Preview: Liverpool v Cardiff City

Things get started bright and early on Saturday with a match of great consequence when Liverpool hosts Cardiff City at Anfield.

Liverpool could go top of the table if they manage to overcome Cardiff at Anfield tomorrow lunchtime as they look for their fourth consecutive league victory – and build on the 14 goals they have scored in their previous three games. Luis Suarez is to thank for over half of them. You should be placing your bets on Suarez scoring a few goals in this match on betfair.com or Liverpool winning on a big margin again.

Liverpool are still without captain Steven Gerrard, who will not be fit to return to the new year because of his hamstring injury.

Brendan Rodgers is also missing striker Daniel Sturridge and defender Jose Enrique.

Cardiff await news on whether ex-Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy will be fit to face his former club.

Aside from that, Bluebirds manager Malky Mackay has a fully fit squad to select from.

Cardiff enter the match on the back of a much-needed victory over West Bromwich, with Peter Whittingham's header ending their five-match winless run in the top flight.

That result saw the end of another managerial reign in the Premier League, with Steve Clarke sacked at West Bromwich following the loss.

Cardiff sit 15th in the table, four points above the relegation zone, but the strained relationship between chairman Vincent Tan and manager Mackay has hit the headlines again this week.

Mackay had previously spoken about his desire to sign players in January but Tan hit back in a strongly worded statement, saying that "not a penny" would be spent in the upcoming transfer window and that the manager had had more than enough funding.

Rodgers shared his sympathies with Mackay, saying: "He has had great results this season and is going to go on and be a great manager at a big club and I find it absolutely astonishing there is talk about him leaving there."

So far this season Liverpool’s home form has been very good, with the loss to Southampton in September the only blot on their Anfield copybook so far this season, and they come up against a Cardiff side that has only won the one game on the road this term.

The two club’s last met in the final of the Capital One Cup in the 2012 when won 3-2 on penalties after it finished 2-2 in normal time.

The last league meeting between the two sides came during the 1959/1960 season in the old second division when Cardiff won 4-0 at Anfield, a similar result this time round would send shockwaves throughout the Premier League.

Fancy Suarez scoring a hat-trick?

 

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Liverpool FC 2011-12 League Fixtures Released

A detailed and full run down of Liverpool FC 2011-12 league fixtures will be published on Liverpoolfc.tv at 9am Friday (UK time).

Liverpool will entertain Sunderland at Anfield in their opening fixture of the 2011-12 Barclays Premier League campaign.

The first day clash will give new signing Jordan Henderson an immediate opportunity to come up against his former teammates as the Reds look to kick off the new campaign with a winning start in front of their own supporters.

Liverpool's first away trip takes them to Arsenal the following weekend before a home game with Bolton completes the first month of the campaign.

The derby clashes with Everton are scheduled for October 1 at Goodison Park and February 25 at Anfield while Alex Ferguson will bring his Manchester United side to Merseyside on October 15 with the game at Old Trafford scheduled for February 11.

The fixture list has given Liverpool a home game on Boxing Day against Blackburn and an Anfield clash on New Year's Eve against Newcastle.

Our final home game of the season is against Chelsea before we round off our 2011-12 campaign at newly promoted Swansea City.

AUGUST:

13 - Sunderland (h)
20 - Arsenal (a)
27 - Bolton Wanderers (h)

SEPTEMBER:

10 - Stoke City (a)
17 - Tottenham Hotspur (a)
24 - Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)

OCTOBER:

1 - Everton (a)
15 - Manchester United (h)
22 - Norwich City (h)
29 - West Bromwich Albion (a)

NOVEMBER:

5 - Swansea City (h)
19 - Chelsea (a)
26 - Manchester City (h)

Read more: Liverpool FC Official

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Match Preview: Blackpool v Liverpool

Barclays Premier League
Venue: Bloomfield Road

Date: Wednesday, 12 January

Kick-off: 2000 GMT

Blackpool manager Ian Holloway will reshuffle his pack after making nine changes for the FA Cup defeat to Southampton.

