Live Thoughts: Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur (Premier League)

I covered this match live. Here are my Live Thoughts on the match between Liverpool and Spurs.

Hey everyone, it's me again with another one of those Live Thoughts posts. I'm going to do these less often from now on, maybe once a week or a fortnight. I enjoy doing them but they take a lot of space on my blog, when I cover four topics on here. But this is a match I can't avoid covering. It's a big match. We win today, we stay in the pack for a fourth place spot. We draw, we are on the bottom end of the pack. A loss, while isn't the end of the world, means we are a the bottom of the pack with a big ask to get fourth place. We need to stay in the pack, and above it, if we want Champions League football. Spurs on the other hand also need to win to stay close to the Top 2. It's a must win game for both clubs, but hopefully with a fully fit Gerrard, an Andy Carroll who is looking better recently than in most weeks and most importantly, the little firecracker that is Luis Suarez returning to action, means we'll hopefully have the three points at the end of the night. Let's do this!

Here are the teams: 

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Kelly, Agger, Skrtel, Spearing, Kuyt, Gerrard, Adam, Carroll, Bellamy. Subs: Doni, Suarez, Henderson, Coates, Downing, Carragher, Aurelio.

Suarez returns! Gerrard starts! Looking good. I'd have liked Suarez to start today but I can understand the reasoning. While he's fully fit he's probably a little rusty. Not only that but he can make a big impact later on. Nice to see Fabio Aurelio on the bench, it dawned on me today that his contract ends again this season. He'll probably be released, while I like him, his injury problems are still far too relevant. Flanagan needs to develop further so I think this is the beginning of the end for Fabio Aurelio. I like our starting 11. Lucas, Enrique and Suarez aside, it's our strongest side. Should be tough to break down and hopefully we'll have enough firepower to score and win.

Tottenham Hotspur: Friedel, Walker, Dawson, King, Assou-Ekotto, Parker, Livermore, Modric, Kranjcar, Bale, Adebayor. Subs: Cudicini, Saha, Rose, Nelsen, Luongo, Lancaster, Khumako. 

A weakened Spurs side, lacking Defoe and Van der Vaart. Adebayor isn't fully fit either. Saha will try and make an impact later on, being an ex United and Everton player, let's hope we thwart that plan. This side can still cause problems, particularly Modric and Adebayor if he plays to his potential. Dangerous but a weakened side means we should be taking advantage tonight.

3' - A poor start for Liverpool sees Spurs being pinged back to their goal in the early minutes. We defend a corner relatively well. We usually start with aplomb but not today. 

4' A lovely ball from Gerrard to Carroll and he's through! Dawson tackles in the penalty box and my first thought was penalty, but on replay I'm not so sure. 

6' - Scott Parker brings Glen Johnson down JUST outside the box! Free kick! Gerrard takes it and it hits the wall, there was a lot of messing about in the box, kudos to Spurs for providing enough distraction. 

9'  - The game is looking relatively open for both sides, as expected. Both sides have had a decent spell of possession so far. 

11' - A stray cat found its way on to the pitch. Poor little thing. Really cute as well.  The Liverpool fans boo when the stewards removed it.

14' - Liverpool starting to look a little more threatening now, using the left wing. Bellamy combining well with Johnson, who's on the left today, down that side of the pitch.

17' - There's a lot of crossing today by Liverpool, but not long straight balls to Carroll, but strong diagonal balls that are causing the Spurs defence to tear apart slightly. It's good.

18' - Two defeats in 21 matches for Spurs. Incredible statistic. Hopefully we can make it less awesome sounding tonight. 

18' - That's twice now I've seen Charlie Adam covering Glen Johnson down the left back position. Doubling up. It's working at the moment though as that's the side we're using most. 

21' - Once again we're dominating on the left wing. It's not come to fruition yet but it feels like we're really dominating that area of the pitch and if we score, it's likely to source from there. 

24' - The first time I've seen us go down the right but the cross is poor. I'm not sure who crossed that, it might have been Martin Kelly, but it was high and over the box. 

27' - Another few crosses from the right are poor, by Kelly and Adam. Our end product in the final third really isn't good enough at the moment. We're dominating possession but not doing enough clinical crossing. 

29' - Adabayor accidentally catches Bellamy and he goes to ground. It was accidental but a little clumsy by the man from Togo.

30' - A fizzing cross from Adam from a free kick reaches Kuyt in the box but it was offside and his header was well wide anyway. But that cross is the type of cross we need to be doing. A strong, hard, low drive from Adam.

32' - SPEARING! So close! A beautifully balanced tap from Gerrard sets up Spearing perfectly, and it was inches wide! Excellent shot, it's a shame it wasn't the other way round, with Spearing assisting and Gerrard shooting, it probably would have been in as I reckon Friedel was beat.

35' - Possession statistics are 50/50 for the last 10 minutes. It doesn't feel like it. There's been very little from Spurs over the course of the 35 minutes.

37' - A nice one-two from the two Liverpool Youths, Kelly and Spearing down the right wing wins us a corner. I'm so proud of those two representing Liverpool so well. It's about time we have some fresh Scousers in the squad.

38' - Yellow card for Scott Parker, who blocks off a storming Gerrard run. Free kick just outside the box. 

39' - Bellamy takes it and it hits the wall. We need to be better than this when it comes to attacking these set pieces.

41' - Tottenham counter attack and Gareth Bale has a decent sly effort at goal, a cross from the left wing and Bale somehow volleys discretely with his left foot. Thankfully it's straight at Reina. 

43' - Spurs are on the front foot for the first time since the opening minutes. Needing to defend well at the moment. 

