Anfield Red

Rafael Benitez has named his starting line up to face Chelsea :

Steve Finnan is not even in the squad, despite shaking off a neck injury. Bellamy and Kuyt start upfront, with Crouchie on the bench.

Reina

Arbeloa
Carragher
Agger
Riise

Gerrard
Mascherano
Alonso
Zenden

Bellamy
Kuyt

Subs:

Dudek
Hyypia
Gonzalez
Crouch
Pennant
Sissoko
Paletta

Jose Mourinho has verbal diarrhoea (he's talking sh*t) after speaking about tonight's big game in a press conference, claiming Liverpool are not a big club.

Liverpool face Chelsea in a rematch of the 2005 semi final of the Champions League, and he is still crying about Luis Garcia's goal, and has now said that we have only played 4 games in 2007, and that Liverpool are a small club.

"If you ask me about the favourites, Liverpool should be the favourites. "

Maths was clearly not Mourinho's strongest subject at school:

"They are favourites because in the year 2007, we've played 27 matches and Liverpool play three or four. (yes Mourinho, we have played 4 games since January 1st, you stupid t**t.)

"If you're not a big club, you choose one competition and you fight in that competition and forget the others"

"Big clubs – we cannot do this. We have to go on until we can and try the maximum we can. It's a risk to try and win everything or nothing, or almost nothing because we've the Carling Cup."

I didnt realise that winning 2 premierships and 2 carling cups made you a big club nowadays? they didnt sell anywhere near close to the 30,000 tickets allocated for the FA Cup Semi Final.

The Chelsea manager also added "It wouldn't surprise me if they chased Drogba for 90 minutes to see if he can get a yellow card," (revealing his tactics from the 2005 game where Gudjonson deliberately got Alonso booked)…..

Liverpool face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Semi Final of the Champions League on Wednesday night, who should be in the starting 11?

With some people pretty much guaranteed to play, such as Reina, Carragher, Alonso and Gerrard, who do you think should play to ensure we win?

Finnan or Arbeloa at right back? Agger or Hyypia? Riise or Gonzalez on the left wing? Momo or Mascherano alongside Alonso? we are fortunate to not have that many injuries at the moment, Rafa has a decent squad to choose from, Pennant is in great form, Mascherano has not put a foot wrong, but at the end of the day there are only 11 starting places.

I think we should go for : Reina

Finnan Carragher Hyypia Arbeloa

Pennant Alonso Mascherano Riise

Gerrard
Crouch

then on the bench we can have the likes of Kuyt, Gonzalez, Bellamy, Fowler, Sissoko, Agger and Dudek.

Who do you think should play?

Jermaine Pennant has spoke about his recent performances, declaring himself happy with his form, but insists he is still learning every day at Anfield.

Pennant took a while to settle in, but after the Bolton game on New Year's day, he has been one of Liverpool's best players in the second half of the season.

"I'm in good form at the moment, but that's as part of the team, isn't it? When the team's performing it's easier to play well yourself. Your best comes out then and at the moment I'm really enjoying my football.

"It's pleasing to have found a consistency level. That will be pleasing to the manager and the rest of the boys as well.

"I feel I'm having an impact on the games. I know the standards expected at Liverpool and I've known that since the first day I came here. Every day is a learning curve for me and the way we play football here is great for me.

"Being part of this team helps me get better and improves my confidence"

Liverpool Boss Rafael Benitez says new signing Javier Mascherano deserves credit after Liverpool beat Middlesbrough 2-0 in midweek.

Masherano signed from West Ham, on an 18 month loan, after not getting a chance to show what he is capable of, and their loss has been our gain, as he has put in a string of fine performances, and has become a new favourite at Anfield. Yesterday, when him and Gerrard came to warm up infront of the Kop, Gerrard got the usual round of applause, and his song was blasted out, then Mascherano came, but he got a standing ovation and loads of cheers, much to his delight, hes finally at a place where hes appreciated.

Benitez spoke about Mascherano after the game on wednesday : "When you play alongside Gerrard, it's normal that the other players don't get the same credit, but it's important for me as a manager, and the rest of the team, to know that these players are always there and will be important.

"People will always talk about Steven Gerrard, especially when he plays well and scores two goals, but I think that Mascherano was amazing against Middlesbrough."

Rafael Benitez this week again moved to defend Momo Sissoko, who came in for criticism again after the Middlesbrough game.

Sissoko was substituted in the second half, but Benitez insisted Momo is still an integral part of the team , and spoke up after the young midfielder was criticised in the press

"I want to say something about Sissoko, because he was working really hard for us and was a key player against Barcelona and in a lot of other games,"

"Okay, he didn't have the best game, but I think it's important to support players who always give 100 per cent.

"The other day I tried to change things. I was using Mascherano behind Gerrard and Momo. But because the other team was playing really deep, compact and narrow, it was really difficult for him.

"But it was my decision, and some people may say I made a mistake, but I was sure we could have a good game with this system, or at least I was checking if it was a good idea. Now we know more about the players."

Sissoko was the talk of the town after his Man of the Match performance against Barcelona, but after a couple of games that were not at the same level, he was on the receiving end of bad reports for his performances.

