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Liverpool beat United 2-1

Liverpool notched up their first league win over Manchester United since Rafael Benitez took charge at Anfield, with a 2-1 win over the champions this afternoon. United looked to stamp their dominance on the title race with new boy Berbatov lining up alongside Rooney and Tevez, making a formidable attacking formation for United.

Plus with Liverpool being without inspirational skipper Gerrard and star striker Torres, United looked to have the edge. They showed their upper hand early on too, when Berbatov beat several defenders to set up Tevez to score the opener for United after just three minutes.

It proved a false dawn for the champions however as they failed to work the Liverpool keeper for the rest of the half, as the home side came more and more into the game. It was on twenty-five minutes when Liverpool equalised, when Wes Brown turned the ball into his own net.

The second half saw Babel and Gerrard introduced, as Liverpool moved up to something resembling full strength. As the game reached its final stages, Babel turned in a cross for a much deserved Liverpool win, giving the reds their first league win over United for years.

Torres out for three weeks

The question of whether Liverpool could win without Gerrard or Torres was answered yesterday, as they played out an uneventful 0-0 draw with Aston Villa. Neither side really looked like taking the points, and Fernando Torres limped out after in the first half.

Torres has suffered a torn hamstring, and looks like being out for two to three weeks, which means he could miss Liverpool’s game with Manchester United on September 13th. He is expected to return for their opening Champions League game against Marseille on the 16th.

Torres has pulled out of Spain’s World Cup qualifiers.

A spokesman for the club stated:

A scan this afternoon has confirmed a hamstring tear in Fernando’s right leg.

He is expected to be out for between two and three weeks.

It’s bad news for Liverpool with Gerrard also out, but both players should be back in a few weeks after missing as few games as possible.

Torres scored 26 goals for Liverpool last season, and after losing Peter Crouch in the summer to Portsmouth his value to the team is unquestionable.

Redknapp not happy with Liverpool performance

Liverpool and Aston Villa played out a rather drab nil nil draw yesterday which had former Reds midfielder Jamie Redknapp fuming. Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Redknapp claimed that Liverpool played for nothing more than a draw and this is one of the reasons why the team will once again be a mile off the title celebrations come the end of the season.

Liverpool have actually got a very good record at Villa Park in the Premiership, but will point to the fact that Steven Gerrard was injured in trying to diffuse their at times woeful attacking presence.

Yet Redknapp was less than complimentary over the tactics of Rafa Benitez, claiming that going to places like Aston Villa are must win matches for the eventual champions and the fact that they seemed not to try to says so much about the club’s ambition.

He also stated that Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all had better players than Liverpool and that the boardroom rift which is dominating the club is affecting progress on the pitch. It is difficult to see one of the three other teams in the top four playing for a draw at Villa Park, but are Liverpool genuine title contenders anyway?

English quartet learn their fate in Champions League

The four English teams in the Champions League learned their fate in today’s draw, with champions Manchester United being drawn once again with Scottish side Celtic. Man UTD have a fairly easy group for them to navigate as they’re in the pot with Villareal of Spain and Aalborg of Denmark.

Chelsea have been paired with Italian side Roma, and two easier ties against Bordeaux of France and CFR Cluj of Romania.

Arsenal have the toughest group of the English sides, being drawn with FC Porto of Portugal, Dynamo Kiev and a tricky trip to Fenerbahce. Liverpool, who only scraped through last night, also have a difficult group in the shape of PSV, Marseille and Spanish side Atletico Madrid.

David Barnard, the Chelsea secretary, stated about his side’s draw:

It’s a mixed bag but any team that reaches the group stages has to be given respect.

We are totally focused on Champions League, the determination is there and they are completely focused on making the final again this year.

Rick Parry, the chief exec of Liverpool, was optimistic about his side’s chances this time around:

It’s not easy but the three teams are fairly close by and there’s no challenging trips.

There are no easy games - you just take it as it comes. We are just delighted to be in it.

The full draw is:

Group A
CHELSEA
Roma
Bordeaux
CFR Cluj

Group B
Inter Milan
Werder Bremen
Panathinaikos
Anorthosis Famagusta

Group C
Barcelona
Sporting Lisbon
Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk

Group D
LIVERPOOL
PSV Eindhoven
Marseille
Atletico Madrid

Group E
MAN UTD
Villarreal
CELTIC
Aalborg

Group F
Lyon
Bayern Munich
Steaua Bucharest
Fiorentina

Group G
ARSENAL
Porto
Fenerbahce
Dynamo Kiev

Group H
Real Madrid
Juventus
Zenit St Petersburg
Bate Borisov

Liverpool and Arsenal through to Champions League draw

Both Liverpool and Arsenal made it through to tomorrow’s draw for the Champions League group stages in very different styles.

Arsenal cruised to a 4-0 win on the night, giving them a 6-0 aggregate victory over former England manager Steve McLaren’s Dutch side FC Twente. However Liverpool made decidedly more hard work of the affair, being held from the away leg 0-0 by Belgian side Standard Liege.

With 6 points from 6 so far in the Premiership, Liverpool’s results have flattered them somewhat. Both of their league wins have come from very late goals as they’ve looked decidedly unspectacular. This form continued tonight as the Belgian side looked the more impressive in the first half. Indeed if it weren’t for the Liverpool keeper Reina, they’d have been out of sight by half time.

The second half saw Standard Liege retreat into their own half, but Liverpool couldn’t make their possession pay as they barely troubled the Liege goal. New signing Robbie Keane missed a gilt edged chance, and Fernando Torres looked well below his best.

