Weekend Links: Return of the Mojo, VIDEO FUNNY : SAF fails lie detector test, Marriage made in Wales for Cardiff and Craig Bellamy, Kenny Huang pulls out of Liverpool takeover bid, Gunners cruise, Hammers lose, refs snooze

I love weekend! Hope all of you have a great weekend. It’s a beautiful weekend for the Reds. Looking forward to the Monday night clash with Manchester City.

 

Return of the Mojo… – Liverpool FC & Life

The new campaign has finally started! Since the departure of Rafa Benitez and appointment of Roy Hodgson this has been one of the most anticipated starts to a season in a very long time. [Read more…]

 

VIDEO FUNNY : SAF fails lie detector test – The Empire of the Kop [View here]

Marriage made in Wales for Cardiff and Craig Bellamy – 90 Minutes

After much speculation and some predictable developments Cardiff City have secured Craig Bellamy on a season-long loan deal. [Read more…]

 

Kenny Huang pulls out of Liverpool takeover bid – The Sport Review

Hong Kong businessman Kenny Huang has ended his interest in buying Liverpool Football Club, it emerged on Friday night. [Read more…]

 

Gunners cruise, Hammers lose, refs snooze – Premiership Talk

Barring this evening’s late kick-off between Wigan and Chelsea, another Saturday’s Premier League action is in the books already. [Read more…]

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Anfield flops set for loan exit

Aquilani has struggled to make an impact at Anfield since his £20million arrival from Roma last summer.

The injury-hit playmaker has struggled to make an impact after coming to Anfield and discussions are under way for him to return to his home country.

Aquilani was left out of Liverpool's squad for yesterday night's UEFA Europa League play-off against Trabzonspor and Hodgson admits he will probably be loaned out to a Serie A side.

   "At the moment we are considering possibly loaning him to an Italian club, but nothing is sure about that yet so I don't have anything to report.

"I didn't want to use him tonight just in case the loan goes through because for Aquilani this year it's very important that he plays regular football, every week as the number one man on the team sheet.

"I can't promise him that here so if a loan move to Italy could help him in that respect it might be good for all parties.

"It would certainly be what he needs, it would certainly protect the value of the player and when he does return to Liverpool no doubt we will see the Aquilani that we signed before he came here injured last year." Hodgson told LiverpoolFC.tv

Earlier this month, defender Philipp Degen has joined German side VfB Stuttgart on loan for the 2010-11 season.

The Swiss international, was signed on a free transfer by ex-Reds boss Rafael Benitez in 2008 but played only seven times for the Anfield club.

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Europa League: Liverpool 1-0 Trabzonspor First Leg Highlights

A Ryan Babel strike has given Liverpool a slender 1-0 advantage following the first leg of their Europa League play-off against Trabzonspor.

The Holland international fired home on the stroke of half-time but the Reds were denied the comfort of a second goal after Joe Cole missed a penalty in front of the Kop.

The scoreline keeps Liverpool as favourites to progress to the Europa League proper as Roy Hodgson tries to become only the second manager after Sven Goran Eriksson to guide three different teams to the competition's final.

Having fallen at the last hurdle with both Inter Milan and Fulham, Hodgson is desperate to make it third time lucky in Dublin.

However, the Liverpool manager has already made it clear he intends to use his full squad in Europe this term, and against Trabzonspor there were first starts of the campaign for new boy Christian Poulsen, Fabio Aurelio, Maxi Rodriguez and Babel.

Martin Kelly and Sotirios Kyrgiakos also made the XI as the likes of Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and Martin Skrtel enjoyed a rest.

It was Kyrgiakos who almost headed Liverpool into an early lead after just five minutes when he connected with a tasty Maxi corner only to be denied by Trabzonspor custodian Onur.

Burak flicked a similar opportunity wide of Pepe Reina's goal shortly after but it was the hosts who were playing more football, Milan Jovanovic in particular impressing down the left.

Aurelio came close to breaking the deadlock with a free-kick which swerved just over the bar on 26 minutes as Liverpool continued to probe without creating many clear cut chances.

The visitors offered little by way of an attacking threat, though Burak might have made a name for himself again had his sweetly struck dead ball crept under rather than over the crossbar.

But it was Liverpool who eventually took the lead in first-half injury-time when Cole swept an intelligent through ball into the box, leaving lone striker Babel with the relatively simple task of side-footing past Onur.

