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The Reds will return to Champions League action on Wednesday when they face Sevilla at Anfield.
Liverpool began their Champions League group stage campaign with a 2-2 draw with Sevilla at Anfield on Wednesday.
Liverpool endured a frustrating afternoon at Anfield as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley on Saturday.
Liverpool is keen to make up for the frustration of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Burnley.
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Liverpool FC may seems to be wanted to get the case quickly out of their way and focus on the playing field instead. Liverpool announced on Tuesday that they will not appeal the penalty given to Suarez for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, but in a strongly worded statement the club maintained the 24-year-old is innocent of the charge.
By accepting the punishment despite not accepting culpability, Suarez is not scheduled to be eligible again until the Feb. 11 match against Manchester United, whose defender, Patrice Evra, was the target of the striker’s insults. Uruguay international Suarez tonight began his suspension, missing Liverpool's match at Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League.
Despite a public outcry, Liverpool continues to back the player who was signed from Ajax a year ago.
Dalglish also defended the decision of the Liverpool players to wear T-shirts in support of Suarez ahead of their game against Wigan last month – and insisted he is not worried that the former Ajax man will be targeted for the rest of his career in England.
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Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli could return for their Barclays Premier League clash against Liverpool.
The Italian was not risked in the New Year's Day defeat at Sunderland due to a slight ankle problem suffered in training.
With no fresh injury concerns, manager Roberto Mancini has a full-strength squad - aside from the absent Carlos Tevez - and will consider changes for the second of two games in just over two days.
Liverpool frustrated then unbeaten City as they held them to a 1-1 draw at Anfield in November.
Since then Liverpool have had some disappointing results of their own but they impressed in a 3-1 defeat of Newcastle last Friday.
Striker Luis Suarez is expected to return to Liverpool's squad after suspension.
The Uruguay international served a one-match ban for Friday's win over Newcastle but is likely to be back in the starting line-up for the clash against the Barclays Premier League leaders.
Captain Steven Gerrard, a goalscorer against Newcastle, has made two substitute appearances totalling 52 minutes after two months out with an ankle infection and could be in contention to start.
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish insists super-rich City's super-talented squad hold no fears for his side.
The air of invincibility which has enveloped the Premier League leaders for most of the season has evaporated over the festive period.
City have taken just one point from two matches, during which time they have failed to score against West Brom and Sunderland, who inflicted only their second defeat of the campaign at the Stadium of Light yesterday.
They were second best in their encounter at Anfield in late November but escaped with a 1-1 draw and Dalglish draws confidence from all those factors.
Video credits to EOTK.
Source: ESPN
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Liverpool may be ready to bid for Aston Villa striker Darren Bent, who has become unsettled in Birmingham "following a summer of change and a succession of niggly injuries".
Bent joined Villa from Sunderland for £24 million in the 2011 January transfer window, but he has recently expressed frustration at the lack of service he is receiving at the club.
He has also incurred the wrath of fans by missing Villa’s 2-0 home defeat by Liverpool - opting to go Christmas shopping instead.
Liverpool have also been put on alert following reports that contract talks between Theo Walcott and Arsenal have broken down.
Walcott is one of several players at Arsenal who will have just one year left on their existing deals at the end of the season, and if a new deal is not agreed before the summer, manager Arsene Wenger could be forced to sell rather than risk losing him on a free transfer the following year.
Walcott said in October that he was willing to listen to the Gunners about a new contract following reports linking him with a move away from Emirates Stadium, however his agent later admitted that he did not know if the forward would still be at the club next season.
This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.
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Liverpool have been urged to abandon any thoughts of appealing against the eight-match ban and £40,000 fine that Luis Suarez received for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra, with a leading anti-racism campaigner warning the club that their vehement support of the Uruguayan is damaging their reputation.
The 115-page written verdict, which was released by the Independent Regulatory Panel on behalf of the Football Association on New Year’s Eve, presented Suarez's evidence as “unreliable” and “inconsistent” and painted a sorry picture of the manner in which the Merseyside club handled proceedings.
The Professional Footballers’ Association and anti-racism groups have supported the judgment and called on Liverpool to preserve their reputation and accept the verdict.
This was despite their legal team admitting flaws in their own evidence and failing to offer a satisfactory response when quizzed on the contradictions within the club’s and player’s testimony.
Piara Powar, the executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe, says Liverpool risk damaging their reputation unless they accept the findings.
“Luis Suarez and Liverpool FC have the right to appeal, however we would call on the club to think again about their public campaign to dispute the charges and contest the principles involved in the case.
“As a club with a good international standing the vehemence of their campaign is unquestionably causing them reputational harm.
“Racial abuse between players on the field of play has been an unspoken taboo for too long, an area that has been unsatisfactorily dealt with by English football despite many cases over the past 10 years.”
Kenny Dalglish, Dirk Kuyt, Damien Comolli and Luis Suarez's legal representative Peter McCormick were all criticised in Football Association report.
