Miracle required

1-1 was a sickener after playing so well. Babel made the breakthrough with a stunning goal but was let down by some madness at the back with 20 seconds remaining. If only we defended slightly better, we would have gotten the win we deserved. Now it's out of our hands.

Claude Puel, the Lyon manager says that they'll try to beat Fiorentina, and win the group. I would like to take him at his word but I fear that the fact they're qualified will lessen their teamsheet and need to win in Tuscany and I wouldn't blame them either were that to happen. So even if we win our next two group matches we will probably face elimination unless Lyon take a point or 3 in Italy, and we will have a few moments of defensive lapses to blame. If we had been slightly more switched on in either of the Lyon games, to get a draw in the first or win in the second then our fate would still be in our own hands. A draw in their match coupled with us winning in Hungary would leave us needing a 3 goal margin win in Italy.

But before all of that, we've got to beat Brum at home on Saturday. Physio room says that we might have Skrtel and Dossena back. We need all of the men we can get what with injuries and suspensions. Degen and Carragher are suspended so it could well be Ste Darby at right back unless GloJo does his best Lazarus impression, although the latest injury update from Rafa is more positive. Torres should make it but Gerrard won't. Could Aqulani make an appearance? Possibly off the bench.

Cottage calapse

Balls. When I saw the team sheet on Saturday I got very worried. 3-1 was the final result after a 1-1 draw at the break. We actually played well enough in the first half and things might have been different if Yossi had of scored rather than hit the bar in the first half. The defence we started was Insua, Carragher, Kyrgiakos and Degen which has a combined cost of £2.5m. Insua is having a poor time of it now and didn't cover himself in glory here. None of them did at the back. Degen was unfortunate to see a red and it may be rescinded on appeal. Then Carra went for a second yellow and we were down to 9. Laughable stuff. The only bright point was a stunning strike by El Nino.Lyon say that they're wary of the Liverpool threat. That threat has been lessened by the massive injury list we're suffering. The latest news is that GloJo and Aurelio aren't fit enough to travel. They will join Gerrard, Skrtel, Kelly, Riera and Dossena in the physio room. The more positive news is that Agger, Aquilani and David N'Gog have travelled. The big questions for me are who starts at right back as Degen isn't registered and dare we risk and Aquilani start? Darby may have to fill in for Johnson. It's either that or play Carragher there which hasn't worked at all recently. Starting Aquilani would be a big risk and I suspect it will be a case of him coming on for 20-30 mins at the end if he's needed. I'd love to see him start but I doubt he's ready for it. I'm really worried about this one. I think we'd win with our first team but we're far from that. A draw might be doable but I can't see us winning.

Dossena is being linked with a Jan move to Napoli. He's not playing much and will want to get some game time in to secure his world cup place. I wouldn't be too surprised to see him go if Rafa is assured he'll get to reinvest the funds. Spanish defender Mikel San Jose looks like he'll return to the Kop after a pointless spell on loan at Atletic Bilbao. We could be looking at a boost to our Hungarian community with Vladimir Koman who's currently playing for Bari. He's 20 and plays on the left wing and could cost us up to £4m.

Carling cup knockout

Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool was what the scoreboard displayed at full time. We were treated to two stunning strikes in a really open and attacking game. Both Insua and Merida provided goals to savour. We played quite well and could have won it. Arsenal carved us open a few times but they took their chances. Babel in particular spurned a glorious chance when he failed to connect a few yards in front of goal. That could have changed things.

Dirk was captain on the night and did his best to gee the lads on to victory. Cavalieri didn't really impress and I would worry if Pepe gets injured. The real surprise showing on the night was Degen who rampaged forward from right back showing great pace and attacking ability. It was heartening to see and we have some proper cover and right back now between him and young Marty Kelly.

All eyes were on Alberto when he came on near the end. He showed great touch and ability with one sublime raking ball to Degen on the right standing out. He might have won a penalty at the death when an overhead kick hit Senderos on the arm. Might have been soft but you do see them given. That would have been a dream debut for the little Prince.Now it's back to the league and we face a tough trip to Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon. Hodgson is doing a great job there and they've gone from being a shambles to a well organised team. I fancy them to blockade the goal and frustrate us, which is their right. We'll need to keep concentration on set pieces and hope that Torres & Yossi can carve them open.