It was to be the Dutchman's last act of the evening after being substituted during the interval for Fernando Torres, who within 30 seconds of getting a rapturous welcome from the Kop was trying his luck with a rasping effort from wide of the box.

A minute later Lucas wasted a free header after Jovanovic's corner, while debutant Poulsen whacked over from range. The Reds were starting to purr.

The second goal looked certain to arrive on 52 minutes when Serkan tripped Lucas in the box and Cole stepped up from 12 yards. The No.10's penalty kick was weak, however, allowing Onur to parry away.

Jovanovic was next to hold his head in hands when he was denied by a decent save after smart footwork from Torres sent him through on goal.

Trabzonspor should have made the Reds rue their profligacy on 59 minutes as Umut evaded the offside trap before being thwarted by a superb hand from Reina.

Poulsen seemed to have made it a dream debut with just under 20 minutes remaining when he tapped in after a goalmouth scramble - only to be denied by a dubious call of a foul from the referee. Television replays showed justice may have been done, though, as the Dane was standing in an offside position.

The Reds now take their lead to Turkey in a week's time.

  

 

Sources: LiverpoolFC.tv and RUTube

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Transfer news: Babel and Diego latest

Roy Hodgson confirmed that Diego Cavalieri looks set to leave Liverpool - but the boss dismissed speculation that Ryan Babel could move.

Goalkeeper Cavalieri will hold talks with Italian side Cesena after our Europa League play-off first leg with Trabzonspor.

His likely departure follows the arrival at Anfield this week of stopper Brad Jones, who was not signed in time to be eligible for today's Europa League clash.

   "Diego has done a marvellous job for the last three years.

"He's a very good goalkeeper and a very good person, but he made it clear to me at the start of the season that after three years of watching Pepe play every week he might, if he's not careful, lose his goalkeeping ability or his status as a first-team goalkeeper.

"He made it clear he'd like to leave and find a club where he'll be able to play on a regular basis, so we set about the task of finding someone we thought would be as good a complement to Pepe Reina as Cavalieri has been.

"That's why Brad Jones has come in. He's the man we've chosen to back up Reina, put him under pressure and, most importantly, be ready to play.

"Diego will travel to Cesena after the game tomorrow night for a medical." Hodgson told LiverpoolFC.tv

The Brazilian's departure would make Jones the recognised number two to Reina, and he is likely to feature regularly if we reach the Europa League proper.

Meanwhile, quizzed on whether rumours linking Babel with a move to Wolfsburg was accurate yesterday.

   "No, there's none there. I'm afraid we're in the realm of speculation. You know better than I how many stories you're getting every day, and many of them are unfounded and many are attempts from people to get their players in the spotlight.

"We've had no written or formal offers for Ryan Babel and he's a player who I'm expecting to play for us." Hodgson said.

With two weeks of the transfer window remaining, the gaffer is not ruling out more activity - and backed up Christian Purslow's suggestion that there could be 'one or two' new faces on top of Jones.

Elsewhere, Hodgson was delighted with news that Martin Skrtel has signed a new contract at Anfield.

Source: LiverpoolFC.tv

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Skrtel signs new contract at Liverpool

Defender Martin Skrtel has signed a two-year contract extension at Liverpool and is now targeting Premier League success this season.

Liverpool paid a club record £6million fee for a defender when signing Skrtel from Zenit St Petersburg in January 2008 and he has played 82 games during his time with the Merseyside outfit and was a first-team regular as Liverpool finished seventh in the Premier League last season.

Skrtel had two years remaining on his existing contract but has decided to firm up his commitment to the club by agreeing terms on a new deal that ties him to Liverpool until 2014.

He has since established himself as one of the club's first-choice central defenders alongside Jamie Carragher.

Skrtel missed the end of last season with a broken foot but recovered in time to feature in Slovakia's impressive World Cup campaign.

The mood at Liverpool has been transformed since the arrival of Hodgson in July, with the signings of Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic also lifting spirits after last season's disappointing seventh-place Premier League finish.

   "I'm very pleased. I have been at Liverpool for nearly three years and I really like it here. I like the city, I like the club and I like the fans so I'm happy I am able to sign a new contract.

"Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world so I am proud I can play here for four more years."

