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!!!!

Rafa finally learns how to pronounce ‘dilemma’, some Marseille fans are morons and clearly, we have a goal-scoring crisis

CSD was spot-on when he predicted a narrow score-line for Wednesday’s Matchday 5 encounter with French side, Olympique de Marseille. Nevertheless, this “scary” win qualifies the Reds to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League tournament for the 5th successive year – a perfect record for Benitez. Back from groin injury, Captain Fantastic showed us why he hearts scoring against Marseille with a 23rd minute emphatic header from a Xabi Alonso cross, making him joint top scorer with Barca’s Lionel Messi. Though seriously we should all give thanks to Bakari Koné for hesitating to man-mark Steven Gerrard in the penalty area.

Erik Gerets’ men won at Anfield the last time they visited, so they were probably confident of stealing a victory at our fortress again. Niang, Zubar, Taiwo and pink-lovin’ Ben Arfa came close, but all failed to beat the awesomeness, that is, Pepe Reina.

2nd half was a one-sided affair with the Ligue 1 team surging forward, hoping to level the game to at least guarantee them a UEFA cup placing, ahead of PSV Eindhoven. The introduction of Andrea Dossena to replace injured Fabio Aurelio, exposed the left flank, and the Italian proved he lacks the pace to keep up with feisty Ben Arfa, and was even guilty of making foolish tackles, that could have resulted in a penalty, if not for Portugese ref’s leniency.

Milestones

This game was Benitez’s 66th European game in charge of Liverpool and the win marks his 39th victory, equaling Bob Paisley’s record. Steven Gerrard’s cracker was his 30th goal in Europe.

Marseille fans

So some charitable Marseille fan decided to throw a lighter at Stevie G, while he was about to take a corner kick during the 1st half. That’s not cool. I don’t think Stevie was going for a smoke break either, but anyways, unlike Drogba, MBE was professional about it and chose not to retaliate.

And what’s with that poof holding up an Everton scarf?!?

Again?

News has it that Torres might be suffering from a relapse of the hamstring injury that has been plaguing him. Just when the Gernando partnership was about to take off…*sigh

Other news:
Inter lost to Panathinaikos (imagines puppet Jose going “shuttup Panathinaikos”)
Chelsea’s latest achievement: Frank Lampard sent off for 2 bookable offence. Keep it up people!

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. Now unlike Stoke, West Brom actually took the game to Liverpool, and looked like the more promising side in the first 20 minutes.

However they lost confidence after Robbie Keane broke his league duck when he drove home a slick through-ball from Captain Fantastic in the 34th minute. The last time the Irishman scored in the Premier League was against Reading last season.

And the Liverpool no 7 didn’t just stop there. 3 minutes from half-time, Fabio Aurelio sends a long pass to Keane who smashes it past former Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson.

While the 1st half was a one-sided affair, West Brom managed to stifle the Reds in the 2nd half, and we were unable to convert, even after the introduction of Fernando Torres (yay he’s back). It almost looked like a boring end to the 2nd half, until the most unlikeliest person added the icing on the cake in the 90th minute with a top-corner goal. Kudos to Alvaro Arbeloa…he deserves to score after all his hard work as a full-back.

This marks Rafael Benitez’s 150th triumph as a Liverpool boss, (and coincidentally Rafa is being offered a new contract). Because Pepe Reina kept a cleansheet, West Brom has not been able to score against us for the past 23 years, and additionally, they have not yet won at Anfield in 41 years.

MOTM: Keano! He actually looked like he’s enjoying himself. It’ll only be a matter of time before he starts becoming a goal scoring machine. Loved that no-look backpass in the 24th minute.

If we hadn’t scored, I would probably started off by saying Liverpool was shite. Nando’s former club outplayed us, and though we had most of the possessions in the 2nd half, we were not able to find the net. And this, despite 2nd-choice goalkeeper, Leo Franco, spilling the ball on several occasions.

Robbie Keane proved once again he is pretty much ineffective as a lone striker and has not yet tuned in to the same frequency as the rest of the squad. Even the commentator mentioned that he “tries too hard”.

The 1st half was mostly played in the midfield, both teams giving away the ball recklessly. We had several close calls, as early as the 1st minute into the game, and on the 15th, when Xabi Alonso’s long cross to Keane was met by a volley which then miss the back of the net.

Atletico had their chances too in the 1st half, when Simao was unmarked in front of Reina, but ballooned the ball way off the post. It was captain Maxi Rodriquez who converted for the Spanish team in the 37th minute, after a sublime pass from Antonio Lopez on the right wing.

There was a couple of hand ball claims in the 2nd half. Ref Hansson just couldn’t give 2.5 shites about them. Dejected Rafa Benitez seemed to be running out of options when he surprisingly called upon the services of David N’gog, whom I might add, looked more at ease in his striker role, than the Irishman.

Man of the match for me would have to be Steven Gerrard, if not Daniel Agger. Despite losing steam in the later part of the 2nd half, he kept pressing on and had several good shots on goal, notably one on the 70th minute after a link-up with Keane. Captain Fantastic once again saved the game for us : ))

Interestingly enough, Liverpool has not won against a Spanish club from their past 5 encounters in Anfield, so this is kinda, sorta a good draw for the Reds. LFC just needs one more victory to qualify into the knockout rounds.

First of all, we played like crap. That’s no secret. The defense wasn’t there and if Reina wasn’t an acrobat, it would have probably have been 6-0. Mascherano was given a second yellow and sent off when he asked why Torres had been booked. Ryan Babel has confirmed that is what happened as he overheard what Javier was saying to the ref. I’m sure with his thick Argentinean accent “Why was Torres booked?” came out as “That’s bullshit cocksucker!” It’s all in the regional dialect.

I’d bitch about him being sent off, actually I will because it was harsh. Then again, he shouldn’t have been talking to the ref in the first place and definitely not when he was already carrying a yellow. It’s still a crap call by the ref though. Now, I don’t think for a minute that the 10 man team is what lost the game, it looked like it was over before it began, but it’s quite a travesty for him to miss three games over that.

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.

P.S. I liked Carra’s coat. Very Back to the Future.

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.