Gerrard was played following his little run-in with the law and produced yet another composed display.

Keane wasted another hatfull of chances as usual and was replaced by Torres after 73 minutes. Nando showed Keane how it’s done here in Anfield after linking up with Gerrard in injury time after Riera put The Reds up after 24 minutes.

Preston put up a good fight but in the end, Liverpool managed to secure passage into the next round, where we will meet our Mersyside rivals, Everton on the weekend of January 24/25 at Anfield. This match comes a week after a similar fixture in the League.

Personally, I’m wondering if Rafa will put as much emphasis on the FA Cup as he does in the League. Would that be spreading our team too thin? What do you think?

Running riot in St James’ Park, Stevie G bagged a couple and created a couple more to turn in an exemplary performance by the 71st minute. Final score: Newcastle 1, Liverpool 5

In the starting line-up, Bolton match heroes Keane & Riera were rested. Skrtel was given a run-out in place of Kuyt in the 79th minute, Hyypia & DAgger in center of defence and Carra in right-back.

The opening exchange was fast and furious with Given making a few fine saves. If not for him, we’d be 20 up by half time, I reckon. His opposite number, Pepe “Butterfingers” Reina, fumbled a couple and nearly caused the pub’s sleek LCD TV to be smashed by my beer glass.

Old-man Hyypia was threatening in a few of our corners and was unlucky not to grab a goal in the 16th minute. Lucas had a good run and had at least 2 great chances on goal. Given saving the Toon arse as usual.

We finally broke through at the half-hour mark and never looked back. Anyone noticed Babel’s goal celebration? He seemed like he ran half the pitch, dribbling past 2 defenders, sidestepped past another 2, flicked the ball up over the ‘keeper and finished off with a 360-degree, double-flip bicycle kick. Lucas has to be kicking himself for having all his nice efforts saved and then up comes Babel with a goal-mouth melee, I-just-happened-to-be-there goal.

I must give special mention to Lucas for his sweet pass that led to Stevie G’s second. That was world-class! Also for an outstanding match all-round. Kudos to Benayoun for being a total pest to Newcastle down our right. Very nice cut-back for Stevie’s 1st goal of the match.

Going into 2009, here’s a message from Nadia & myself:
WE’RE STILL NUMBER 1, BITCHES!!!!

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. Spain are away to Iceland today and host Latvia on Wednesday. Those two games should bring Spain six points, but you never know, as they have messed it up in the past. I hope they do, as my very own Northern Ireland sit a point ahead of the Spanish today, and any slip-ups would be very helpful.
Our back-up goalkeepers, Charles Itandje and David Martin, were either too old for the U-21s (Itandje) or out of contention for now (Martin). Scott Carson (loaned out to Aston Villa) is however in the England squad for the home games against Israel and Russia. He was a dark horse to take the jersey for the matches, until McLaren restored his blind faith in Paul Robinson.

Steve Finnan was to be on duty with Ireland until he got injured. Jamie Carragher is injured, but Steve McLaren appears to have recognised his decision to quit international football. Daniel Agger’s talent has not gone unnoticed (ed-uhuh, naturally), and he is set to be the Danes’ number one defender for the match away to Sweden today. However, confidence is low in the Danish camp, after the 4-0 loss to Ireland last month. John Arne Riise, as usual, is in the Norwegian squad and should play for them today in Chisinau and next week against Greece in Oslo. Four points from those games against Moldova and Greece would do the Norwegians nicely. Alvaro Arbeloa has been left out of the Spain squad, good news for us, I can’t see why with the form he’s in. Sami Hyypia is also a certain starter for Finland’s matches against Serbia and Poland.

