Liverpool suffered their first league defeat under Roy Hodgson as Manchester City recorded an emphatic 3-0 triumph at Eastlands on Monday night.
The Reds struggled to cope with a vibrant attacking display from the hosts throughout the contest and were ultimately undone by Gareth Barry's well crafted opener and a second-half double from Carlos Tevez.
It leaves Hodgson still awaiting his first Barclays Premier League victory in the hot-seat and means his side will now have to bounce back in time for what promises to be a tough Europa League clash in Trabzonspor on Thursday night.
Ahead of the showdown the main talking points in the away end centred upon the absence of Javier Mascherano and the choice of a 4-4-2 formation that paired David Ngog with the fit-again Fernando Torres. [Read more…]
Reds boss Roy Hodgson is keen to bolster his attacking options before the close of the transfer window and he is believed to be considering a swoop for French international Trezeguet.
Trezeguet's future at Juve has been the subject of speculation for some time with the Frenchman dropping down the pecking order at the Bianconeri.
The player's agent, Antonio Caliendo, admits Liverpool and Spanish duo Real Zaragoza and Hercules are chasing Trezeguet's signature.
"An interest from Liverpool? There are requests, not just of Liverpool.
"In Spain there is the interest of Real Zaragoza and Hercules.
"We are considering offers, today is a day of reflection, we will know more tomorrow." Caliendo told calciomercato.it.
Source: Sky Sports
This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.
Roy Hodgson is pondering whether to give Fernando Torres his first start of the season at Eastlands tonight.
Liverpool's No.9 gave an encouraging performance during his 45-minute outing in Thursday's 1-0 win over Trabzonspor at Anfield, and the boss admits he was impressed by his fitness.
"I thought Fernando looked very good against Trabzonspor and he will be all the better for the 45 minutes.
"He almost scored with his first touch of the ball and we are really pleased that Fernando is back. We know what he can produce and he didn't look like he was short of fitness.
"He showed he is back to his best and his energy and enthusiasm were vital for us. It did make a difference but when you have players of his class it does make a difference.
"We know what we've got in Fernando and it's really nice to see him back. It's important now we manage his fitness because it's quite early for him to be playing now.
"We have got until Monday until we play again so those days will do him good.
"Luckily we were able to rest some important players against Trabzonspor so we will have a lot of them coming back in on Monday night. It was a bit of a gamble in some ways but we won the game.
"They have had a longer rest and that is advantageous to us. We will have on paper at least a stronger team than what we had out on Thursday." the boss told Liverpoolfc.tv.
Martin Skrtel, Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt are all expected to start having been rested in midweek, while Liverpool are hopeful Javier Mascherano will recover from a calf injury.
Hodgson, though, will make a late decision on Daniel Agger, who suffered concussion in last week's 1-1 home draw with Arsenal, and is contemplating a first start of the season for Fernando Torres, the Spaniard having come through 45 minutes against Trabzonspor.
Definitely absent will be Joe Cole, the midfielder beginning a three-match suspension following his red card against Arsenal eight days ago.
Christian Poulsen made his debut for Liverpool last week following his arrival from Juventus, and Hodgson believes the Denmark midfielder is capable of appearing this evening.
Liverpool are ready to step up their attempts to make a double swoop for PSV Eindhoven pair Ola Toivonen and Carlos Salcido.
Reds boss Roy Hodgson has been tracking the Mexican left-back and the Swedish striker, as he looks to plug the gaps in his squad.
And last night Academy ambassador Kenny Dalglish flew to Holland to watch them in action at the Phillips Stadion, as PSV beat AZ Alkmaar 3-1.
Salcido was an unused substitute but Toivonen played for 82 minutes before being replaced by Ibrahim Afellay.
Hodgson himself watched Toivonen in action 12 days ago when the 24-year-old scored as Sweden beat Scotland 3-0 in Stockholm.
Toivonen began his career with his hometown club Degerfors, then moved on to Orgyrte before making his name at one of Hodgson's old sides, Malmo.
A towering presence with an eye for goal - he has scored 38 times in 49 appearances for PSV - Hodgson has identified the 6ft 4ins Toivonen as the man he wants to provide cover for Fernando Torres.
Liverpool were today refusing to comment on the matter but sources in Holland have confirmed that a bid has been tabled for Toivonen; a swap deal for Ryan Babel, however, is not an option.
What's more, PSV boss Fred Rutten also appears to have accepted that Toivonen is heading for the Reds when he said: "I can't block the transfer."
It is also understood that there is a definite interest in Salcido, who impressed for Mexico when they played England at Wembley in May.
Though predominantly left-footed, Salcido is versatile and can play in the centre of defence or as a right-back.
Meanwhile, Liverpool's position on Dirk Kuyt and Javier Mascherano has not changed despite speculation emerging again over the weekend about their respective futures.
Kuyt continues to be linked with Inter Milan and Barcelona are monitoring Mascherano's position but Liverpool insist neither man is for sale.
Source: Liverpool Echo
This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.
Aquilani will join The Old Lady for a year in a bid to gain regular first-team football after arriving from Roma a year ago to replace Real Madrid-bound Xabi Alonso for £20million.
Aquilani, who has been capped 11 times by Italy, has made only 28 appearances for the Reds, scoring two goals in the process.
Juventus have further boosted their squad by signing Serbia international striker Milos Krasic from CSKA Moscow in a deal which could eventually be worth over £12million.
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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
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.
and Hercules are chasing Trezeguet's signature.
Liverpool's No.9 gave an encouraging performance during his 45-minute outing in Thursday's 1-0 win over Trabzonspor at Anfield, and the boss admits he was impressed by his fitness.
And last night Academy ambassador Kenny Dalglish flew to Holland to watch them in action at the Phillips Stadion, as PSV beat AZ Alkmaar 3-1.
It is also understood that there is a definite interest in Salcido, who impressed for Mexico when they played England at Wembley in May.
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.
