Spanish clubs interested in El Jefecito: Not really much here, but apparently some Spanish clubs are interested in Masch. Seems like he’s happy at Anfield, I’m hoping there’s nothing in the statement, “then we’ll see what happens.”

Insua back with the squad: I think we’re all happy he’s back, his form was top notch before he left for the U-20s in South America. Not great that he was sent off in their last match, but he’s not injured. A little concerned about this picture, though. He looks too much like another dimunitive Argentinean in the Premier League, who is on his way to your nightmares.

Van der Vaart making shit up: I don’t remember any Liverpool coaches/players talking about having anything other than a healthy respect for Real Madrid. It’ll be a challenge, no doubt, as their form has improved since Juanderful took over, but “frightening” might be a bit of a stretch. Placing an imprint of your ass on the bench apparently makes you supremely bold…or gives you flower-wilting gas.

And finally, we can melodramatically remember better days in the FA Cup.

Have a great weekend all, and roll on next Sunday.

I like him. He’s turning out well.

As for the rest of the squad, joining Xabi in the middle will probably be Mascherano. Though I would not be surprised to see Sissoko or even Lucas. Torres’ effort alone should be able to beat Derby, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Rafa do a little experimentation. On the left, I have to think he’ll go with Babel, but, if he’s not transferred by tonight, we might see Harry Kewell. There’s been no official announcement nor report about Kewell’s current state of fitness, but it was around this time all along that he’s suppose to make his return. It would be a huge boost if he did. Also I don’t think we’ll see Benayoun start here despite his inspiring performance on Tuesday, mainly because he played the full ninety on Tuesday and we’ll need him down the road so there’s no need to wear him out. As for possibly starting Riise on the left, it could happen, but I think Rafa is going to have to start being more cautious about how he uses our defenders. Especially until Carra gets back.

On the backline joining Finnan, should be Hyypia and Agger in the middle and Arbeloa on the left. We could possibly see Insua on the left, though I think it’ll really matter who starts at left-mid. If Kewell or Riise start there, it’s somewhat of a possibility. I know Aurelio is due back in around a month, but we really need to start thinking about working in our future starters like Insua and Darby particularly when playing against lesser clubs at Anfield. We can get away with mistakes in these situations.

So here’s who I think Rafa will play:
Reina
Arbeloa
Agger
Hyypia
Finnan
Babel (or Kewell, I hope)
Xabi
Mascherano
Pennant
Voronin
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Riise
Sissoko
Leiva
Kuyt

In goal, probably Reina, though I suspect Itandje will get a start at some point before League Cup or FA Cup ties start. On the backline, we’ll probably go with what we have available. Riise on the left, Hyypia and Agger in the middle, and Arbeloa on the right to give Finnan a much needed rest. In midfield I expect Benayoun to get the call on the left since he hasn’t played for us since the first Toulouse match, Mascherano in the middle paired with a slight surprise in Leiva, and I wish we had Paul Anderson, but I suspect Pennant will be on the right despite going 90 against Sunderland on Saturday. Up front, the well rested Kuyt and Crouch will have to suffice. The bench will probably have a couple of surprises as I can see Insua there along with Finnan, Pennant, Sissoko, Alonso, Voronin, and Itandje.

I can definitely see Rafa going a little selection crazy in this one, being at home and all, but then again, no one knows what he’ll do. Once again, I would love to see Sebastian Leto on the left, but I’m not sure if he’s legally able to play yet. Also I wouldn’t be surprised to see Babel start on the left, even though he appeared to limp off the field against Sunderland, and Benayoun on the right, who I’m sure will play no matter what. I really wish Harry Kewell was good to go.

So here’s my final guess:
Reina
Riise
Agger
Hyypia
Arbeloa
Babel
Mascherano
Leiva
Benayoun
Kuyt
Crouch

Bench:
Finnan
Insua
Alonso
Sissoko
Voronin
Pennant
Itandje

Before I get the ingenuous comments about how Leiva won’t start, no shit sherlock, this is just a guess and it’s more what I’d like to see then what I truly think who Rafa will play. I, for one, am a bit tired of seeing the boring line-ups that Benitez has put out lately, seems a bit safe. We are clearly more talented than all our opponents so far and with Mascherano out there today, there should be little to worry about.

The only other negative from this is that it exposes our backline even more. We’re probably going to have go out and buy someone or bring up Stephen Darby and/or Emiliano Insua from the reserves. The latter I think is ready, but I’m not so sure about the former.