45' - One minute of added time. 


45+1' - Johnson takes his chance from far out and Friedel blocks it with his body for a throw in. Half time.

We've looked the better side, that's clear. We've decided to double up down the wings when needed and try to use the wings to make space and cross the ball. And that's as far as we've got. We've dominated the width of the pitch but our crossing has, to be frank, pretty damn poor. We need to be more clinical than this if we're playing the crossing game. I'm surprised we're playing the crossing game when we have good pace and trickery with Gerrard and Bellamy on the pitch supporting Carroll., and Suarez yet to come. But if that's the tactics we need to be crossing better. Adam is the only one whose crossing has been okay, but even that's hit and miss. If this is the tactics Kenny wants, we need to be more clinical. Or change tactics. One of the other. Either way we're looking the more likely to score, and if that remains the case, hopefully we'll get the goal our dominant gameplay deserves.

45' - Nice to see Adebayor and Bellamy having a laugh before the whistle. They obviously got on when they were both at City. 

48' - The commentators have said that Bale has been pretty quiet today, it's true. We've done well to contain the Welshman. 

51' - Suarez is doing a bit of warming up, I don't know if he's coming on yet. Probably not this early I'd imagine. 

54' - Gareth Bale goes down. Agger never touched him but Bale loses it! He pushes Agger back and is really in Agger's face! Really unlike Bale. He gets a yellow card for his troubles. He's probably really frustrated over his lack of influence in the match. 

55' - Bale is getting heavily booed by the Anfield faithful now. Corner for Spurs

56' -  The ball is all over the place in our box as Spurs don't make the most of a strong attack. Adebayor and Bale both had good chances but failed to have a clean shot at goal.

58' - KELLY! Great save by Friedel! Martin Kelly shoots to Fridel's left post and it was a nice save by the American.

61' - Suarez is about to come on! 

64' - Reina the sweeper kicks the ball long and Carroll heads it to Kuyt down the right wing, it's laid off to Adam whose shot is blocked by Dawson. Nice idea. 

65' - Liverpool Substitution: Dirk Kuyt comes off for the returning Luis Suarez. Kuyt, after scoring two games in a row, has been relatively ineffective today. 

66' - Carroll header from the corner! Straight at Fridel. The angle didn't go in his favour. 

69' - Yellow card for Suarez, who's high foot kicks Scott Parker in the stomach. He's winded terribly. Suarez accepts the card with understanding however. 

70' - Tottenham Substitution: Adebayor comes off for Luis Saha. Adebayor has had a relatively poor game, he hasn't really made an impact today. Let's hope Luis Saha makes a poor impact in his place, on his debut. 

72' - Liverpool Substitution: Stewart Downing comes on for Craig Bellamy. Another player who hasn't really had the right impact. Hopefully Downing's crossing ability works well in the last twenty minutes in Bellamy's place. 

73' - CARROLL! Awful shot. Kelly finally whips in a dangerous cross and it gets to Carroll whose immediate half volley is way over the bar. He should be doing better than that.

75' - Skrtel yellow card. Controversial call. He gets the ball off Bale but he uses his studs and Bale goes flying. It really looked bad live. Skrtel is lucky to still be on the pitch. I'm an unbiased Liverpool fan and I'm telling you, we're lucky to still have 11 men on the pitch. That was rash.

77' - Suarez nicks the ball and starts a counter attack! He puts the ball square to Carroll who has to go wide and his cross is headed away. Nice combination between the strikers, but it could have been more. 


80' - Steven Gerrard whips in a strong cross that Friedel palms away, taking a Skrtel set of studs to the chest in defence. The ref calls for a free kick for the American, who questions it as he palmed the ball away. Brad Friedel has balls for taking that kick from Skrtel, who in turn shows his admiration as well. Absolutely awesome from Friedel.

83' - Last 10 minutes or so, including added time. We need to score soon.

84' - Bale's clear! One on one with Reina and Reina wins! It's not dealt with though! Eventually a Agger clears the ball out to the left wing.

85' - SUAREZ! Straight at Fridel. A Stevie G free kick is inch perfect for Suarez who heads it straight at Friedel. That was quite poor from Suarez, a header either side and its in. 

87' - Tottenham Substitution: Danny Rose comes on for Niko Kranjcar, who's also had a game of very little effect. 

89' - A cross to Carroll who heads it to Suarez who's in the box! He tries to turn and shoot but he hands the ball and it's a free kick. Scott Parker does another excellent block to deny him anyway. In honesty, not that I've mentioned it enough, Scott Parker has been brilliant today. Man of the match. 

90' - Four minutes of added time. 

90+2' - Three crosses into around the penalty box in about 20 seconds and all three crosses are deflected by Scott Parker. Story of the match I'd say. 

90+4' - Full time.

7 draws in 9 games for Liverpool at Anfield. It's a problem. It's the problem. We're so hard to beat this season but we just can't score consistently enough. The effort is there. The chances are there. But the story of our season simply is we haven't made the most of scoring opportunities. We've been scoring more recently than we were in the start of the season. But it wasn't enough today. But it's not all doom and gloom. We have a fully fit Gerrard and Suarez back, and Carroll has been a bit better recently. Hopefully arguably the three important players in our striking force can start playing together. It's a fact - Gerrard, Suarez and Carroll all together have never started a game. Never. We've had Suarez and Carroll a full year now. Get those three in tandem, and hopefully goals will flow. That's the idea anyway. That's why Suarez and Carroll were £55 million between them. And Gerrard is to support them. Let's see this happen! Hopefully good times are ahead for Liverpool. We're not out of the race for the Top 4. We just need to continue this decent form with some goals. Goals! That's all we need. Hopefully this is the beginning of a free scoring run.

