To recap:

* David Ngog opened the scoring with a stunning volley from six yards after some good Liverpool pressure.

* Liverpool concede the equalizer from a set-piece: Brum get three headers in the box, the last by Chucho Benitez past Pepe Reina.

* Albert Riera aggravated his hamstring injury (again) and had to come off…enter Steven Gerrard.

* Cameron Jerome threw his hat in the ring for goal of the season, beating Pepe Reina from fully thirty yards. Out of nothing really.

* Liverpool have spent nearly the entire second half on the offensive, and get their chance at an equalizer when David Ngog flops down in the box (see banner picture). If he’s looking for the penalty there, as opposed to avoiding Carsely, it’s shameful, shameful stuff.

* Gerrard beats Joe Hart for the equalizer, 2-2.

* It’s Benayoun’s turn to come off injured, hamstring for him as well.

* Aquilani makes his Anfield debut in the 82nd minute as Liverpool search for the equalizer. Nervy stuff.

* Liverpool can’t find a way through, and at the full-time whistle it’s Liverpool 2, Birmingham 2. Not the result anyone would have wanted.

Poor run of form, you say? Every team has them. Manager on the brink of extinction? Extinction doesn’t exist, just ask Kirk Cameron. Injuries spreading like chlamydia in Deadwood? Al Swearengen says injuries are for ********** **** (audio NSFW). Bring on Birmingham City.

Good news for fans stateside–this one will be televised in all its HD glory on Monday afternoon on ESPN2HD. This season has really opened my eyes in terms of the way football should be watched. Counting down the days until FSC makes the conversion.

Better news for the club as well, as it looks like many of the fitness worries are starting to right themselves. It’ll still be game-time decisions for the big names–seems like Gerrard and Torres have been in and out of the operating room five times a piece in the last week based on the headlines. Rafa’s also notoriously coy about the availability of players for matches, so speculating about who will or won’t be available is a moot point.

Alex McLeish’s side have given a fairly decent account of themselves this time around, with 11 points from 11 matches so far. Perhaps most importantly for a newly promoted side, they haven’t been the victim of any blowouts. Their biggest loss was 3-1 to Arsenal at the Emirates, and that also happened to be the most goals they’ve conceded all year. They proved to be a bogey team for Liverpool last time they were in the top flight, forcing two 0-0 draws with the Reds in the 2007-2008 season. This campaign they’re led by Chucho Benitez, clear frontrunner for hairstyle of the year, and James McFadden, the Scottish international who leads the squad with two goals in the Premier League.

Little needs to be said about the current state of Liverpool–five losses already in league, on the brink in Europe, and seemingly more injured first-teamers than fit. Obviously Monday is a must-win. Not because Liverpool need it to get back into the title race, not because they need to stay in the fight for fourth place, but because the club simply needs a good result. The memory of the 2-0 win over United at Anfield is long gone, and taking all three from a Birmingham side that will put up a good fight would do Liverpool well.

Rafa will probably field a side that is a mixture of his first-choice and reserves, with little choice to do otherwise because of injuries (see team roster) and suspensions (Degen and Carra). Birmingham are certainly no gimme–they’ve played organized, tough football this season, and Liverpool will have to work for the result regardless of who’s on the pitch. Come Monday we’ll have a better idea of who’s available, but for now all eyes are on the three points. Oh, and that one match tomorrow.

Another biggie, huh?

What we know:

Liverpool are missing Steven Gerrard, Fabio Aurelio, Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel, Albert Riera, Martin Kelly and Andrea Dossena. Fernando Torres, Daniel Agger, and Alberto Aquilani are in.

Lyon are not immune to the injury bug, outlined here by Inara. Francois Clerc, Mathieu Bodmer, Jean-Alain Boumsong, and Cleber Anderson are out, leaving Lyon with a bit of crisis in central defense.

What we hope:

Goals. Lots of goals. Strong in central defense. Control in the midfield. That Lucas didn’t read the papers.

Those included in Liverpool’s squad aren’t all 100% fit–most notably Fernando Torres. Rafa seems to think that he can avoid surgery so long as he’s handled correctly. Let’s just hope that handling includes a couple goals today.