As the game entered extra time it looked all the way as though penalties would be needed. Even inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard was below his mercurial best. Finally, with just two minutes remaining before spot kicks, Liverpool’s Dutch contingent combined to win the game through a Ryan Babel cross and a Dirk Kuyt goal at the far post.

Chelsea and Liverpool lead the way

Everyone has played twice now this season (bar Manchester United and Portsmouth, but they can’t effect the top spots) and it’s Chelsea and Liverpool who lead the way with six points each from a possible six.

What both teams have in common is that neither has looked very impressive so far, Chelsea’s 4-0 demolition of Pompy aside. Liverpool struggled to beat Sunderland 1-0 last weekend and then yesterday had to come behind and rely on captain fantastic Steven Gerrard to save them in stoppage time. Chelsea meanwhile looked very ordinary against Wigan today and thanks again to new signing Deco were able to steal a 1-0 away win.

Even at this early stage of the season, this signals very good news for both Chelsea and Liverpool, as winning when you’re playing badly is the key to success. Liverpool especially have been troubled in the past by putting on great performances, dominating games and not turning their possession into goals and points. More than one occasion in the last few years have Liverpool completely outplayed Manchester United at Anfield, only for the reigning champions to snatch a 1-0 win.

With United themselves stalling at home against Newcastle and Arsenal losing to Fulham, the league title looks to have some real competition this season.

Perhaps even Newcastle themselves, who occupy fifth spot right now and ground out a win while playing badly yesterday against Bolton, thanks to Michael Owen’s late winner.

The game is on, it seems.

Barry plays, he scores, he ends hope of move to Liverpool

Gareth Barry looks to have put pay to any chance of his dream move to Liverpool by playing in Aston Villa’s UEFA Cup qualifier against FH Hafnarfjordur. Not only did Barry play, he scored, and after just 3 minutes!

His appearance in the game means if he were to move to Liverpool, or any club for that matter, he would be ineligible in the Champions League until February and unable to play in the UEFA Cup for another team this season.

By playing Barry, Villa look to have signalled their intent to hang on to the player, as playing him has reduced his value to any potential suitor, Liverpool included.

Even after playing the England international tonight, manager Martin O’Neill is still unsure of whether he’ll hold on to his star player:

I wouldn’t be sure until the transfer deadline passes what will materialise.

I had a talk with him beforehand. He was in the right frame of mind and wanted to play and there was nothing that would have stopped him which was very pleasing.

He wanted to play and he knew the consequences so the decision was very much his.

It really does look as though this saga is over.

Is Rafa at odds with owners over Barry?

Just what is the problem with Gareth Barry’s transfer to Liverpool? The player wants to go, Benitez wants him at Liverpool and Villa are resigned to losing him for £18 million.

So why hasn’t the deal gone through?

The reason seems to be the American owners of Liverpool FC, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. According to reports it is they who refuse to meet Villa’s £18 valuation, even though Rafa Benitez believes the player is worth it.

Rick Parry, the Liverpool chairman, confirms that the American owners don’t believe the valuation is fair:

On this occasion Liverpool think the price quoted is too high.

According to some reports from with Anfield, Benitez and the American owners of Liverpool have argued over the transfer, though Parry insists that both Hicks and Gillette are willing to trust and back the manager’s decisions.

This is not about questioning the manager’s judgement or the ability of a particular player.

The owners have clearly demonstrated throughout the year they are willing to back Rafa in the transfer market and will continue to do so.

It is obviously the selling club’s prerogative to put whatever price they want on the player, but on this occasion Liverpool think the price quoted is too high.

With just six days of the pre-season left, the summer’s most public transfer looks likely to run on.

Benitez drops hint on new arrival at Anfield

The on-off transfer of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa to Liverpool could still be on, despite the sticking price of the fee that the two clubs fail to agree on. Liverpool still want to sign Barry, Barry still wants to sign for Liverpool and Villa manager Martin O’Neill has admitted he expects Barry to leave.

Benitez said he still expects to sign another player before the Premier League kicks off next week, though refused to name the player.

When speaking about the transfer fee over Gareth Barry, Benitez stated:

The situation is not a question of money.

He is English and can play three different positions, but I am talking about someone who can play on the left.

I am talking about one player, but I won’t say the name.

It was thought that the Spanish international Xabi Alonso would make way for Barry at Anfield, but now it appears that Alonso will be staying.

We have a good player (Alonso) and we have another good player coming in soon.

We can improve the squad, so we will try to do that. We will bring in one more player if we can.

I do not know when but clearly we have problems on the left, Kewell has gone, Aurelio is injured and Leto cannot get a work permit.

The next seven days before the start of the season will be very interesting to see who comes in and who goes out for each Premiership side.

Leto refused work permit for Liverpool

Argentina midfielder Leto, who played four times for Liverpool last season, has been refused a work permit this season. Leto, 21, cost Liverpool £2 million last year and landed himself an Italian passport in the summer, but has it revoked.

This meant that Liverpool had to apply for a work permit for the player, but the DWP refused to grant it, meaning the player cannot ply his trade in England this season.

Rafael Benitez now has to loan Leto out to another European club, and insists there are plenty of teams who want him.

Rafa is disappointed with the DWP’s decision however:

I am disappointed and it was a surprise because this is a player who has played in the Champions League and been in the Argentina squad for the Olympic Games.

You have managers talking about how good he is, so I think the system needs to change.

Now we have to look for a solution, maybe find a team for him on loan, but we have maybe eight or 10 teams in Spain, Italy and Greece asking about him.

When you have eight or 10 teams asking about a player and he’s not playing, it means that he is good.

Benitez reiterates though that this doesn’t mean the end of Leto’s Liverpool career. If he performs well on loan this season he might find his way back into England for the 2009/10 campaign.

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