That's it from me, have a good evening!

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Live Thoughts: Aston Villa vs Liverpool (Premier League)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts on the match between Aston Villa and Liverpool.

Hey there, thanks for joining me on another live thoughts feed. Like the new banner above? Don't care? Okay, moving on.

Well we did enough to beat QPR last week and managed to win at home, and win against a promoted side, something for some reason we couldn't do. So we had a lot of ticks in boxes last week. Unfortunately with our defeat at Fulham we lost our undefeated away streak, but we can rebuild a new one can't we? Starting at Aston Villa? My confidence going into this match is at a middle point, I'm not overly confident but I know we can win today and in theory, we're expected to win, especially if we are to keep up with the Top 5 (or 6 if you count Newcastle). So let's get to it!

Here are the teams:

Aston Villa: Guzan, Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Albrighton, Delph, Petrov, N'Zogbia, Heskey, Delfouneso. Subs: Marshall, Clark, Cuellar, Bannan, Weimann, Johnson, Burke.

They don't look as strong as they could be. No Darren Bent or Agbonlahor, Heskey and Delfouneso come in the side instead and they don't have the best goal scoring records. Fabien Delph is a heck of a potential talent but he's barely shown it for Villa. Their best player on the pitch is N'Zogbia who is great when on form but crap when not. I feel they're there for the taking based on this line-up, but I'm going to eat my words now as Heskey scores a hat-trick against us!

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Enrique, Skrtel, Agger, Adam, Henderson, Shelvey, Downing, Suarez, Bellamy. Subs: Doni, Carroll, Maxi, Coates, Kuyt, Carragher, Kelly.

Jonjo Shelvey gets his first start of the season for us and I'm pretty happy about that. It's nice to see Kenny give thriving young talent a platform to climb to. Shelvey was on fire for Blackpool on loan and let's hope that energy and confidence can be moved to the bigger Red shirt. Kuyt and Maxi are benched, which is a shame but you can only fit 11 players on the field. Bellamy gets another start which is also welcome by me.

2' - Free kick early on for Aston Villa, Charlie Adam brings down Charles N'Zogbia. It's about 30 yards out. Stiliyan Petrov takes it and it's not a good free kick, luckily for us.

5' - Major boos for Stewart Downing at Villa Park due to his exit, where he said he wasn't going anywhere and then went to us. Fair enough I suppose. 

8' - It's been a back and forth match so far, not much to report. Jonjo Shelvey has been given a decent amount of freedom as an attacking midfielder, something he didn't really get last season. He thrived in that role for Blackpool remember.

10' - GOAL! Craig Bellamy!! A corner from Stewart Downing is back heeled by Shelvey and Suarez shoots but it's saved by Guzan, and Bellamy fumbles it in via deflection!

12' - Charles N'Zogbia is in the book.

12' - All the jeering for Downing does make me laugh. It's not like Torres, who was at our club for three years, was a star player and left us at a testing period. Downing was with Villa for one full season (due to injuries prior), and while he was one of the best players at the Villa, he wasn't their star player. And they got a good deal from us, a nice amount of money.

14' - GOAL! Martin Skrtel! Two goals in four minutes! Bellamy corner, he whips it in perfectly and Skrtel just heads it in. So simple! Fantastic stuff! 

16' - Us Liverpool fans have been saying for weeks due to our horrendous shots/goals ratio that we're due to give a drubbing to a team soon. Can this be the day?

17' - Alex McLeish must be really angry, his squad have let two simple set piece goals in, in 4 minutes. Bad for them but great for us. 

18' - N'Zogbia whips in a dangerous cross and Reina claims with considerable ease. 

20' - N'Zogbia has a bit of space and shoots from a good 30 yards and it's only just over the bar. Best chance for Villa so far.

20' - Possession is 61%/39% in Liverpool's favour. Really dominant at the moment. 

22' - N'Zogbia has another good effort, this one hitting the side netting from the left. The last two minutes have been end to end for both sides, both going for goal.

25' - A few corners in succession for Liverpool, I hope this game is not like QPR when we had about 20 corners... 

27' - Charlie Adam gets in the book for a few tackles in succession that result in going in Villa's favour. He was warned and he got the card.

29' - Craig Bellamy goes in the book now as he clips Albrighton on the Villa right wing, Albrighton goes down like a ton of bricks and it was Bellamy's reactions that got him the yellow card, as it usually is. 

30' - Petrov takes a shot at goal and it's saved comfortably by Reina. 

33' - The game has slowed down dramatically by the way, I don't know why. But I'm glad it's slowed down with a 2-0 lead rather than the 0-0 we're usually with at this point of other games.

34' - Suarez nutmegs Petrov and lays the ball in for Shelvey who earns us a corner. 

36' - The corner is dealt with but we pile on the pressure, the pressure which ends with Shelvey in space and takes a low shot that's comfortably saved by Guzan. 

39' - A bit of Villa pressure now, they can't enter our box but they're piling around it. 

42' - The game is actually dead at the moment, I think both sides are just waiting for the whistle to regroup and start again.

45' - Two minutes of added time. 

45+2' - Half time.


Well we're two goals up in the first 14 minutes and that's great. But then after that the game was just... dead. Villa seemed down and out and it felt like we were fighting with an unanimated corpse. Their lack of interest made the game boring. I hope that the second half becomes lively again as I was hoping this was the "finally we thrash the opposition" match we've been waiting for. But since the two goals they've defended well enough and we've not threatened as much. But despite all this moaning about the lack of quality match, I should just be happy we're 2-0 up and there's still 45 minutes of football to go, in which hopefully we can score more and keep a clean sheet. Here's hoping.

