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 Degen was unfortunate to see a red and it may be rescinded on appeal.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.

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.

Back on track?

Does a 3-2 away win get everything back on track? In a way yes. It was important that we went into the international break of the back of a win. As is often the case, we didn't do this the easy way, falling behind twice to scrappy goals. But Glo Jo got the first to leave us level at half time. After conceding early in the second half, we went on the rampage, which became easier once Davis was sent off for a second yellow. El Nino scored after a superb lay off from Dirk and Gerrard added the winner with a few minutes to go. We battered them second half and could have added a few more as Gerrard hit the bar and Torres had an effort cleared off the line. Some fairly measured analysis here from Le Tisier on Sky Sports.

I wouldn't say it's all full steam ahead but it's a definite improvement on the Spurs and Villa matches. But the defence is a real cause for concern at the minute. If we don't get our act together we'll win eff all this year. Kyrgiakos made his debut and did ok. He's clearly good in the air but was sloppy in possession a few times. Carra hasn't been helped with trying to organise a defence with 2 new players and an inexperienced one in Insua. I'm hoping that Aurelio and Skrtel will be back for the next match against Burnely on Sat 12th.

Now that they seem to be over their giant killing spree, it should represent a good opportunity for us at home. They play a fairly open game which should leave space for our stars to exploit. Johnson can continue his fine form and make the right flank of the pitch his own. He's been nothing short of a revelation so far. Long may it continue.The draw for the Champions League group stages was made on Thursday. We're in a group with Lyon, Fiorentina and Debreceni of Hungary. Is Hungary a country? Lyon will be tough enough but we should be good enough to top the group.

Paul Tomkins has a good article on the need for patience. He compares the treatment that different premier league managers receive for the same behaviour. Well worth reading.

Looks like Andrea is going nowhere. Earlier in the summer it looked like he might have gone to Napoli or Juve but at this stage he seems set to stay. Similarly I don't see us selling anybody else as there would be no benifit to doing so. Itandje is off to Kavala fc on loan. Even if Rafa were to get a good offer for him or Babel, he's unlikely to get the money to reinvest. Thanks very much Chris Purslow, Tom and George. A fine bunch of pricks.