Elliot Grandin is available after a hamstring injury but David Carney is on international duty at the Asian Cup.

Liverpool's Steven Gerrard is banned while Glen Johnson will be a doubt if his partner has not given birth.

Joe Cole has an ankle problem and Paul Konchesky has a dead leg - both will be given late fitness tests.

Blackpool:

Injured/unavailable: Basham (leg), Carney (international duty), Clarke, Gilks & Martin (all knee), Harewood (hamstring)

Liverpool:

Suspended: Gerrard (three matches)

Doubtful: Cole (ankle), Johnson (personal reasons), Konchesky (dead leg)

Injured: Carragher (shoulder), Spearing (ankle)

Match officials:

Referee: Michael Oliver

Assistant referees: Mick McDonough & David Richardson

Fourth official: Anthony Taylor

When Kenny Dalglish was last in charge of Liverpool, Blackpool were in the old Fourth Division - now the two Premier League teams sit side by side on 25 points.

Dalglish will find many other changes since his last stint in charge of the Reds but their spirited 10-man display in the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford will give Liverpool fans hope that he still retains his golden touch.

Having come away beaten but not bowed from the largest stadium in the Premier League, Dalglish now takes his side to the smallest, Bloomfield Road, in a re-arranged game after their Boxing Day clash was postponed by the weather.

It will be at places like this that Liverpool's season - and Dalglish's future - will be decided. Just one win away from home this season has left the Reds only four points clear of the relegation zone.

Blackpool, who were also knocked out of the FA Cup at the weekend, have the opposite problem - their home form is the worst in the Premier League.

Ian Holloway describes Dalglish as "an absolute hero of mine" but will be going all out for a famous double after the Seasiders' win at Anfield earlier this season, a result which contributed to the premature departure of Dalglish's predecessor Roy Hodgson.

Source: BBC Sport UK

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D-day on Merseyside

Today’s match against Manchester United at Anfield will decides Liverpool’s title ambition after losing four on the trot. Some quarters were venting their anger on the manager for the recent bad run of games. Do you think it is fair to blame it solely on Rafa Benitez?

How about the eleven players on the playing field? Aren’t they’re paid to do what they do best on the field?

Leave your thoughts here.

 

YNWA,

Red's Fury™

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Liverpool 2009-2010 Premier League fixtures

The Reds kick-off the 2009-2010 Barclays Premier League season with an away match against Tottenham Hotspur. The league match was scheduled on August 15.

Liverpool plays Stoke City and Aston Villa at Anfield on August 19 and August 22 respectively in a space of four days. And the the August fixture with an away match at Reebok Stadium on August 29.

The fixtures against the big-four sides starts in October. The Reds travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on October 3, before entertaining the defending champion at Anfield on October 24.

The Merseyside derby falls on November 28 at Goodison Park while the Reds will take on the last of the big-four, Arsenal at Anfield on December 28.

The first fixture of 2010 will see Tottenham Hotspur come to Anfield on January 9. And Liverpool will wrap up their home fixture against Chelsea on May 1 before end the 2009-2010 campaign at Hull City on May 9.

Below are the list of fixtures for Liverpool Football Club;

Liverpool 2009-2010 Barclays Premier League fixtures:

August
15 Tottenham Hotspur (a)
19 Stoke City (h)
22 Aston Villa (h)
29 Bolton Wanderers (a)

September
12 Burnley (h)
19 West Ham United (a)
26 Hull City (h)

October
3 Chelsea (a)
17 Sunderland (a)
24 Manchester United (h)
31 Fulham (a)

November
7 Birmingham City (h)
21 Manchester City (h)
28 Everton (a)

December
5 Blackburn Rovers (a)
12 Arsenal (h)
16 Wigan Athletic (h)
19 Portsmouth (a)
26 Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)
28 Aston Villa (a)