46' - Agger almost scores in the first minute! A lovely cross from Bellamy again and Agger heads it just wide!


47' - SUAREZ! It hit the crossbar and out! So close! He nicks the ball of Dunne and shoots straight at the bar!


49' - Bellamy is brought down by Petrov and the Welshman protests that Petrov should be yellow carded. Justified in my opinion.


52' - Glen Johnson has a shot from a good 25 yards out and Guzan tips it over the bar! Much better second half so far!


55' - They're showing Barry Bannan getting ready to come on, probably for Fabien Delph.

57' - Aston Villa Sub: Barry Bannan comes on for Emile Heskey, not Delph. N'Zogbia will probably link higher up now.

58' - SUAREZ! Off the post! How has he not scored yet! Suarez is let loose, onside, and Suarez, just outside of the box, dinks the ball over the defence and keeper, and it hit the post! Lovely perception from the Uruguayan!

60' - ADAM! Deflected off a Villa defender! A little selfish there from Adam, he passes two Villa shirts and Shelvey was free to his left, but he goes for glory and it his a claret shirt and for a corner. 

61' - Wow, it's 13 shots to 11, according to the stats, in Liverpool's favour. Only 4 of Villa's have been on target mind, to Liverpool's 9. 

63' - They just showed a replay of Suarez hitting the post, he controlled the ball with his hand anyway, so it's probably good that he didn't score. The lad has enough controversy at the moment as it is. 

65' - Shelvey! Wide! The ball is over the top and Suarez lays it perfectly to Shelvey, who smashes it and it's high and wide. Could have done better than that if he composed himself. 

68' - Another small spell of pressure for Villa. But they're not threatening too much with it.

71' - Not much to report at the moment, the game has eased again. 

73' - Liverpool Sub: Luis Suarez comes off and Andy Carroll is coming on. He really needs a goal.

74' - Albrighton takes a shot and it deflects off Agger. The Villa are claiming a handball but it's hard to say without a replay. 

75' - 15 minutes to go, the commentators are saying it took us this amount of time to score 2, now can Villa do it, I really doubt it, but sods law would suggest I'll eat my words now! 

78' - Andreas Weimann is preparing to come on, he's a young Austrian striker who's yet to score for Villa.

79' - Aston Villa Sub: Fabien Delph comes off and Weimann takes his place. 

80' - Jamie Carragher is about to come on to get some minutes. It's amazing how he's barely played this season, but maybe it is time for him to start to wind down. There will inevitably be a time when we need him later this season though. 

82' - Liverpool Substitution: Carra comes on in place of Jonjo Shelvey, who has had a decent game. 

85' - We're playing again on Wednesday by the way, against Wigan, don't miss that. I'll be covering that game too, although I won't be covering  the Boxing Day match against Blackburn, or the Newcastle match after that. I try not to do much site work at Christmas I'm afraid.

87' - Liverpool Substitution: Dirk Kuyt comes on for Craig Bellamy, who for me has probably been the man of the match for me. Carra has taken the captains armband by the way, and that's all three Liverpool subs used.

89' - Charlie Adam concedes a free kick just outside the penalty box, towards the right. It hits the wall and out again. 

90' - Three minutes of added time. 

90+2' - 4 out of 5 games now for Villa not to score in. They've been absolutely dreadful today, I have a few relatives who are Villa fans and I feel sorry for them in honesty, nothing to cheer for, nothing going forward at the moment. The only good thing to say for them is they have Agbonlahor and Bent to come back to score goals for them, hopefully. 


90+3' - Full time.


Our first back-to-back wins in nearly 3 months. It's something we need to start doing now, get on a winning streak rather than an undefeated streak. The good news is we got two goals from set pieces very quickly. The bad news is that we didn't build on that, it felt at the time like we were about to thrash Villa, but we put the foot off the gas for whatever reason. The start of the second half was great again, with Suarez hitting the post and woodwork. But in the end, we won again which is great, we're back in sixth place which is great, and we have another away match against Wigan on Wednesday, where hopefully we can win three in a row before taking on Newcastle which will be a very interesting match. That's it from me, enjoy the rest of your day.

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Live Thoughts: Liverpool vs Queens Park Rangers (Premier League)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited live thoughts on the match between Liverpool and Queens Park Rangers.
Hello there, welcome to my live thoughts feed on the match between Liverpool and Queens Park Rangers. I hope you've got your Christmas shopping done in the build up to the big day. And if you don't take part in those festivities, enjoy your December in your own way!

There's only one acceptable outcome today, and that's win. We have to win. Another draw at home against a newly promoted side would be pretty disastrous. We lost our 11 game unbeaten record last week but that's okay, as long as we have learnt our lessons. And those lessons are simply to put that ball in that net! Something we just can't do, we play great football and then barely score. Let's hope that all this bad luck in front of goal turns into a drubbing of QPR today!

Here are the teams...

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique, Maxi, Henderson, Adam, Downing, Kuyt, Suarez. Subs: Doni, Coates, Carragher, Kelly, Shelvey, Bellamy, Carroll.

Maxi comes on for Bellamy, which is fine, I just don't know why Maxi didn't start against Fulham, not that I had any problem with Bellamy last week at all. Kuyt starts up front in place of Carroll, a move I approve of as Kuyt and Suarez work very well together, and that probably means Henderson is in the middle with Adam in midfield.