Harry Kewell still ain’t fit enough for the Aussie squad. Steven Gerrard is going to threaten serious harm to his toe by playing Israel today. This could put him out of the Liverpool side for weeks. However, we can always hope that this story is true and that he won’t need painkillers. Yossi Benayoun will play against England for Israel today. Xabi Alonso has been called up for Spain, and Aragones has stated he may be in line for a rare start against Iceland. Jermaine Pennant, whilst he should be in the England squad (albeit not playing as I have said), he isn’t and so gains valuable resting time. Ryan Babel may well start Holland’s vital games at home to Bulgaria and away to Albania on the back of his excellent form. Unfortunately, Javier Mascherano has had to travel thousands of miles for a friendly against Australia. This ludicrous match means that he is unlikely to play next weekend for the Reds, even if the Tuesday kick-off is slightly more advantageous for the European players. Sebastien Leto has thankfully been left out. Lucas Leiva has also been left out of the Brazil squad, despite his appearance in the squad for last month’s Algeria friendly. This is good for us, as we don’t really want him to suffer jetlag as a result of the trip to the USA.

Fernando Torres has shook off a knee problem and should play for Spain. Peter Crouch is banned for the Israel game, but should start against Russia on Wednesday in place of former Red Emile Heskey. Dirk Kuyt may play for Holland, but with the return of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Babel’s fine form and some fitness concerns, that is not definite. Andriy Voronin is likely to start up front for Ukraine against Scotland and the Faroe Islands as their top striker.

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

That’s not to say we didn’t make mistakes, because we did, but once we felt they were wounded, we pounced on them like a pack of wolves on a limping sheep. I would have to say Hyypia’s goal in the opening minutes of the first half was probably where Toulouse started thinking about waving the white flag, because after that our boys started salivating.

I’m still going to stick with Arbeloa as Man of the Match, though I feel Kuyt will probably get the accolade on the official site. Arbeloa put on a flawless performance and was not only superb defensively, but he was a catalyst a lot of the times on the attack. Kuyt definitely deserves recognition for his two goal and one assist performance. I was especially happy to see him get the first one as he seemed to have the luck of a leper beforehand. It was a nice one-two with Babel, whom he’s appeared to have formed a nice attacking relationship. The second in the 75th minute on a through ball from Benayoun was just icing on the cake.

Leto failed to put in a memorable performance as he needs to exert himself more on attack if he wants a regular spot at least for cup ties. Babel was a great example as he came more inside instead of sitting out on the flank and pretty much forced them to give him the ball. Leto has to learn to do this and command the ball more as he seemed content with not being much of a gear in the attack engine. Leiva came on as a sub as well and was pretty solid on both ends. He almost scored on a put back right outside the box which would have been almost too magical for the Brazilian wonder kid.

As for the rest of the squad, Hyypia really stepped it up in the second half. I’m sure his class header goal had something to do with it, but he seemed rejuvenated and ran up and down the field like a young fawn after. Everybody else put in solid performances, though Sissoko and Agger started to look a little ragged and hence, were substituted. I’m going to say something here that you may never read again and say Crouch played good as well. There I said it, though he should have probably had at least another goal. The big difference between this performance and past ones was he didn’t hold on to the ball as long as he has in the past. Go figure.

Yossi probably deserves some special recognition as well as his effort was tireless and he assisted on Hyypia’s header goal and Kuyt’s second. For a guy who was said to have complained about lack of playing time, he certainly showed he should be playing more. After today, I’m sure Benitez will at least think about using him more in League play, but there are just so many spots.

The best part about this match is that our defense didn’t have to over exert itself though that didn’t appear to stop Arbeloa, who I suspect might get a rest for Derby County on Saturday. I still think we need to sign either a right or centre back though. We’ll also have Pennant, Alonso, Voronin, Torres, and a relatively fresh Babel, Finnan, and Lucas Leiva, if needs be. Still this was a solid thrashing and should give all our boys even more confidence as we head into the group stages.

Here’s the line-up:
Reina
Riise
Hyypia
Agger
Arbeloa
Leto
Sissoko
Mascherano
Benayoun
Kuyt
Crouch

Subs:
Itandje
Finnan
Torres
Alonso
Pennant
Babel
Lucas

I hope Mascherano will be on attack and Sissoko will sit back, but it really depends if Momo is tired or not. Leto and Benayoun will really have to step up on bringing the ball if we are going to score here. Agger needs to also play better than he has recently. I’m hoping we get to see Leiva come in for Sissoko at the half. Anyhow, here’s to at least an entertaining match and to Rafa for finally showing some balls and experimenting a little.

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.

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.