Liverpool Starters:

————Reina————–
Carragher-Kyrgiakos-Agger-Insua
——-Lucas—–Masch——–
Kuyt——————Benayoun
———Voronin—————
————Torres————-

Bench: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Babel, Ngog, Spearing, Darby, Ayala

Looks like Carra is pushed out wide to accomodate for the missing Glen Johnson. Well played to nate at oh you beauty, who touched on this quandry in the match build-up. Hopefully the concerns are for naught. No surprises in midfield, maybe a bit of a shocker that Voronin starts in the hole behind Torres. His industry against Fulham seems to have paid off. Aquilani starts on the bench, as do Ryan Babel and David Ngog. For my money, at least two of those three will have a pivotal role to play today. Time will tell.

Lyon Starters:

————–Lloris—————
Reveillere–-Cris–Toulalan-–Cissokho
Pjanic——–Makoun—–-Kallstrom
Gomis-–—–Lisandro——–-Bastos

Bench: Vercoutre, Govou, Tafer, Gassama, Ederson, Delgado, Gonalons.

Cris and Toulalan partner again in central defense, and Bafa Gomis and Lisandro Lopez will lead the attack. While they’re riddled with injuries themselves, they’ve also got the two goalscorers from Anfield on the bench–Maxime Gonalons and Cesar Delgado. Well done to Inara over at the Lyon Offside on the predictions, only missing out on Gomis.

Maybe a bit sensationalist to leave that excerpt as the lead-in, but the overall thrust of an article from the Times(among other sources) is that Rafa Benitez feels that progress alone is an acceptable indicator of success. Since there’s plenty of ammo here, I figured it’s best digested quote-by-quote:

“I don’t agree with people when they say you have to win trophies. You have to be close and create a group of players that can fight for trophies.”

I’m not sure which people Rafa is referring to, but these people must not be interested in professional sports. Certainly the players have to have the ability to challenge for trophies, but having players that get you close is not cutting it.

“We got 86 points in the Premier League last year and some people say it wasn’t a good season. But to finish second and close the gap between the top team and us to four points was a massive achievement. “

The joy of last season’s second-place finish was…non-existent. You compete to win trophies, not to watch others celebrate with them. I think it was a season that was largely positive, but for Liverpool the expectation is much more than runners-up.

“Trophies mean a lot to everyone but to see the team progress means you can guarantee you will be there in the future and you can fight for trophies.”

The progression of a team from season to season does not necessarily guarantee future success. Teams progress backwards at times, forwards at others. To imply that the successful progression of a team over a five-year period is somewhat linear seems misguided at best. In fact, some would say that another trophyless, second-place finish after winning a continental trophy four years previously is not much of a progression. But trophies don’t matter that much, eh?

“People can say I have been here for five years but you can see the difference. Compare the value of the club before and the value of the club now. Compare the value of the squad before and the value of the squad now, you can see the progression.”

Someone better than I will probably break this down to see if it’s accurate, but offhand I’d say the value of this squad, particularly the one that was on the field for the last twenty minutes at Craven Cottage on Saturday, isn’t breaking many banks. There’s definitely players with high value on the squad (Gerrard, Torres, Masch), but there’s room for argument. Mssrs. Hicks, Gillett, your thoughts?

“We needed to do something to protect the player. We were more or less in control of the game. If we had left him on the pitch maybe we would have lost the player for a month. It was a difficult decision but we decided to start with him because he can do a proper warm-up. But we decided to take him out at 60 minutes. The last time he played 80 minutes it took him four days to be fit.”

This is obviously one of the biggest bones of contention from Saturday-the decision to take Fernando Torres off with 30 minutes left to play. Being “more or less in control” at that time was largely due to the presence of Torres, who was the only player on the pitch that really looked threatening. I can completely understand setting a limit for a player, but I’m more of the mind that the flow of the game should make that limit fluid. Letting emotion completely influence the decision to keep a player on would have been foolish, but that’s never a worry with Rafa, one of the more collected-seeming managers around. You can’t see Rafa setting the 60-minute limit for Torres and then changing his mind, can you?