Tony Barrett in the Times exposes the brutal truth behind life at Anfield under Rafa the cold and heartless dictator. Good lad Tone.

The Telegraph reckon we're after Juan Mata of Valencia. With what money? The Guardian say that we're offering Pepe a new deal. Sign him up quick smart. Best keeper in the league for me.

Click here to watch Jan Molby's legendary goal against Utd from 1985. It was thought lost for years but is now availabe to view online. Classic goal from the days before his butt was bigger as his talent.

Perfection

Sweet, sweet victory. Any win would have done considering the run we were on but a 2-0 win over the Man Ure where we dominated and destroyed them was very satisfying. Top marks to the team, it's hard to pick a poor performer among them. Rafa out anyone? The managerial obituaries will have to wait for a while yet.

Lucas and Masch were superb and totally bossed Scholes and Carrick. This was the Brazilian's best ever performance for us and humble pie will be selling out in many quarters. N'Gog did well and took his chance very maturely. El Nino was only 80% fit but still managed to give Vidic and Ferdinand a torrid time. He made dirt of Rio for the opener. Don't think I'll ever get tired of watching that. Rumour has it that kids on Merseyside are going to dress up as Torres for Hallowe'en and call over to Vidic's house. No doubt he'll be in a quivering mess when he answers the door. That's a hat trick of red cards when he's faced Torres in the league. Lovely.

Check out this happy bunch. You almost feel sorry for them. Almost.Fergie was up to his old trick of trying to blame the ref for his own team's inadequacies. Retired referee Graham Poll is having none of it and says the ref got his decisions correct. Eat that Slur Alex.

Rafa says that Aquilani will get some minutes against Arsenal in the Carling Cup but isn't ready to start. Kyrgiakos and Dossena will return to the squad and I wouldn't be surprised to see either start. I expect that we'll see a similar team to the Leeds match with a mixture of squad and reserve players. I have to say that I'm not too bothered if we miss out at the Emirates. Fulham is a much more important fixture and Gerrard won't be considered until that one.

Pennant sets us straight about Rafa in the Guardian. This man is a genius and clearly set for a long and successful career in management. Let's appoint him player manager now.

Lyon's full back Cissokho says he'd like to play for us someday.

Not a bad player at all.

This magazine is a must for all Vidic fans. He gives the lowdown on his status as Fernando's bitch.

The aftermath

Just when I thought we were out, they pull us back in. Crap. That was not what we needed. To break it down:

• Kelly was brilliant at right back. Fantastic performance from the teenager and we disimproved when he came off injured. A star of the future.
• Agger looked better in the middle but still a bit rusty. How we've missed him bringing the ball out of defence. He's the one we can trust not to hoof it, losing possession. Far too much of that from Skrtel and Carra at the moment.
• Pepe was in superb form again, as he has been all season despite a ropey defence in front of him. His saves in the lead up to the equaliser were fantastic but there was only so much he could do before one of them went in. He needed a dig out by one of the defenders.
• N'Gog started well enough but faded badly in the second half. He's improving but he's not really ready to step into the Torres breach just yet.

It now looks like we'll need to win our remaining games to qualify from the group and may need to beat Fiorintina by more than 2-0. Big ask to be honest but we've completed similar escape acts before.

So now it's the Mancs on Sunday. Bad timing. It looks like GloJo will be back but it's still touch and go on Torres and Gerrard. I don't fancy our chances without them. The team is short of confidence at the minute and we need our totems back. We've had such shit luck with injuries this year. International football has a lot to answer for here.

This article by Paul Tomkins should be required reading for all Reds. It details his four hour chat with Rafa at Melwood. Amazing stuff but I'd love to read the off the record version.

Those at Prenton Park for Liverpool's reserve match v Sunderland on Tuesday were treated to some crazy skills from Alberto Aquilani, no less. It was great for him to get a run out and I suspect he may get some game time in the carling cup match v Arsenal next week. But the problem for Alberto is that the expectations for him are increasing as our results get worse. If he's not Pirlo, Del Piero and Totti all rolled into one, he'll be declared a flop.