That brings up some of the best news I’ve heard in a long while. Seems like Rafa has come to his senses and sold Gabriel Paletta to Boca Juniors. That’s one nightmare I can stop having. Paletta was just not disciplined enough for the Premiership. He had all the other tools, but got caught out of position way too many times. It’s a shame he never worked out and I wish him all the luck in Argentina where he should be fine.

Also Fabio Aurelio has returned to training early and could be ready to go as early as after the international break in mid-September. He could also be a huge boost to our backline problem, providing cover at left back for Riise and freeing up Arbeloa to cover the centre and right back spots.

In other good news, we won. That’s twelve matches undefeated including preseason, not bad. I’ve watched the match a couple of more times and pretty much got it spot on the first time. I’m going to do player grades in a little bit as well as a ‘What will Rafa do?’ for the Toulouse match.

If he doesn’t bring any of the aforementioned, I expect the line-up to go something like this:

GK – Charles Itandje – since the Frenchman is somewhat familiar with Toulouse, I think he’ll get his debut here. His experience against the French side, the first time Liverpool has ever faced them in European play, might be invaluable.

LB – John Arne Riise – Riise also has some experience in the French Ligue as he played for AS Monaco some seven years ago

CB – Sammi Hyypia – Carrragher needs a break after being all over the field against Villa

CB – Daniel Agger – no one else to play, despite us possibly needing him to contain Drogba come Sunday. He’s young.

RB – Alvaro Arbeloa – gives Finnan a break for the Chelsea match

LM – Ryan Babel – It’s either him or Yossi, here and on the right

CM – Steven Gerrard – will start when fit

CM – Javier Mascherano – vital in containing opponents in away matches, not sure about his fitness though

RM – Yossi Benayoun – might start on the left

F – Andriy Voronin – relatively fresh after only playing fifteen or so against Villa

F – Peter Crouch – Europe is his forte

Bench:
Pepe Reina
Jamie Carragher
Steve Finnan
Xabi Alonso
Momo Sissoko
Dirk Kuyt
Fernando Torres

We might see Sissoko instead of Mascherano as I’m not sure Javier made the trip or not. I would love to see Insua get the start on the left, just to give Riise a rest, but I’m not sure how realistic that would be. When we get Leto eligible and Kewell back, then the real squad selection issues will begin.

The match is 1030 EST. Cheers.

GK – Pepe Reina – If I was Rafa, I’d play Charles Itandje next Wednesday since he’s probably familiar with Toulouse, which makes Pepe a no-brainer here
LB – John Arne Riise – Really no choice here unless Rafa goes completely bonkers and plays Insua, highly doubtful though
CB – Jamie Carragher – If he’s fit and rested, Carra will get the call everytime
CB – Daniel Agger – ditto
RB – Steve Finnan – Until one of the kids step up or we sign somebody, I don’t think we’ll see Arbeloa starting since he can provide cover for all four backs
LM – Harry Kewell – provides much needed EPL road experience
CM – Steven Gerrard – the only time I ever see our skipper not starting is when he’s not fit, it’s against a much lesser opponent, or it’s an irrelevant match
CM – Xabi Alonso – As much as I would like to see Mascherano or even Sissoko start here, I think Rafa will put a lot of importance on this match and Xabi just has more experience than the other two
RM – Jermaine Pennant – He’s our starting right winger. period.
F – Dirk Kuyt – He’s our deep lying forward and should start a large majority of our league matches
F – Fernando Torres – I think Rafa starts him over Voronin to give him a boost of confidence and also Voronin is more versatile and is more useful from the bench

Bench:
Charles Itandje – probably won’t play anyhow
Alvaro Arbeloa – provides coverage for all the back positions
Sammi Hyypia – will not play unless definitely needed, but great to have just in case
Javier Mascherano – not sure if he’s ready to go post-Copa, but he did play a little in our last preseason match
Yossi Benayoun – can cover a plethora of spots and has EPL experience

I thought about this one a while and I came to the conclusion that we probably need to field our most experienced squad. Torres is the only one who doesn’t fit this bill, but we really need him to get off to a good start and his size and strength are invaluable.

The bench is really hard to pick because we just have so many options. I omitted a true back-up striker but Benayoun can play up there and if we have to we can move Gerrard or Kewell forward.

The hardest to pick is probably who’ll play beside Gerrard. I guess Rafa could do a 4-2-3-1 formation and playing an any two combination of Xabi, Momo, and Mascherano, but I’m not sure how experimental he’ll feel with this being the first match of the year. The thing that makes me think he’ll do this is a draw on the road is not really that bad of a result, but I’m hoping we really go for this one with all we’ve got.

I guess we’ll find out in less than 19 hours or so.