2-1
Corners: 5-9 (& 5-9)
Free kicks: 10-15 (& 9-15)
Possession: 36.3%-63.7% (& 40%-60%)
Passing Success: 76.4%-84.8%
Tackles/Success: 15/86.7%-17/52.9%
Territorial Advantage: 49.4%-50.6%

Referee: Martin Atkinson
Man of the match: Jose Enrique

The Reds see 7 goals in first warm-up game

Sports - Football - Pre-Season Friendly - GFC 3:4 LFC

Liverpool kicked off their pre-season Asia tour in fine and entertaining fashion against Guangdong Sunray Cave FC, netting four thanks to Christian Poulsen, David Ngog, debutant Conor Coady and Andy Carroll, but also conceding three through Columbian forward Ricardo Steer, Lu Lin and Yin Hongbo.

It was a less temperamental, more well-spirited affair, with no real tackles flying around nor pressure on the ball, more a kick-about with some nice one-twos, team work as well as individual sparks with most of the action happening in the middle.

After Danny Wilson put Daniel Pacheco's corner wide earlier on, Poulsen tapped in Joe Cole's cross from the edge of the box to give the Reds an easy, comfortable lead.

90 seconds later, Ngog doubled the lead finishing off a sublime through-ball from Poulsen, lovely timing, splitting the defence to give the striker a simple slide through.

Guangdong had the last laugh of the half though, with Lu Lin giving Steer a lovely ball into the box which the Columbian headed in thankfully to make it 1:2 at half time.

The Reds put on a new 11 for the second half, including new signing Charlie Adam, which seemed to be less organised, especially at the back, but was still able to keep possession and dominance.

The crunch of the game didn't come until halfway through the second half, the subs finally clicking and creating, Coady netting a belter off Carroll's pass, a great goal for the debutant youngster, a good knock with a confident look.

Carroll got off the mark himself soon after thanks to the lack of defence and his change of pace, to make it 1:4 from close range.

However, the homeside, like for the whole of the match, would not lay low and count themselves out as defeated and netted two goals in the last three minutes.

Lu Lin was scorer and provider curling a sweet shot into the right corner of the net after cutting the ball in past two defenders, and, 90ish seconds later, passing the ball from the left edge of the box for Hongbo to make another remarkable finish, from the left to the right foot and into the right corner of the net again.

It was a sweet and juicy end to the game for the Chinese side, less sweet for the Reds, but a good opportunity to check out the click of the old and new, the first half side working out better than the second, but neither lacking in effort. Good to watch and nice to see, looking forward to the next test against the Malaysia All-Stars XI.

Guangdong FC: Li Zhihai; Ge Zhen, Awal (Binliang 57), Ricardo Steer (Yu Jianfeng 83), Li Jian (Lui Sheng 69); Yin Hongbo, Zhu Lang (Shi Liang 66), Lu Lin, Yu Yongzhe (Hou Yu 57); Song Chao, Diakite.

Sub not used: Li Weijun, Long, Pan Jia, Lui Xi, Peihao, Zuquing.

Liverpool: 1st half side: Gulacsi; Flanagan, Wilson, Carragher, Kelly; Shelvey, Spearing, Poulsen, Cole, Ngog; Pacheco.

2nd half side: Jones (Hansen 70); Robinson, Aquilani, Wisdom, Coady; Adam, Agger, Kyrgiakos; Kuyt, Carroll, Maxi.

1st & 2nd half stats:
Guangdong FC-Liverpool
Attempts: 3-5 & 3-6
On target: 3-3 & 2-3
Offsides: 1-2 & 0-1
Corners: 3-3 & 1-2
Free kicks: 3-0 & 1-0

My man of the match: Lu Lin