Deflated

I didn't think we would do well here given the injuries and team we put out. However, I didn't expect us to beaten by a fucking balloon. In fairness, we played shit and deserved to be beaten regardless of the beach ball.

A 1-0 loss was disappointing but not entirely unexpected given the spine of our team was ripped out by international football. I considered backing Sunderland but didn't get around to it. Rafa went 3 5 2 and it was good to see Agger back even if he did look a bit rusty. Spearing and Lucas in midfield didn't really work. The Brazilian wasn't 100% after returning from South America the night before the game. It was a tough match for Spearing to make his league debut in and it didn't really go that well for him. Hopefully he'll learn from this and improve. Rafa wants him to become our new midfield anchor. They are big boots for the small man to fill. Next up we face Lyon in Anfield on Tuesday. Pjanic will be the dangerman, so I hope he doesn't have the impact that Jovetic did a few weeks back. I'm hoping that we'll have our players back for this one. Lyon are a good side and we'll need to win this one if we want to get out of the group. A loss here would send the knee jerkers and phone in shows into panic mode. They're not far away from that now.

Jamie Carragher has admitted that he's not happy with his own form. He hasn't been at his best this year but neither has Skrtel. Now that Agger is back, I can see him putting the two of them under pressure.

Didi Hamann is back at Liverpool, coaching the youths at the Academy with Frank McParland. I wonder if he is giving them betting tips and teaching them how to get away with a sneaky smoke?

Here's Nemeth in action against the Italian U20 team, doing well and scoring two goals. Hungary were knocked out in the end but it will have done the kid well to score and compete at this level.

Yossi's agent says he's happy at Anfield and isn't interested in a move to Man City. I would hate to see him leave after the past year he's had. He's one of our most dangerous players these days and who we look to after Gerrard and Torres.

Check out Paul Tomkins blog, the Tomkins Times. The Cascarino article is great.

The Mirror reckon we're after Vasco de Gama striker Nilton in January. I'd be surprised as it doesn't seem like Rafa has any cash to spend. Chris Bascombe paints a grim picture of the state of affairs in the NOTW.

The guardian interviewed Riera in their small talk section. He seems like a decent sort. Bit surprised he doesn't pay for his music often given the amount of money he earns.

Building bridges

It may sound hard to believe but we played pretty well in our 2-0 defeat in Stamford Bridge. I thought it was really even until we conceded the first goal. After that we over committed numbers forward and were caught on the break. To be honest, I thought our defence played really well bar the slip up at the end for the second goal. The midfield punched their own weight but neither Dirk not Riera gave great service to Gerrard and Torres, neither of whom had much impact. But our performance level was much the same as it was last season, the difference being that this time we didn't get the result. I wasn't too disheartened afterwards, just a bit pissed off that we have to wait two weeks to get things back on track.Ahead of the match, El Nino had an interview in the Guardian where he opens up on fatherhood and how he loves living on Merseyside. Sure the city is lucky to have him.

Carra says we're facing into a massive week after the international break, and he for one is ready. We face Sunderland away first up followed by Lyon and Man Utd at Anfield. Let's remember that Sunderland drew at Old Toilet, and only missed out on a victory by a cruel deflection off Anto Ferdinand's leg. This will not be easy and our defence will have to be on top of their game to deal with Bent playing as good as he ever has. Himself and Jones are a real handful. On the plus side, we might have a fit again Daniel Agger in the squad as he came through a reserve match last week. Aquilani is progressing well but is still about two weeks away for fitness.

Paul Tomkins doesn't pull any punches in his slating of Tony Cascarino and his ilk. Give's 'em what for.

Ian Ayre has some positive spin on the new shirt sponsorship deal on the BBC site. It sounds like they've done well on the commercial side, the downside being that the money will probably end up in the pockets of George and Tom, despite their protestations. You can read the full transcript of Gillett's interview with SOS here.

I hate to say I told you so

Yesterday I predicted Jovetic would be a dangerman and one to watch. This prediction proved accurate and the Montanegran took us to pieces. He was brilliant. Yet again we were poor at the back with Skrtel, GloJo and Insua all had nights to forget. In midfield, Lucas and Aurelio didn't provide the shield that Masch gives us away from home. They hit us twice in the first half leaving us with a mountain to climb.

