Robbie's brace, Arbeloa knows where the net is, Carra still gets away with fouls and Rafa almost slipped at the sideline again

It was business as usual for our men in Red, as they wrapped up this late-kickoff match with a 3-nil victory over newly-promoted, West Brom Albion.

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Liverpool showed glimpses of their resilient form, last seen during the 2006 FA cup finals against West Ham, when they came back from a 2-goal deficit, to beat Manchester City 2-3, both teams ending the game with 10-man.

Oasis's favourite football team got off to a good start when they went ahead with a goal from Stephen Ireland ,as Alvaro Arbeloa failed to clear the ball around the penalty area.

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A draw would have been enough, so a win is quite and added bonus. Liverpool played well trying to exploit the gaps left as Marseilles pressed forward but the tiredness from last Saturday showed. Marseilles, on their part, were very good and had they scored an equalizer no one would have complained. Their attacking play was full of inventiveness and nice flicks but, fortunately for us, they were unable to get that final touch right. Click to continue reading...

Steve Finnan has revealed that Liverpool's Spanish players convinced him to come to Espanyol.

The Republic of Ireland international made the switch to Espanyol on deadline day as Albert Riera travelled in the opposite direction to Anfield.

Finnan admitted last week that the transfer had come 'out of the blue' but he decided it would be a good move after speaking to the likes of Jose Reina, Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa is eager to set the record straight against Manchester United on Saturday.

It is almost seven years since Liverpool defeated United in the league on Merseyside, meaning Arbeloa - who joined the Reds in January 2007 - has yet to take three points from the champions. Click to continue reading...

SAMI HYYPIA today admitted his shock and dismay at being dropped from the Reds Champions League squad until the New Year at least – but hopes he still has a significant part to play in Liverpool's plans this season.

New UEFA regulations mean that eight players from every club's 25-man Champions League squad must be home grown. Click to continue reading...

Andriy Voronin scored at the death to give Liverpool a 1-0 win over SS Lazio at Anfield in their last pre-season friendly.

The kick-off of Liverpool's pre-season friendly against Lazio tonight was delayed until 20:15 because of ticketing problems.

New signings Robbie Keane and Andrea Dossena were making their Anfield debuts against Lazio, with Pepe Reina and Damien Plessis returning to the starting XI in place of Diego Cavalieri and injured captain Steven Gerrard. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa have signed England right-back Luke Young from Middlesbrough, who reportedly want Liverpool's Steve Finnan as his replacement.

Young, 29, completed a medical on Thursday evening before becoming the second new full-back to arrive at Villa Park following the capture of Nicky Shorey from Reading earlier in the day. Click to continue reading...

Robbie Keane missed the best chance of the night on his Liverpool debut, just 24 hours after his £20million move to Anfield.

Keane played the first half of the friendly in Castellon, Spain, where his appearance was upstaged by the heroes' reception for the members of the Euro 2008 winners. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benitez has confirmed he must sell again to bring Gareth Barry to Liverpool after completing the £20.3million signing of Robbie Keane.

The Reds manager insists that is what he aims to do, but he has no intention of selling Spain international Alvaro Arbeloa.

Liverpool are believed to have had a £7million bid from Sevilla for the 25-year-old, but Benitez has made it clear the player is going nowhere, despite speculation defender Arbeloa wants to return to Spain for personal reasons. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benitez will parade new £20.3million signing Robbie Keane this morning before turning his attention to trying to secure Gareth Barry's transfer.

The Liverpool boss last night completed Keane's move from Spurs on a four-year contract worth £80,000 a week to the Republic of Ireland international. Click to continue reading...

New signing Philipp Degen is facing the prospect of missing the start of Liverpool's season with a groin strain.

Degen could require surgery on the injury, sustained during the team's pre-season training camp in Switzerland last week.

The right-back, who arrived on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund in the summer, missed much of last season with a groin problem. Click to continue reading...

