Pepe protects point

How's your glass? I think that mine is still half full. But I can't help but feel that this was two points dropped. We knew that Portsmouth is a tough place to go and get three points. They held Utd to a 1-1 draw earlier on this season. It could have been worse. If it weren't for Pepe saving a Kanu penalty, then we could have been looking at our first defeat of the season. We did create a few chances. Crouch forced James into a good save early in the first half. Voronin hit the top of the bar and Torres should have done better after being put through on the keeper with a few minutes to go. Much talk, predictably from Andy Grey, was about Gerrard being on the bench. I think that it was an understandable decision given that his fitness was in question and he just played 2 games in four days for England. Plus we had top quality replacements to come in in the form of Xabi and Momo. Brum at home next weekend should be a much easier challenge.



El Nino revealed that he spurned our rivals to lfc.tv. Nice one my son. Given Utd's profligacy in front of goal this season maybe they should have bought him instead of Tevez.

We're signing the central defender Ayala. But rather than the Argentine rock who played for Rafa at Valencia, this lad is 17 and plays for Sevilla. This could be promising as Sevilla have a great youth policy. If he goes on to be half the player that his namesake is, then we could have a serious prospect on our hands.

Champions league returns on Tuesday night. There is something fantastically exciting about hearing the theme music belting out over messages from the sponsors and partners. It nearly makes me go out and buy some Continental tyres, even though I don't have a car. I went through a phase of only drinking Amstel as it was my tipple of choice in the 2005 campaign. Champions league make the darkening of the evenings and the approach of cold winter evenings somewhat less off putting. The road is long and unpredictable. It could end up anywhere - Istanbul, Athens or maybe Moscow. It might end after the group stage as it did for Utd two years ago when they finished bottom of a group with Lille, Benfica and Villareal. The first stop on our continental tour is Porto on Tuesday night. They have some good players in Quaresma and Lucho González. I think that Rafa will go for a win but a draw away from home wouldn't be a bad result.

Roll on 7.45 on Tuesday.