Now Torres could have limped off injured at the 70-minute mark and Benitez would look like a genius, but taking off Benayoun minutes later did nothing but damn Rafa’s decision-making further. Both players looked less than impressed to be subbed off, and the fallout since then has mirrored their responses. Ronnie Whelan, one of the more outspoken former Liverpool players, has gone so far as to say that Rafa has given up on the league. Around the 80-minute mark on Saturday, there could be little argument that it’s fiction.

The club is up against it, and they’ll need every bit of resolve to get a result against Lyon on Wednesday.

Chronologically:

-Torres off, Ryan Babel on. Apparently uninjured. Maybe with the midweek Champions League fixture in mind…but after that first half stunner, tough pill to swallow.

-Goal Fulham. Nevland flicks home after Dirk Kuyt saves the ball from going out of bounds, directly into Konchesky’s path, whose cross finds Gera, who nods to Nevland right in front of Reina. 2-1 Fulham.

-Nathan Eccleston comes on for Yossi Benayoun, white flag in tow.

-Phillipp Degen, who was largely positive on the afternoon, is shown a red for a late challenge on Dempsey. Probably not a red, but the tackle looked bad.

-Carra is red carded for dragging down Zamora. Down to nine men. Hideous.

-Ayala comes on for Kuyt. At this point, the attacking options are: Voronin, Babel, Eccleston.

-Dempsey trots into the box and slots past Reina. 3-1 Fulham.

-Final whistle after four minutes of stoppage time. Never has a final whistle seemed like such a rescue.

An embarrassing finish to the match to be honest. Liverpool were sloppy, careless, and unable to put anything together, and that was just in the first half. What a shambles after last weekend’s victory over United, and a decent showing midweek in the Carling Cup. Cue binge drinking.

The Steven Gerrard groin injury saga spirals further and further down the rabbit hole, with worries now that he’ll need surgery to repair his injured man zone. Clearly his long-term health is the most important, but it will be a massive blow to the club if he misses an extended spell. Naturally, the club and country discussion comes up, but Rafa’s not having it. He’s so tough.

On a more positive note (?), Lucas is out for blood today. Apparently he feels his performance against Fulham at Anfield was one of the worst of his career. Alcohol use has decimated my long-term memory, so there’s no use arguing with him. Particularly with that picture of him lying on the pitch screaming. How did he get there? Why does he continue to style his hair like Ellen Degeneres? Is this actually a promo shot for Saw XIV?

Lineups will be posted when they come out, but I’m going to take a wild stab and say:

———-Reina———–
Carra–Skrtel–Agger–Insua
——Lucas–Masch——
Benayoun————Aurelio
———Kuyt————-
———-Torres———-

Glen Johnson’s continued injury struggles present Liverpool with an ongoing problem–mostly that they don’t have a true right-back to fill in. In fairness Phillipp Degen looked very dangerous against Arsenal, but I don’t see Rafa installing him in the first eleven that quickly. Martin Kelly would be the likely back-up, but his injury leaves him on the sidelines yet again. Albert Riera’s injury and Ryan Babel’s ineptitude (had to start with an in-) make the left wing an issue, and Fabio Aurelio seems to be the only replacement. Nabil El Zhar has fallen off the map a bit this season–were this last season I’d guess he might figure in somewhere, but he appears to be AWOL so far. Yossi Benayoun will likely find himself in a very similar role as last Sunday, floating in and out of central midfield, interchanging at times with Dirk Kuyt. Fernando Torres remains Liverpool’s biggest threat in attack.

As for Fulham, my best guess is timmyg’s best guess. Which includes the info of which I was ignorant, that Danny Murphy will likely be out, as will Simon Davies, Dickson Etuhu, and Andy Johnson. Nice of Liverpool’s hosts to try to match their body count.

Roll on game time.