Queens Park Rangers: Cerny, Young, Gabbidon, Ferdinand, Traore, Wright-Phillips, Barton, Faurlin, Mackie, Smith, Bothroyd. Subs: Putnins, Orr, Hill, Derry, Campbell, Buzsaky, Connolly.

A team of half Premiership half Championship players, QPR are a threat when they want to be. All the promoted teams have done well so far this season but I think QPR have the best chance to stay up. Barton is a great midfielder and Wright-Phillips when on form is as deadly as any winger. But we should beat QPR today, there's just no excuse.

1' - Two corners straight away for Liverpool although nothing comes from either.

3' - Suarez is on the right side of the penalty area and he cuts it to Rodriguez who is blocked by a defender, another corner! Which went no where again, but some fantastic pressure early on from the Reds! Maxi has gone down however.

6' - The game has slowed down slightly, although we have looked good so far. Maxi is okay by the way.

7' - From what I can tell Kuyt and Maxi have been given free reign of the attacking team, to support Suarez. I'm still not sure of the formation, but both have supported Suarez on occasions. Kuyt has been on the left as well. 

9' - SUAREZ! Straight at Cerny! Downing, who was on the right wing, delivers a lovely cross from the right and Suarez heads it straight at the Czech keeper. 

10' - Glen Johnson has shaved his head, if any of you hair observers care... 

11' - A lovely move from Kuyt and Suarez. This time Kuyt was in the centre, see, I'm still not sure who's playing where, but it's effective! Anyway, Kuyt was in the centre and he lay Suarez down the right of the penalty box but his shot is square and it crossed the face of goal, and out towards the left for a throw in. 

14' - Maxi and Suarez work together very nicely, playing one-twos while attacking, but Maxi passes when he shouldn't, and Suarez's shot is badly wide. It's still good movement and good attacking play though. 

17' - Alejandro Faurlin brings down Downing on the right wing, and Charlie Adam's free kick leads to a corner. The corner is quite poor however.

20' - Penalty claims from Suarez, he backs into a QPR defender and falls, it's another debatable one from the Uruguayan. The ref doesn't give it but replays show there was a little bit of tugging.

21' - Yellow card for Daniel Agger for clumsily taking down Jay Bothroyd when he was through on goal. 

24' - A little bit of pressure from QPR at present, although we're coping with it comfortably. 

27' - Not much to report, apart from us getting yet another corner, which lead to a scramble but QPR deal with it. 

29' - We've had 8 attempts to QPR's 1 so far. Story of our season so far. We've only converted 9% of our chances this season. 

30' - Maxi is let in past the defence! He runs towards goal and tries to take it round Cerny but it's a great save from the QPR keeper, and Suarez tries to make up ground but can't. Best chance of the match so far! 

33' - A great run from Charlie Adam earns us a corner, he storms from the centre of the midfield and ends up on the left of the penalty box before being driven wide but earns a corner. Once again, nothing comes of the corner. 

35' - There's an Andy Carroll chant of some kind as he warms up. He's smiling, I'm not quite sure what they're saying I have to be honest, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's about this... 

38' - Johnson goes down in the box and another penalty claim is waved off. This one seemed like it was the right decision this time mind. 

39' - Looking at the replay properly Johnson went down very easily, he clipped a QPR defender's foot, but that foot was far from extended. 

41' - SUAREZ! Cerny saves! It comes back to Suarez who tries again and it goes across the face of goal! We just can't score! That second chance could have been a pass to another Red but he went for goal again. 

43' - In that move earlier Anton Ferdinand went down uncomfortably, and had to be taken off the pitch. He seems like he's okay though, probably winded due to how he fell. 

45' - 2 minutes of added time. 

45+2' - Some late pressure from Liverpool ends with Downing having a great chance gathered by Cerny. Half time.

You can't help but feel this match is going to end the same way the matches at Anfield against Swansea and Norwich ended, and that's a disappointing 0-0 draw with many chances from Liverpool, and some amazing goalkeeping from the opposition. Which is exactly what this match has been so far. We haven't been amazing, but we've threatened a lot, and we've had many chances and they've all been dealt with by Cerny and the QPR defence. One thing I've observed in this 45 minute period is sometimes we don't make the right attacking decision, particularly Suarez, who sometimes is a little selfish when he could be assisting another player. But there's still 45 minutes to go, let's remain optimistic, and hope we can break this frustrating shots/goals hoodoo we have!

46' - GOAL! SUAREZ! His first goal in two months! Charlie Adam goes down the right wing and crosses perfectly and it's a simple header into the QPR net! 1-0!

48' - Anton Ferdinand is down again, it's a lot more serious this time, he's going off the pitch to be substituted. 

49' - QPR Substitution: Bradley Orr comes on for Anton Ferdinand. Poor Ferdinand, having two problems on the pitch at different times. 

52' - The game is surprisingly quiet at the moment, considering we just scored. 

55' - Usually when we score we try to get a second, it's not really happened so far, we've not been on the front foot at all. At this stage of the game we should be going for a second I'd say. 

56' - Kuyt goes for goal and it's wide. It's one of his main weaknesses the great Dutchman, he's not got a clinical shot. But I love that man to death so I don't want to criticise him! 

58' - A bit better by Liverpool, we put some pressure on the away side, earning a corner and Agger had a blocked shot. 

60' - MAXI! Great save from Cerny! Suarez on the right wing cuts the ball square to Maxi who's shot is saved brilliantly again!

62' - Jamie Carragher is on the bench again I'm sure you noted already. It seems like Dalglish is really making a transition in the centre of defence, with Agger and Skrtel starting all the time and Carra being used for the big games or when required. Carra always said he's not accept being second best and is willing to go to another club if he's not good enough here, if he keeps being benched I wonder if he will actually move? I certainly hope not.