A banner held up by the home fans in the stadium said "Your story to us is a legend", but we couldn't add to that story here. The second half performance was much improved with Yossi and Lucas going close but we couldn't capitalise. That leaves us on 6 points. We should still qualify and can win the group but we've made it a lot harder. This Sunday the reds march onto Stamford Bridge. This is going to be massive. We won there last season but we were much more solid at the back then. We'll need Javier to recover from his knock by then. He's vital for these kind of away games. I worry about Drogba. He's caused us huge problems in the past and could make mincemeat of Carra and Skrtel. Cech's suspension is good news but may not be enough. I think a draw would be the best we can hope for despite El Nino and his magic feet. If Rafa doesn't pick him for the game he might get a smack in the head.Here's the new Adidas featuring Gerrard being picked for an ultimate team by Zidane. The copy is a bit rubbish but the look and animation is cool. Real graphic novel style.

Take a deep breath

Right. Here's a brief summary of the last 10 days while I was in Seville. During that time I went to the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium to watch Seville beat Mallorca 2-0. I was privileged to see the visitors feature Josemi and yes, he's still shit.

First was a West Ham game. I managed to watch this one on Spanish TV. The hammers gave us a tough game for an hour and more poor defending at the back cost us. But a goal from Dirk and two from El Nino got us back on track. His first one was really special.

Next came the Carling cup tie with Leeds, Leeds, Leeds. N'Gog scored to make it 1-0 but it didn't sound like a great match from the reports I read. Needless to say, it wasn't available on tv in Andalusia. Great to see the likes of Spearing getting some time and N'Gog keeps scoring and improving. Great help to have Fabio back in action. We've missed his cultured left foot. Hull City were shot up like fish in a barrel at Anfield on Saturday. Once again, el Crack Torres, put the opposition to the sword. He's in lethal from now after a slow start and he grabbed a hat trick and made Phil "Phil Brown" Brown and his team look awful. Babel grabbed two for himself, one of which he knew eff all about after a Riera shot looped off his foot. He's starting to put a bit of form together and I might have to retract my pronouncement that he's a write off. Gerrard scored a bit of a fluke, but they all count. Lucas has another solid game as Mascherano wasn't fit. There is the point that we don't need him and Lucas in the same team at home, and once Aquilani is fit, we'll line up with one of them alongside the Italian in the middle of the park.

Tonight it's back to the Champions league and we're off to Florence to face the Viola. They're missing Gilardino, which is good, but they'll still have Mutu, Vargas and Jovetic, who I rate highly. He was brilliant when I saw Fiorentina lose to AC Milan in the San Siro in January. It's not a handy group we have but it's still one that we should top. A win tonight would be great as it's probably our second hardest game of the six and would put us well on the way to the second round.

Off the pitch, rumors about of Saudi investors and Hicks and Gillett have released a statement to say that they are looking for investors. I really hope they do succeed and get kicked out of the club but I'm not holding my breath.

Hasta luego.

Humble beginnings

A 1-0 win against limited oposition saw our champions league campaign get off to a dull thud, rather than a bang. Debreceni posed very little threat but were happy to sit deep and frustrate in numbers, which is perfectly acceptable for smaller teams away from home. It was up to us to break them down and we didn't succeed to any great degree. We had some decent enough openings but only converted the one with deadly Dirk poked in a shot after the goalie failed to hold a Nando rasper. Rafa will say that the objective is get qualified as qucikly as possible and top the group. We're on our way to achieving that mission. Agger is back in training but unlikely to feature against West Ham in Upton Park this Saturday. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the same team or Mascherano in for Riera with Gerrard moving forward and Yossi shifting left. Aurelio needs some more minutes before he's ready to start. We should be able to beat this lot but it's not an easy ground to visit. I predict a narrow win.

It sounds like Purslow and Rafa are getting on well. I suppose the boss is glad that the incompetent Parry is gone. Purslow does seem to be efficent in securing the new sponsorship deal. The problem is that the money he's earning will go towards the Yanks debts, which they've loaded onto the club. Hicks reckons that the stadium will be built - once there is credit available in international markets. We'll see about that. In the meantime, they'll continue fucking the club, it's fans and the residents of Anfield around. Cheers Tom.