Liverpool:

———–Reina———–
Degen-Carra-Kyrgiakos-Insua
——Lucas—–Masch—–
Kuyt————–Benayoun
——–Voronin————
———–Torres———-

Bench: Gulacsi, Babel, Spearing, Plessis, Dossena, Eccleston, Ayala

Apparently Martin Skrtel is injured as well, pushing the Greek into the starting eleven, and further evidence that I am blind when it comes to “seeing” what Rafa will do. Hadn’t even thought much about Andriy Voronin, but he’ll pseudo-partner Torres up top. Really young set of subs for Liverpool today–the oldest is Andrea Dossena.

Fulham:

————-Schwarzer————
Pantsil-Hangeland-Hughes-Konchesky
Dempsey—Baird—Greening—Duff
——-Zamora—–Kamara———

Well done to Arsenal on Wednesday, a deserved victory in a game that featured a mixture of first-teamers and youth talent for both sides, as well as the highly anticipated debut of Alberto Aquilani for the Liverpool. Emiliano Insua scored his first for the club, hitting a half-volley from about 25 yards out that left Fabianski with no chance. Not a bad way to open your account. Less than impressive work from Babel on the day…fearing that he might be losing confidence along with form. But it’s the Carling Cup, so the agony of defeat is mediated a bit. It seems like the Carling Cup is the ultimate “Important if we win, not so much if we lose” competition, and Wednesday’s result emphasizes that. Good result for Arsenal, mild disappointment for Liverpool, encouraging nonetheless for the eternally optimistic Rafa Benitez.

A bit of a blow today, though, as it’s been confirmed that the Reds will face Fulham tomorrow without Steven Gerrard and Glen Johnson in the squad. Albert Riera and Martin Kelly are also confirmed to miss the trip. And the aforementioned Aquilani is working his way back to full fitness, but now has picked up a “virus.” He was never likely to start, but it’s got to be a bit of a disappointment for the young Italian if he misses the squad due to illness.

Liverpool legend Danny Murphy will assuredly feature for Fulham tomorrow, who currently sit mid-table on 11 points. Their form has been inconsistent so far this season, but last weekend they popped up with a big result at the Eastlands, fighting back from 2-0 down to split the points with City at 2-2.

Craven Cottage is never an easy place to play for opposing teams, and it will take plenty of effort for Liverpool to take all three points. Last season Fulham tripped up Arsenal and United at the Cottage, and it took a last-minute strike from Yossi Benayoun for Liverpool to escape with the win.

It’s another pivotal week for Liverpool-first the trip to West London, then a huge fixture on Matchday Four of the Champions League in Lyon. Let’s hope it starts off with a bang.

Seems like there should be a bit of a grace period after Sunday’s 2-0 victory over United, but I suppose that’s the beautiful, and sometimes maddening, part of football. Fernando Torres admitted what we already knew about his fitness, Glen Johnson was likely less than 100%, and the side in general could use time to soak in the most important victory of the young season. Yet Arsenal and beckons once again in the Carling Cup.

Liverpool were never likely to field a full-strength side in the Carling Cup, so any worries about aggravating existing niggles should be assuaged. The last time out in the Carling Cup, Rafa fielded a young side–Babel and Ngog (how are we spelling this now?) were the primaries up top, Jay Spearing marshalled the midfield, and Degen, Dossena, and Cavalieri were central cogs in a defense that held Leeds 1-0 at a bouncing Elland Road. David Ngog got the only goal of the game with a cool finish after Leeds had threatened for most of the match and the Reds progressed.

Arsenal and their much-heralded youngsters deafeated West Bromwich Albion 2-0, with at least seven members of the starting eleven under twenty years of age. Sanchez Watt and Carlos Vela scored for the Gunners, with Watt’s strike his first for the club. There is little indication that Wenger will handle tomorrow’s fixture any differently-Arsenal have led the way in bleeding youngsters in the League Cup and have been relatively successful.

The last time these two sides met in the League Cup was early in 2007 at Anfield, with Arsenal notching 6 against a Liverpool team that has largely since departed. Thankfully Julio Baptista (4 goals that night) has moved on. It’ll be curious to see the selection from Rafa tomorrow-all signs point to Aquilani making his first-team debut, but Gerrard, Riera, and Martin Kelly are all ruled out. It will likely be very similar to the side that saw off Leeds, save for Mascherano, who’s suspended after the red card on Sunday.