Kenny Dalglish
The commission labelled elements of what the Liverpool manager told Marriner in his room immediately after the final whistle “surprising”, as it contradicted various elements of Suarez's own testimony. In his evidence, Phil Dowd, the fourth official at Anfield that day, said Dalglish had remarked “hasn’t he done this before?” in relation to Evra’s allegations, although this was not remarked upon in the report.
Dirk Kuyt
The Liverpool striker claimed that Evra had told Marriner he was being booked because he was black, an allegation rejected out of hand by the commission, who said the claim made “no sense”. The inconsistencies in his account of his conversation with Suárez after the game over what had been said weakened the Uruguayan’s case, according to the commission.
Damien Comolli
Another witness whose account of what Suarez had said to Evra “surprised” the commission. They drew attention to “discrepancies” in what Comolli reported to the referee about what Suarez had claimed to say to Evra in the immediate aftermath of the game and the striker’s evidence. They pointed out these discrepancies had “not been satisfactorily explained”.
Peter McCormick
Suarez's legal representative was highly criticised. His suggestion that Evra made up his claim that Suarez said “I don’t speak with blacks” to gain revenge on the Uruguayan for failing to explain why he had fouled him earlier in the game was deemed “unrealistic”. He also said that Suarez's claim that pinching Evra’s arm was an attempt to “defuse” the situation was due to “bad drafting” of the striker’s statement, a point that was also rejected out of hand by the commission.
Full report from the FA here: Luis Suarez case
This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club or Red's Fury™ blog.
Source: Telegraph
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By guest writer: Jamie McLaughlin
With the games coming thick and fast at this busy time of the year Liverpool were next to face a Newcastle side at Anfield who have had a great start to the season, but have started to struggle a bit in recent times. Liverpool went into the match trying to sort out their home form having drawn far too many for Dalglish’s liken. An added interest in this fixture is former Newcastle favourites’ Enrique and Andy Carroll facing their old team.
THE TEAM
Kenny made two changes to the side that drew with Blackburn on Boxing Day, with Bellamy and Spearing coming in for Maxi and the suspended Suarez. So all eyes were on Andy Carroll in the absence of Luis Suarez to find his goal scoring form against his old team. The defence was unchanged leaving Carragher once again on the bench with Adam and Spearing in the middle of midfield and Bellamy on the left and Downing playing once again on the right. Gerrard started on the bench as he looks to get his match fit.
THE MATCH
Liverpool started on the offensive and Adam miscued an early chance in the first couple of minutes. Then Agger made a surging run from defence only to drag his shot five yards wide. Liverpool kept up the pressure and Downing had the next chance with a near post drive but Krul was equal to it.
But Liverpool was stunned in the 25th minute when Taylor sent in a dangerous cross which was flicked on by Cabaye only to be diverted past Reina via Agger’s arm. It was a real shock to the home side who had been on the attack for most of the half.
But Liverpool responded quickly and drew level just 4 minutes later when Bellamy fired in a low drive after good work from Adam. The home side continued to press and Martin Skrtel almost made it two but he headed just wide from a corner.
The second half started with Liverpool struggling to get possession as Newcastle found their passing game. There was a feeling inside Anfield that this could be another one of these games that would end up in a draw. Dalglish brought on Gerrard with half an hour to go and he lifted the whole stadium. Suddenly Gerrard was orchestrating Liverpool. Gerrard sent over a superb cross from the right but Carroll just failed to connect and then Gerrard found Carroll inside the box with a superb pass but the big striker’s control let him down when clean through.
Then in the 67th minute Liverpool were awarded a free-kick 25 yards out, Bellamy’s shot flew past Krul thanks to Carroll making a nuisance of himself in front of Krul, confusing Simpson and Krul. There was relief all around Anfield. But Newcastle almost equalized when Ba got behind the Liverpool defence, but his clipped effort was brilliantly cleared off the goal line by Skrtel who ended up in the net.
Next Gerrard whipped in a dangerous cross which Carroll headed off the crossbar, but Liverpool got their deserved third goal when a good move ended up with Gerrard bursting into the left side of the penalty area before slotting the ball underneath Krul from a tight angle sending the crowd wild in celebration. Liverpool saw out the rest of the match comfortably giving them a much needed home win.
SUMMARY
Great to see Bellamy come back into the side with Carroll up front in the absence of Suarez. I was very worried when we fell behind to a freakish goal as we were struggling to create many chances. Bellamy was superb and took his goals superbly. Jay Spearing was superb and lucky to have both legs intact after being on the end of a horrific tackle. But I felt this is the fewest chances we have created in a match and yet we scored three goals which is very pleasing. But the turning point was the introduction of Gerrard who produced so many quality crosses and passes and what a goal. Great credit to Skrtel who produced an amazing clearance off the line. Great to see us get a much needed win at home.
Man Of The Match – Bellamy – scored 2 goals and was dangerous all night, great energy and pace shown.
Written by Jamie McLaughlin, who writes for Anfield News
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* By pressing play on the video, you’ve agreed with the English FA rules and regulations on its broadcasting. This video is googled and for personal viewing only. Red's Fury™ does not host or upload this material and is not responsible for the content.
Stay tune for more news and follow me on Twitter.
LEICESTER CITY
2-3