January
9 Tottenham Hotspur (h)
16 Stoke City (a)
26 Wolverhampton Wanderers (a)
30 Bolton Wanderers (h)

February
6 Everton (h)
9 Arsenal (a)
20 Manchester City (a)
27 Blackburn Rovers (h)

March
6 Wigan Athletic (a)
13 Portsmouth (h)
20 Manchester United (a)
27 Sunderland (h)

April
3 Birmingham City (a)
10 Fulham (h)
17 West Ham United (h)
24 Burnley (a)

May
1 Chelsea (h)
9 Hull City (a)

YNWA,

Red's Fury™

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Preview: Liverpool v Fulham

V

Liverpool goes into today's match against the in-form Fulham as joint leaders of the Premier League.

Rafa Benitez has finally moulded a team which can challenge for the league title since 1990. With seven victories out of eight league matches, has shown that Liverpool can secure crucial victories even when not at their best.

Today's match also commemorate Steven Gerrard's 10-year anniversary of his debut for the club. But Rafa Benitez must do without Gerrard for the visit of the Cottagers.

Benitez confirmed: "Gerrard is not fit - he cannot play tomorrow(today).

The Liverpool skipper trained on his own at Melwood today as he battles to overcome a groin injury in time to be fit for the Champions League fixture with Marseille next week.

Meanwhile, Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is delighted Andrew Johnson is starting to live up to the expectation surrounding him as one of the club's most expensive buys.

Dickson Etuhu is in the squad for the first time since his move from Sunderland after recovering from a knee injury and Hodgson has no other injury concerns other than long-term absentee Diomansy Kamara.

And that has prompted Hodgson to make favourable comparisons with Fernando Torres ahead of the trip to Anfield, which is expected to mark the Spain international's return from injury.

Hodgson said: "It's not a gamble to sign a player with such a proven track record. Fernando Torres was coveted for several years by teams playing all over Europe before Liverpool agreed to pay the enormous transfer fee that Atletico Madrid wanted.

Torres and Keane are expected to start for Liverpool tomorrow, with the Reds also boosted by the return of Alvaro Arbeloa from suspension.

Daniel Agger will continue to partner Jamie Carragher in the centre of defence, with Martin Skrtel still sidelined.

Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano should start in the centre of midfield with Albert Riera, Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel vying for starting berths.

Kick-off time: 3pm (UK time)

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YNWA,
Red's Fury™

Posted using Windows Live Writer Beta

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Liverpool held... again!

Another lacklustre displays from Liverpool at Riverside Stadium last Saturday. Liverpool's title ambitions suffered another blow when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough. Clearly, this season team's performance has deteriorated with the on-going saga behind the scene between Rafa and the owners.

Liverpool fell behind on the 26th minutes through Goerge Boateng's goal after a defensive error from Alvaro Arbeloa for heading the ball back across Liverpool's goal only for Jeremie Aliadiere to nodded into Boateng's path.

Boro has controlled majority of the match and almost scored the second goal when Downing rattled the post in 67th minutes. Luck was beginning to favour our side as four minutes later after Downing's shot was denied by the post, Torres fired a screamer from 25 yards that beats Schwarzer and went in off the post.

Liverpool piled on the pressures for the remains 20 minutes but their belated show of urgency has reap no reward. Drew in the last 4 matches in a row now and failed to capitalised on Gunners 1-1 draw to Birmingham, means we are still 12 points off Manchester United and Arsenal in the league with a game on hand.

YNWA,
Red's Fury™

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Stevie G's special

Late as usual. The Barclays Premier League 2007/08 (English Premier League) has had kicked off for the past 2 weeks now. Finally, we headed to a winning start to the season away at Villa Park. An own goal from Villa's Martin Laursen and a superb free-kick from Steven Gerrard sealed the match for us.

I missed this match on live telecast and managed to watch the highlight program few days later. The line-ups pretty much the same and our new boy Fernando Torres make his debut but the most significant changes made was the formation, 4-4-2 opted by Rafa instead of 4-5-1 which being used mostly for away matches last season. Rafa did do his homework!