Xabi Alonso will hold talks with Rafael Benitez today to clarify his future at Liverpool – as Alvaro Arbeloa edged towards the exit door.

Alonso and Arbeloa return to training at Melwood today along with fellow Euro 2008 winners Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina.

And Alonso is expected to waste no time in asking Benitez whether he remains part of the manager's long-term plans. Click to continue reading...

Tottenham Hotspur forward Robbie Keane is set to complete a transfer to Liverpool within the next 48 hours after it emerged that the Republic of Ireland captain had been left out of the north Londoners' 19-man squad that played a friendly at Hercules in Alicante last night.

Keane is expected to put pen to paper on a £18 million deal over the weekend, despite his employers at White Hart Lane having lodged a formal complaint with the Premier League over Liverpool's conduct in this whole affair, although Spurs themselves made no comment before the fixture kicked off regarding their captain's subsequent absence from the team line-up. Click to continue reading...

Andriy Voronin had a second-half penalty saved but Liverpool maintained their unbeaten record so far in pre-season with a draw against Hertha Berlin.

In front of 51,641 fans in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, Liverpool's starting line-up included just three players who could consider themselves first choice come the start of the season.

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Liverpool's Spanish contingent will be back in training at Melwood on Friday after their successful Euro 2008 campaign.

Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa helped their country claim European Championship glory this summer, and were granted extended leave in order to recover from the tournament. Click to continue reading...

Ever the professional, it seems Rafael Benitez's only concession to the notion of a pre-season friendly match is to prowl the technical area resplendent in a pair of jeans.

There is little chance of the Liverpool manager taking a similarly casual attitude to his team's preparations for the coming campaign. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has revealed he is happy with the club's pre-season preparations so far.

The club kicked off their pre-season with wins against Tranmere and FC Lucerne, matches which saw a number of fringe players given the chance to impress the boss.

Speaking to Liverpoolfc. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benitez will give his supporting cast the chance to shine tomorrow in Liverpool's first pre-season friendly.

They travel across the Mersey to face neighbours Tranmere in a 15,000 sell-out match at Prenton Park.

Benitez cannot call on his Spanish contingent of Fernando Torres, Jose Reina, Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa who are all still on holiday after their Euro 2008 triumph. Click to continue reading...

On the first anniversary of the day Fernando Torres arrived at Anfield in a record-breaking £28million deal, manager Rafael Benitez has hailed the potential of a player who cost the club nothing.

Defender Philipp Degen has been signed on a Bosman deal from Borussia Dortmund and met his new team-mates at Melwood for the first time yesterday. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool have finalised the move of Philip Degen from Borussia Dortmund but have lost Harry Kewell to Turkish outfit Galatasary. Long time reserve member Anthony Le Tallec has also completed a move away from Anfield to Le Mans while The Reds look to snatch up Gareth Barry and Andrea Dossena over the next few days. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will give the club's Spanish contingent an extended holiday after their efforts at EURO 2008.

Reds striker Fernando Torres was the hero for Spain on Sunday, his first-half strike against Germany leading La Furia Roja to their second European Championship crown. Click to continue reading...

The Cristiano Ronaldo saga has another player - Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa. The 25-year-old Spaniard had some fun when asked about the Manchester United star, saying the he hoped the winger would leave Old Trafford for Real Madrid. I would... Click to continue reading...

So far in Euro 2008, Anfield's interest in the Spanish team's fortunes has been centered around Fernando Torres.

Liverpool's top scorer has made a goal, scored a goal, been substituted prematurely, denied falling out with his coach and denied that he's about to join Chelsea for a world record fee. Click to continue reading...

One player who's been the least affected by Rafael Benitez's perceived rotation policy is Alvaro Arbeloa, with the Spaniard featuring regularly for the Reds in the early part of the season before succumbing to injury. The versatile defender made his international debut during the week, although he may incur his club manager's wrath according to [. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres has handed Liverpool an injury boost by returning to training.