63' - Suarez wins us our FOURTEENTH corner of the match, and Cerny punches it away. Kuyt goes for goal again and it's saved relatively comfortably again by Cerny.

64' - Corner #15... 

65' - QPR Substitution: Tommy Smith comes off and D.J. Campbell takes his place, Campbell's first match in around 6 weeks. 

66' - Suarez and Maxi combine nicely again and Suarez lays the ball for Maxi, but he hits it straight at Cerny when the Czech goalkeeper closes the Argentinian down. Maxi just can't score today! 

68' - Corner #16... 

71' - Skrtel takes down Bothroyd on the right wing for QPR, it's a good chance for QPR. Barton takes it and Gabbidon sticks a leg out and it's over the bar. Best chance for QPR so far.

74' - Two corners for QPR in a minute, we're thrashing them on corners 16-3 however! Seriously though, some pressure from QPR at the moment, let's hope we can defend it well. 

76' - Gabbidon passes back to Cerny and Kuyt is on it! Cerny puts him off though and it goes for a throw in. 

77' - QPR Substitution: Fitz Hill comes on for Jamie Mackie. That's all three QPR subs used.

77' - Liverpool Substitution: Craig Bellamy comes on for Maxi, who has looked good today, had some good chances but just couldn't get past Cerny, who has been man of the match today for me. 

79' - Shaun Wright-Phillips attempts at goal and it's well over the bar. He hasn't really had much chance to shine today the pacey winger.

82' - Not long to go now, although a 1-0 lead is never great at the end of matches. QPR are still looking a little threatening too. We need a second really. 

84' - BELLAMY! God I thought that went in! It hit the side netting! Suarez won a free kick for us just outside the box and the Welshman's chance was fantastic! 

84' - Bellamy has a yellow card, for having an altercation with Joey Barton of all people.

85' - Liverpool Substitution: Stewart Downing comes off and Jonjo Shelvey comes on. Nice to see the young bald headed player back in a red shirt, he's had a great little spell at Blackpool. It means that Henderson goes to the right, Bellamy to the left and Kuyt up front. 

89' - Faurlin falls to the ground from a challenge from Skrtel, but he goes down like a sack of spuds, Liverpool play on but the ref calls for a free kick. Silly really.

90' - Three minutes of added time. 

90+2' - ORR! Corner for QPR! A lovely cross from Armand Traore and Jose Enrique does enough to put off Bradley Orr. We deal with the cross as well. 

90+3' - Bellamy down the left and tries to cut the ball square for Suarez, and Wright-Phillips sticks a foot out to the ball and almost scores an own goal! It hits the cross bar! Not much else after happens before the whistle blows for full time. 

We did enough today, we deserved the win but like many other games, we had loads of chances and it didn't convert into goals. Our chances to goals ratio remains pretty horrible, but what's important is that we got one of those chances to hit the net, and we got the three points. What matters is that we win games, whether it's 6-0 or 1-0 is quite irrelevant. We avoided another embarrassing draw at home and got the points. That's a major positive. What we need to do is start another good run of results, preferably wins, and even more preferably are goals. So let's hope this result can build a bridge that we extend to have a great winter of points, wins and goals. That's it from me, have a good night.

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Live Thoughts: Fulham vs Liverpool (Premier League)

I covered this match live, here are my thoughts on the match between Fulham and Liverpool.
Welcome to another live thoughts feed with me, Johnny Mercyside. We're doing quite well at the moment. Undefeated in 11 games, 6 wins in a row away from home, Carlign Cup semi finals. Things are going very very well. Let's hope we can win at Craven Cottage again, like last season!

Here are the teams... 

Fulham: Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Senderos, Riise, Dempsey, Murphy, Etuhu, Ruiz, Dembele, Zamora. Subs: Etheridge, Johnson, Kasami, Gecov, Hughes, Frei, Briggs.

Nice to see John Arne Riise and Daniel Murphy again. Great players for us. This is a decent Fulham side that can cause problems, and under Martin Jol they have a good manager and spirit. Expect a battle today. 

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique, Henderson, Spearing, Adam, Bellamy, Suarez, Carroll. Subs: Doni, Maxi, Coates, Kuyt, Downing, Carragher, Kelly.

Still no Carra in the starting lineup. I get the feeling Kenny wants to concentrate on a partnership between Skrtel and Agger and use Carra less often now. Interesting. Carroll gets another chance to impress, will he do well today? Let's hope so, he's had a lot of chances already this season. I'm glad Bellamy is starting. Maxi on the bench is another interesting move.

2' - Wow, this is Fulham's 28th match this season, in comparison to Liverpool who are playing their 18th. It shows you how strenuous their season is this year. Kudos to Fulham. 

4' - Liverpool are playing 4-3-3 today, with Bellamy joining Carroll and Suarez up front. I think that's an interesting set up, it gives Carroll more support. 

5' - Liverpool are almost caught out when a neat ball lets in Dembele but Reina comes off his line nicely. Great reactions from our Spanish legend. 

7' - CARROLL! Straight at Schwarzer! A lovely ball from Suarez who goes down the left wing and cuts back to Carroll but he shoots straight down the middle. Should have done better. 

10' - It's a good little game at the moment, both sides going for it. There's a "I Just Can't Get Enough of Suarez" chant going on which is always good. 

12' - Adam takes a shot at goal and it's saved to the bottom right by Schwarzer. We had a good spell then. 

15' - We're starting to get more possession now. Putting Fulham under the cosh slightly. We're not dominating or anything, just enjoying the game more than Fulham for the moment. 