"Before I came here a lot of people thought I wasn''t good enough to play for Liverpool, but I think I have shown I am,"

"I'm happy to try and carry on giving good performances and doing my best for the club. Signing a new contract gives me confidence and I will work hard in training every day to play as many games as possible. You can always improve. I know the good and bad parts of my game and I will keep working.

"Lots of things have changed at the club this year with new players, a new manager and new medical staff. The spirit is very good and we showed that against Arsenal with a great performance. We can build on that and carry it on.

"We have quality in the dressing room and I know we will do better this year. A club like Liverpool deserves to win trophies and I will help them do that, hopefully this season.

"Everyone plays football to win trophies. Playing for Liverpool is a big motivation for everyone and we will do everything we can to win the Premier League. We have the highest targets - to win everything." he told LiverpoolFC.tv

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Rumours: Strikers linked to Liverpool

Waking up to the news or gossips from the press linking a hosts of players to Liverpool Football Club.

Liverpool prepare bid for £8m Dutch international - Roy Hodgson is set to make a bid for Dutch international striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel as he looks to beef up his Anfield attacking options.

The 21 year old Utrecht goalscorer is highly thought of in Holland and has been linked with moves to both Ajax and PSV over the summer and the Liverpool boss is looking to snap up the youngster before the transfer window closes. Read more…

Toulouse striker in contact with Liverpool - Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac is keen on a move to Liverpool.

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson admitted yesterday that he wanted to add a new striker to his squad before the summer transfer deadline falls. Read more…

PSV willing to sell Ola Toivonen to Liverpool - for right price - Liverpool must cough up big to sign PSV Eindhoven striker Ola Toivonen.

The Daily Mail says PSV Eindhoven's Sweden striker Toivonen will cost Liverpool at least £8million after being watched by them three times in the space of a week. Read more…

Liverpool interested in £13m-rated striker - Liverpool are considering a move for Dynamo Kiev forward Artem Milevskiy as manager Roy Hodgson looks to bolster his strikeforce.

The Ukrainian international is seeking a move abroad after eight years at Kiev and is a target for Hodgson. Read more…

Liverpool enquiry confirmed by agent - Liverpool are amongst a handful of clubs who have made an enquiry over Romelu Lukaku, according to the player's agent.

The 17-year-old striker has emerged as one of the hottest prospects in European football after a breakout year at Anderlecht, and new Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is thought to be one of the bosses after the player's services. Read more…

This story has been reproduced from media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.

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Hodgson backs Reina after blooper and signs Jones for £2.3million

Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson refused to blame Pepe Reina after the keeper's blunder gifted Arsenal a 90th-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Anfield.

Reina spilled the ball into his own net after Gunners striker Marouane Chamakh had bundled a Tomas Rosicky cross against the post.

   "Pepe Reina is very disappointed. I thought he did very well as he's struggled with a shoulder injury.

"We're disappointed the game ended that way but very proud of the performance." Hodgson told BBC Sport

Yesterday, Liverpool have confirmed a £2.3m fee has been agreed with Middlesbrough for the transfer of Australian international goalkeeper Brad Jones.

The 28-year-old stopper passed a medical on Monday afternoon and has agreed personal terms. He is expected to complete the paperwork on a three-year contract on Tuesday.

The Australia international spent the early part of his career as understudy to Mark Schwarzer, before battling it out with Ross Turnbull to become first-choice at the Riverside at the start of the 2008-09 season.

During his time in the North-East he picked up a League Cup winner's medal and was between the sticks for the club's famous UEFA Cup semi-final  victory over Steaua Bucharest back in 2006.

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Premier League Highlights

The Barclays Premier League are back over the weekend. Tottenham kick-off the season against Manchester City, which ended in a 0-0 draw. Blackpool back in the top division with an impressive victory away at Wigan. Liverpool home clash with Arsenal on Sunday marred by Joe Cole’s dismissal.

Watch the games highlights, goal by goal here.

Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal – Match report

N’Gog (46 minute) Reina (OG 90 minute)

 

Tottenham 0-0 Manchester City – Match report

Aston Villa 3-0 West Ham – Match report

Blackburn 1-0 Everton – Match report

Bolton 0-0 Fulham – Match report

Sunderland 2-2 Birmingham – Match report

Wigan 0-4 Blackpool – Match report / Highlights

Wolves 2-1 Stoke – Match report

Chelsea 6-0 West Bromwich Albion – Match report / Highlights

Manchester United 3-0 Newcastle – Match report

Sources: Premier League website and RUTube

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