Carling Cup fixtures come with their own hint of excitement, mostly from the chance to witness younger talent on a (theoretically) bigger stage. Arsenal are a dream match-up for this very reason, and I find myself looking forward to seeing how Liverpool’s younger talent stacks up against the storied youth from Arsenal.

Match Comments:

Obviously the big news is that Steven Gerrard is completely out of the squad, but Fernando Torres and Glen Johnson are fit enough to make the starting eleven. For United, Wayne Rooney is back, while Michael Iscariot starts on the bench.

First ten minutes are positive enough for Liverpool, Yossi Benayoun has been asking most of the questions. Good run of play for Lucas early as well, he set up some fine forward movement and won Liverpool a corner. Defense is looking sharp (*gulp*), Carra slicing in a few different times to cut the ball out.

Patrice Evra is going to be up against it today, with Torres floating out on that side and Benayoun calling it home. Already a yellow.

Best chance of the match so far, Aurelio’s free kick is saved well by Van der Sar, and Kuyt’s follow-up is also saved. Frantic minute in defense for United. Good to see.

Evra does his best to even things up, waiting a few seconds after gentle leg contact from Kuyt to crumble. Maybe it was the slow-motion view, but looked as though there was little in it.

Torres gets battered by Vidic from behind and Carra starts to plead the case that the Spaniard has been everything short of shanked. Eh, it’s good for the boy, makes a man of him. And as I type John O’Shea horse-collars him.

First long spell of possession for United here, and as many opposing teams find out, apparently some shouts for a penalty after Agger comes through on Giggs in the box. Would have been a stretch I think.

Carra clatters through Carrick in the box, crunching tackle. Surprised there weren’t more shouts from United, it really was pretty severe. United enjoying more in the way of attack still.

Berbatov decides to turn Kuyt’s shirt into a v-neck during the battle for position on a Liverpool free-kick. Shouts for a penalty, but nothing doing. Only injury time now.

No surprises that Andre Mariner is the most popular man at the halftime whistle. All square at the break.

Back in action for the second half…gotta be a goal in here somewhere for Liverpool.

Dirk Kuyt found himself alone on the right side of the box, tough angle, decided to cut back and Yossi Benayoun couldn’t make a chance out of it. Encouraging stuff nonetheless.

Hip-check by Vidic, two-minute minor.

Great ball in by Johnson after Torres’ cross is well past Aurelio. Pressure from Liverpool is kept up, I can’t imagine they’ll relent in the next 35 minutes.

Lucas impedes Rooney foolishly, the free-kick is headed away by Torres, whistled offside anyhow.

Masch is whistled for a foul on the right side…looked like he got all ball, must be for trying to play from the floor? Giggs to swing it in…bit nervy here…Carrick at the back post, heads it back towards the middle, off Glen Johnson and out for a United corner. Giggs again, this time from the opposite side of the pitch. Cleared away with little incident.

Reina bowls one out to Torres off the back of Vidic’s head. Carra clatters into Rooney at midfield as United start to push forward. Things getting a bit chippy now, should be a good last 25 minutes.

TORRES!!! Yes! Benayoun threads a great ball to Torres, who fends off Ferdinand and beats Van der Sar at the near post. 1-0 to the Reds!

Lucas, who’s done well so far, with another clumsy tackle about 25 yards out. Rooney and Giggs over it…Rooney off the wall.

And on the heels of that, Lucas partners with Benayoun on a great forward run, and he looked to get out of the way of a deflection. Well done.

Masch fires on in from 20 out, corner to Liverpool. He had the numbers but took the shot. The corner clatters around, and Lucas hits one over the Kop. Twenty plus injury time.

Masch slides in late on Evra-nothing malicious, just poorly timed and he knew it. Another free-kick in a dangerous spot for Giggs, collected by Reina. Judas sheds his tracksuit filled with cash and looks to be coming on.