A quality new song was heard on the Kop for the last 20 minutes of the Wigan game yesterday by a small section of the crowd in 202, and as more people learn the words it will no doubt to be a new favourite tune.

The origins of the song came from RedandWhiteKop.com, where someone had heard PSV fans singing a popular PAOK fans song, and the words were adapted accordingly.

The words are :

"OOOOOOOOHHHHH CAMPIONE
THE ONE AND ONLY
WE'RE LIVERPOOOOOL

THEY SAY OUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED, WE'RE NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE
BUT SCOUSERS RULE THE COUNTRY LIKE WE'VE ALWAYS DONE BEFORE"

Full credit to whoever thought this up, it sounded quality yesterday!

[edit] – Youtube video added from the Albert

Rafael Benitez praised Dirk Kuyt after his two goals helped Liverpool ensure Champions League football next season.

Kuyt got a goal in each half, and has given Benitez a selection problem ahead the Chelsea game on Wednesday, but Rafa was quick to declare he was pleased with the win and also with Kuyt :

"It is important for us to have qualified for the Champions League next season with three games to go and we can now concentrate on the Champions League semi-final," Benitez.

"We had to be patient against Wigan but we controlled the game and I am pleased for Kuyt. He always works hard for the team and he is a very good finisher as he showed with his two goals.

"I wanted to rest some players for this match and it was an almost perfect day for us because we have no injuries."

Liverpool ensured Champions League qualification with a 2-0 win over Wigan at Anfield, with Dirk Kuyt bagging both goals.

The game did not have much hype to it, with all eyes on the Chelsea game on Wednesday, but the reds still needed a win to guarantee at least 4th place , giving them a champions league spot for next season.

Gerrard, Mascherano, Finnan, Bellamy and Agger were rested, as Rafa looked to make sure no one got injured before the biggest game of our season, so Zenden lined up alongside Alonso in midfield, with Gonzalez on the left and Pennant on the right wing.

Kuyt and Crouch started upfront, Sami Hyypia returned alongside Carragher, with Riise and Arbeloa covering the left and right back positions.

The game took a while to get going, the fans were quiet (apart from a section of the crowd who for the last 15 mins belted out a new song), and the first chances of the game fell to Crouch, who fired a cross from Pennant wide of Filan's goal.

Neither team had many attacks emerging, so Rafa opted to switch Pennant and Gonzalez, which rewarded the team with Dirk Kuyt heading into an empty net after he went up for a cross from Pennant with Filan. 1-0 to the reds, but the crowd still didnt get going.

The only time the Kop got to its feet, and raised the volume was when Captain Stevie Gerrard and new hero Javier Mascherano came to warm up, but that didnt last long, and everyone nearly missed Kuyt get through after he took on what seemed to be the whole Wigan defence before over hitting his final touch, meaning Filan could collect the ball easily.

The second half got better, Gonzalez was back on the left, and starting using his pace to his advantage, on a few occasions he would knock it 15 yards ahead of him and the defender and beating them to the ball, but his crosses were never a danger. To be fair to Gonzalez, he was getting up for headers well, getting neat flick ons to the strikers, and at one point started doing kick ups , as he controlled the ball down on his chest, then proceeded to do kick ups, then caught it on his foot before releasing a pass.

The second goal came from Kuyt again, after Riise and Bellamy played a good 1-2, the ball rolled to Kuyt who fired past Filan to give the reds the win.

Jamie Carragher was brought off, to keep him ready for Chelsea, but him and Hyypia had a perfect game again, Carra controlling the line , all you could hear was him screaming orders at everyone else in team , on corners and crosses from Wigan.

Gerrard was brought on for Zenden, but he didnt really have much to do as Wigan rarely posed any threat.

Kuyt was unlucky not to get 3rd towards the end, but his header was sent straight to the keeper.

Rafael Benitez has moved to defend Momo Sissoko after the midfielder has been receiving criticism recently for some of his performances.

Sissoko will probably be the first to admit he has not performed as well as he would have liked to, but despite putting in some great performances this season (Barcelona, Nou Camp for example), he has been receiving alot of stick for not making the right pass, giving the ball away, not shooting when having a good chance.

The arrival of Javier Mascherano has not helped Sissoko's cause, everyone seems to think Mascherano is a replacement for Momo, but Benitez has spoken up about Sissoko, saying he will bounce back to form better than ever :

People still don't realise how young Momo is, He's moved to a big club in a new country and played really well for a long time, but he's not an experienced player.

"We're not talking about someone like Didi Hamann who developed over a long period of his career, but a player who is still learning part of the game.

"When Momo came back from his shoulder injury, he played at a really high level immediately. Sometimes this happens when you come back, but then after four or five games it's harder to play at the same consistency if you've not played for a long time. Before this he also had a serious eye injury. I don't think that's still troubling him, but he did really well to come back so quickly from this. He's been really unlucky with injuries for the last two years and still came back strong.

"When you set a really high standard people expect you to play this way in every game. That's not easy, particularly for a young player, but Momo has been really good for us. I'm not worried about him. There are times in a season when it's more difficult and with Mascherano coming here and playing well, that adds to the competition. But we all know Momo's qualities."