Liverpool lead at half-time, thanks to an own goal from Villa's defender Laursen on the 36th minute. Gareth Barry converted a penalty after Carragher handled in the box on the 85th minute. While Villa fans still celebrating the equaliser, Liverpool had a free-kick just outside Villa's penalty box. Gerrard step up to took the free-kick himself and for the first time in many games, the skipper curl the ball superbly past Taylor's top left hand corner for the winning goal.

Watch the YouTube video of Steven Gerrard superb free-kick, plus goals from Voronin v Toulouse and Torres v Chelsea.

YNWA,
Red's Fury™

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Reds start glory hunting at Villa Park

The EPL fixtures for 2007/08 has been released two days ago. It's about 54 days from today to kick off the new season. Put aside the frustration in the transfer market, here's something for all the Reds supporters to keep tab on. Liverpool will visit Villa Park on 11th August to kick off the Barclays Premier League campaign and hoping to collect all the three points this time as last season we only managed to drew 1-1 at Sheffield United. Since then all our away games were sucks!

In August, Reds will play four games and our first home game was scheduled against West Ham United on 15th August but was subject to be change (TBC) due to Reds involvement in the Champions League's qualification. The first team that most likely to visit Anfield in the new season is Chelsea. This time we have the opportunity to show the 2007 runner-up that we want the Premier League crown and draw first blood. To close the 20 points gaps, we need to win games against Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.

The Merseyside derby falls on 20th October at Goodison Park and the blue half of Liverpool visit us on 29th March 2008. Liverpool entertain Gunners at home on 27th October, while Manchester United travel to Anfield on 15th December. On Boxing Day, the Reds will face newly promoted Derby County at Pride Park. Then, Wigan comes to Anfield on New Year's Day. Well, here goes the rest of Liverpool fixtures;

• Sat Aug 11 Aston Villa (away)
• Wed Aug 15 West Ham United (home)
• Sat Aug 18 Chelsea (home)
• Sat Aug 25 Sunderland (away)

• Sat Sep 1 Derby County (home)
• Sat Sep 15 Portsmouth (away)
• Sat Sep 22 Birmingham City (home)
• Sat Sep 29 Wigan Athletic (away)

• Sat Oct 6 Tottenham Hotspur (home)
• Sat Oct 20 Everton (away)
• Sat Oct 27 Arsenal (home)

• Sat Nov 3 Blackburn Rovers (away)
• Sat Nov 10 Fulham (home)
• Sat Nov 24 Newcastle United (away)

• Sat Dec 1 Bolton Wanderers (home)
• Sat Dec 8 Reading (away)
• Sat Dec 15 Manchester United (home)
• Sat Dec 22 Portsmouth (home)
• Wed Dec 26 Derby County (away)
• Sat Dec 29 Manchester City (away)

• Tue Jan 1 Wigan Athletic (home)
• Sat Jan 12 Middlesbrough (away)
• Sat Jan 19 Aston Villa (home)
• Tue Jan 29 West Ham United (away)

• Sat Feb 2 Sunderland (home)
• Sat Feb 9 Chelsea (away)
• Sat Feb 23 Middlesbrough (home)

• Sat Mar 1 Bolton Wanderers (away)
• Sat Mar 8 Newcastle United (home)
• Sat Mar 15 Reading (home)
• Sat Mar 22 Manchester United (away)
• Sat Mar 29 Everton (home)

• Sat Apr 5 Arsenal (away)
• Sat Apr 12 Blackburn Rovers (home)
• Sat Apr 19 Fulham (away)
• Sat Apr 26 Birmingham City (away)

• Sat May 3 Manchester City (home)
• Sun May 11 Tottenham Hotspur (away)

Will this new season marks the end of our long awaited 19th league champions? Can Rafa deliver us the cup that we've been missing since 1990?

YNWA,
Red's Fury™

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