Double substitution for United, Nani on for Scholes and Owen for Berbatov. Fifteen-plus minutes for the former Liverpool man to break Scouse hearts. Because he didn’t do that by signing for United.

Vidic gets a yellow for getting tangled with Torres, and both players continue after the whistle. Good battle between those two today.

Liverpool have to keep up the pressure, I’m not so confident they have a stout enough defense to withstand typical United late-game pressure. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Skrtel on at some point to add to the back.

Ball falls to Nani on the left side of the box, his curler heads straight at Reina. Could have been worse there.

Great sliding block by Carra after Rooney shoots just outside the box. Torres with a good move on the right side of midfield, cutting back across the pitch.

Great control by Benayoun after a slicing ball by Aurelio, tries to get too cute and is dispossessed.

N’Gog readying on the sideline, will it be Torres?

Ten to play, Agger takes it away from Owen. Confirmed that it’s Torres off. Good move cognitively, but emotionally not so much.

Valencia hits the crossbar past Reina…I am twitching nervously now.

Strong play from N’Gog…maybe the first time that sentence has been typed. Well done by him to fight off Vidic and put the pressure on Ferdinand.

Carra and Owen get tangled, yellow for Carra. Dangerous spot there, and now a dangerous spot for a free-kick. Giggs, Rooney, and Nani over it…Nani hits it straight at Reina.

Great track-back by N’Gog wins possession for Liverpool, Aurelio floats one cross-pitch for Kuyt, who is pushed over by Vidic. Vidic is off for the third consecutive time in this fixture. Wow.

Giggs again with the free-kick, headed away. The return service is headed over the goal by Rooney.

Skrtel on for Benayoun, who had a brilliant day. One of Liverpool’s best on the year, he didn’t disappoint today.

Five minutes added. My heart can’t take this.

Three men in central defense, Lucas and Masch pushing deeper and deeper.

Really late whistle from Mariner there, who judged Skrtel to have fouled Rooney. A few long balls back and forth now.

Masch off! He slides into Van der Sar going after a free ball. Rightly so I think, never had a chance at the ball. Ten on ten for the finish.

N’GOG! A break for Liverpool, Lucas plays it in to the young Frenchman after a frantic few minutes. Calm finish for N’Gog, and a HUGE three points for Liverpool.

Wow.

Final whistle-Liverpool 2, United 0. All is right in the world. Or at least for the day.

Post-match Thoughts

What a strong finish from Torres, but the ball from Benayoun was class.

I think it was a just second yellow on both counts-Masch came in high initially, and while Vidic is clearly one of the best in the world, he can also look the worst with some of his challenges. Slow-motion is especially damning here.

What a funny game, football. Two weeks of misery and complaining, present company included, is swept away with one result. Perspective is going to be key for Liverpool after this-there’s plenty to address for the Reds, starting with keeping the key men fit.

Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher were tremendous today, Carra rolled back the years (at least past the beginning of this season) and Agger was his typical no-nonsense self. Well done by them.

Fabio Aurelio impressed in midfield, despite giving away possession twice in the final minutes. He sprayed the ball around the pitch and delivered fine service from dead balls.

United’s offense really looked to sputter today. I haven’t seen them much this year, but it looked to be a struggle for them at times. As Martin highlighted in the comments, it could have been the fine work by Masch and Lucas in midfield cutting off the supply, but Rooney and Berbatov were never really a threat.

The most threatening possessions for United were those that started from set pieces. Liverpool gave away far too many fouls within thirty yards, and they were lucky not to concede. United certainly have the personnel to convert those chances. I’d imagine on another day they would have, just didn’t happen for them today.

Other results have really gone Liverpool’s way this weekend–Birmingham beat Sunderland, Stoke shock Tottenham, and Villa were held by Wolves. A West Ham win over Arsenal would really be a treat for Liverpool’s standing.

Liverpool v. Manchester United, 10.25.2009, Anfield

After reflection, I realized there is no run-up needed. This reflection mostly involved reading around the Offside. Here, here, and here. Plus, the picture I posted gave me H1N1. Tomorrow, United, Liverpool, Anfield, quest for eternal glory and the possible end of the world as we know it.