18' - Dempsey! Good save by Reina. We're being a little too sloppy all of a sudden in our third, and Dempsey almost took advantage. 

21' - What a ball from Suarez to Bellamy! It was just too long and Bellamy couldn't control it, but it was about 40 yards in total, from the left wing near the center of the pitch, to the outside of the penalty area on the right. True quality. 

24' - The game is settling a little now, neither side really making many chances. 

27' - HENDERSON! IT HIT THE POST! Jeez! There was a gap for Henderson on the left wing, he cuts into the box and curls a shot to the right post but it just clips the inside and out! So close! 

28' - Some good counter attacking football from both sides now, it's a very good game so far. 

30' - Some good movement leads to a chance for Suarez, who doesn't make the most of it. A diagonal ball from the left wing finds Carroll who was on the right hand side of the penalty area, he heads it back to Henderson who passes the ball square to Suarez in space who has a tame shot go wide.

32' - Carroll! Nice block from Schwarzer! Suarez works his socks off, to many boos from the Fulham faithful, who works nicely again with Henderson to get a snap pass to Carroll who tries to clip it past Schwarzer but there wasn't enough space. Good chance.

34' - Nostalgia sorry, just seeing Riise go for a throw in for Fulham reminded me of how good he was at throw ins. We've not replaced that quality Riise had since.

36' - DEMPSEY! Lovely save by Reina! He's had a good match so far the American. 

39' - Fulham starting to get on top of us for the moment, finding space in the final third. 

41' - Possession is 54%-46% in Liverpool's favour. It's been a good game so far, and the possession shows that it's been relatively close. 

44' - Yellow card for Dembele. Luis Suarez uses his trickery against Dembele, who brings down the little Uruguayan. He goes in the book for kicking the ball away, not for the challenge.

45'+1' - Half time after a minute of added time.

Well it's been very entertaining for the unbiased fan. As a Liverpool fan we've had some good chances, not as much as we would have liked. Defensively we haven't been great, we gave Fulham a lot of space and if they were more clinical they could have scored. Henderson had the best chance of the half with a lovely run and curling shot that hit the outside of the right post, but other than that the chances haven't really been great in numbers. But the game has been good to watch. Let's hope we can become clinical and a threat in the second half, and pin them back to their goal and score.

47' - Dempsey and Bellamy having a face to face encounter, I don't know what provoked that. Dempsey goes in the book I think. Bellamy never reacted, which is good. Bellamy got a yellow card too, I think that was for his reactions to the referee more than anything else. 

50' - Liverpool on the front foot, it leads us to a corner.

51' - ENRIQUE! Lovely deflection from Schwarzer! That was the result of a total of three corners. 

53' - Yet another corner. A fourth corner in three minutes, we're absolutely attacking their final third, with some good pressure from Carroll and Suarez in that rally. Schwarzer deals with that fourth corner and the pressure subsides.

54' - Penalty claims from Liverpool, Suarez tries to take the ball round the defender and fails to reclaim the ball and goes down. I don't think that was a penalty, Suarez was looking for it and the ref didn't fall for it. 

55' - Possession for the second half - 78%-22% in Liverpool's favour. It says it all really. Come on the Pool! 

57' - A lovely run from Jose Enrique wins another Liverpool corner. That guy is an awesome left back, he should be playing for Spain really. 

58' - A free kick JUST outside the penalty box for Liverpool, I'm sure that was in the box but whatever. Yellow card for Senderos on Charlie Adam. 

60' - Bellamy takes it and smacks the ball, it deflects for a corner. 

60' - Agger heads the ball towards goal but it hit the front of his head and bounces downwards, going for a goal kick. 

62' - BELLAMY! Wide. He should have done better. He was played onside into the box on the right hand side, and tries to shoot it into the bottom left corner but it goes well wide. Shame. 

65' - Suarez is flagged offside, what a damn shame as that was a lovely bit of movement from Suarez to get in the box and great vision from Enrique. That's really debatable, I'm sure that might have been onside. 

68' - Agger has a mazy run down the middle of the pitch, and is eventually stopped on the outside of the Fulham penalty box. I miss those runs, he barely does them nowadays. 

70' - Fulham Substitution: Andy Johnson comes on for Bobby Zamora, who has been quite transparent today. 

71' - RED CARD! Jay Spearing is off the pitch! He got the ball but there was a lot of venom in the tackle, and Dembele player made a meal of it. I think that is unjustified. 

74' - It was a two footed tackle, that's what made it an instant red. But it's frustrating as he got the ball and Dembele just made such a dramatic jump. It's silly. 

76' - Double Liverpool Substitution: Dirk Kuyt and Stewart Downing come on for Craig Bellamy and Andy Carroll. Bellamy has been good today, and so has Carroll for portions of the game. Carroll looked interested today, something that he's guilty of not looking at times.

79' - Despite being a man down we're still going forward which is a good thing. That being said it's naturally harder to defend against Fulham. 

79' - DEMPSEY! Crossbar! So close, and Johnson tries to follow up and it goes for a Fulham corner, which is dealt with. 

80' - DEMBELE! Saved by Reina! He should have done better, it was a lovely cross and he had loads of space, he shoots it straight at Reina. Fulham are now on the front foot and it's not looking good. 

82' - Dembele has a lovely run from the start of the final third to just outside the box, passing Liverpool players, and he tries to curl the ball into the bottom left corner but it's just wide. 

83' -DOWNING! OFF THE POST AGAIN! It's hit the woodwork three times in this match so far! 

84' - GOAL! Fulham score. Danny Murphy takes a quality shot outside of the box and Reina spills it to his feet, only for Dempsey to react quick to shoot it straight into the net.