The club's top scorer missed last weekend's draw at Chelsea after suffering a hamstring injury while on international duty with Spain.

Reds boss Rafa Benitez has declared Torres fit to face Internazionale in the Uefa Champions League next week and he is considering using him in this weekend's FA Cup tie with Barnsley.

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Apparently Ryan Babel is not fond of the 'super sub' label. Sensitive, are we? Well, Mr. Babel, you shouldn't confuse 'super sub' with 'one who is not good enough to start', that clearly does not apply. Unfortunately there are other players who have more experience that play the same positions as you. Click to continue reading...

All appears quiet on the Liverpool front, which is fine by me, but apparently not so for the wind-up bloggers. There's this one site in particular that holds contests for it's 'writers' to see who can attract the most hits. Basically it's who can write the most outrageous title followed-up by the most inane, speculative garbage that any half-witted teenager could author. Click to continue reading...

I've been quite surprised to read on other blogs and elsewhere, that it's time Alvaro Arbeloa get regular starts over Steve Finnan at right back. I'm even more shocked when I read that some think Finnan is past it and should be sold in the January transfer window. I strongly disagree. First off, when did Steve Finnan become known for his pace? Click to continue reading...

For the first ten minutes of this match, it appeared we didn't learn anything for the Besitkas match. Immediately we started lobbing the ball forward looking for a cheap goal instead of being patient, working hard, and trying to open up the Fulham defense. Thankfully we appeared to realize this and slowly worked our way back to playing intelligent football. Click to continue reading...

Player of the month

This one is tough. Benayoun has made a strong case with the last two matches. His strike against Reading was crucial as it kick started the goal-scoring machine, not to mention it was a beaut. Obviously his cheeky score against Wigan was important as well. If it weren't for the Porto fiasco, Mascherano would be walking away with it and Riise has had his moments, but I think it has to go to Torres. Click to continue reading...

Player of the month

This one is tough. Benayoun has made a strong case with the last two matches. His strike against Reading was crucial as it kick started the goal-scoring machine, not to mention it was a beaut. Obviously his cheeky score against Wigan was important as well. If it weren't for the Porto fiasco, Mascherano would be walking away with it and Riise has had his moments, but I think it has to go to Torres. Click to continue reading...

- Sam Allardyce, who's Newcastle side lost to Derby 0-1 yesterday, the same Derby County we dismantled 6-0 a few weeks back, has stated that Rafa is 'very lucky' to still be employed with LFC and the only reason he is so, is because of our Champions League showings. Other than the obvious that Big Sam needs to worry about his own job and his own side, the Magpies manager appears to be showing signs of amnesia. Click to continue reading...

I'm crossing my fingers that our boys on international duty get through the day tomorrow unscathed, but from the looks of the squad that we played against the Crewe Alexandra Reserves today, they might get the day off anyhow.

The starting line-up looked something like this:
GK - David Martin
LB - Fabio Aurelio
CB - Jack Hobbs
CB - Xabi Alonso
RB - Alvaro Arbeloa
LM - Sebastian Leto
CM - Momo Sissoko
CM - Lucas Leiva
RB - Jermaine Pennant
F - Yossi Benayoun
F - Jordy Brouwer

The second half line-up:
GK - David Martin
LB - Robbie Threlfall
CB - Mikael San Jose
CB - Ronald Huth
RB - Stephen Darby
LM - Ray Putterill
CM - Damien Plessis
CM - Jay Spearing
RM - Ryan Flynn
F - Craig Lindfield
F - Dani Pacheco

A couple of things come to mind. Click to continue reading...

Well, today is the day plenty of Liverpool fans will dread. Frankly, the thought that one of our first-teamers could pick up an injury whilst away on international duty is worrying, but with the sheer number of players away, it is increasingly likely.

Pepe Reina is away with Spain, and after last month's appearance in the friendly with Greece, there is a possibility he may start for the Spaniards.

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