87' - ADAM! Just wide! A lovely strike form the Scot, he smashes it from 25 yards and it's low and driven, just wide.

90' - Three minutes of added time, we're making some late rallies at the moment. Let's hope one goes in. 

90+1' - Free kick just outside the box again. Suarez uses his body against the Fulham player to his advantage. Come on, make this count Liverpool! 

90+2' - Danny Murphy has gone down. Not good for the ex-Red. He's being subbed off. 

90+3' - Fulham Sub: Marcel Gesov comes on for Danny Murphy. Gutted for him. The free kick will be last moment in the match. Suarez takes it and it hits the wall.

90+4' - Andy Johnson counter attacks and he's on his own up front! Thankfully Glen Johnson catches him and deals with the danger. 

90+4' - Full time.

And our 11 matches unbeaten can't continue as we lose tonight. We played very well today, a mixture of Fulham's confidence, our lack of finishing and the debatable red card for Spearing made us lose today. It's another frustrating match in terms of our effectiveness in front of goal, but we did play well. It's not good though, when we play well and don't win. We have drawn too many matches like that, and now we lose another one. We need to be more clinical in front of goal in the second half of this season or we'll not get Champions League football. It's as simple as that. But, the performance was otherwise good, the game was great, and hopefully we can learn from this defeat. That's it from me tonight, take care.

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Live Thoughts: Chelsea vs Liverpool (Premier League)

I covered this match live, here are my unedited thoughts when Liverpool took on Chelsea.

Hey there thanks for coming onto this page. Very important match tonight. If we win today itll be some statement, and will move us closer to the Top 4. A loss will mean we have some work to do, to catch the elite in the Premier League. Torres who? Nah, I'm through criticising him now. I just hope he has a rubbish game.

I was thinking earlier in the week, what are your thoughts about Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez up front in attack? I think those two have a great understanding, more so at the moment than Suarez and Carroll. It will also open up a space for Jordan Henderson for the right of midfield. Let me know your thoughts below. This is in general by the way, not just this match.

Here are the teams:

Chelsea: Cech; Ivanovic, Luiz, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Mikel, Lampard; Mata, Drogba, Malouda. Subs: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Romeu, Meireles, Sturridge, Anelka, Torres 

Strong. Very strong. It's possibly the strongest lineup they could do to be honest. Drogba's not on form at the moment thankfully, but their midfield of 5 can easily turn into a midfield of 3 and 3 attackers in an instant and they're difficult to break down as always. We have a strong test on our hands. Torres and Meireles on the bench.It means for a lovely reception later on of course, if Torres comes on.


Liverpool: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel , Agger, Enrique; Kuyt, Lucas, Adam, Rodriguez, Bellamy; Suarez. Subs: Spearing, Doni, Kelly, Carragher, Henderson, Downing, Carroll.


I think this is going to be 4-4-2 with Bellamy up front, and Maxi on the wing. Interesting. Carra and Carroll on the bench and Bellamy and Suarez will be tricky for Chelsea's defence, although it means that they'll be depending a lot on the midfield. Can we win? Sure, but it's not going to be easy.

1' - They're talking about Lampard scoring against Reina last week. There wasn't much Reina could have done about that, although some people feel otherwise. 

2' - Suarez almost let in Maxi and Terry brought him down, arguably a foul. Terry's hurt his arm. 

4' - This will be a good preview for when we take on Chelsea in the Carling Cup quarter final. We go away to Stanford Bridge for that too. 

5' - Haha, that's an interesting statistic, Kenny has never lost to Chelsea as manager. Different times now though, to the eighties. But it's still a cool stat.

6' - There's a "Just Can't Get Enough of Luis Suarez" chant, bizarre that we're making so much noise in Stanford Bridge. No wait, it's not surprising. I keed I keed! 

8' - Lucas and Charlie Adam double team against Ramires, it looked a little nasty. Unintentional though. 

9' - Malouda whips in a long, deep cross and Mata couldn't make the most of it. A lovely cross then by the Frenchman. 

11' - MIKEL! Saved by Reina. A stinging shot from about 25 yards out is pushed over the bar by Reina. It was a straight shot, but there was a lot of power in that. 

12' - The ball is laid nicely for Bellamy down the left wing who cuts towards the post, and tries to snap pass to Suarez, but Ivanovic intercepts for a corner.


13' - Glen Johnson has a nice run down towards the penalty area and almost scores! The ball ends up with Cech, in safe hands. A very open, attacking game so far, for both sides.

16' - Yeah, nice to hear about Suarez scoring for in a match for international duty. If only he can do it for us! That'd be awesome. Tonight please? 

17' - Charlie Adam, with pace, intercepts a ball into space and tries to cut the ball to Suarez who was free on his tod up front, but he was just offside. Shame. 

19' - Drogba takes on a few Liverpool players and falls down to a challenge. A little desperate, but it gives Chelsea a free kick in a dangerous position. 

20' - JEEZ! A lovely free kick form Drogba was on the wrong side of the post! Reina had no chance and looked absolutely no chance. Drogba thought it went in, everyone did! Thankfully it didn't.

23' - This has been a very entertaining game so far, both sides going for it, and both could have scored. Chelsea have been slightly better overall though, but if we score, naturally everything will change. 

26' - Black armbands are worn today by Liverpool players because of the unfortunate death of Brad Jones' son passing away from cancer. He was six. 

27' - Suarez is put through! But he had a few options, and chose the wrong ones and Chelsea intercept. Lucas then brings David Luiz down, who makes a meal of the challenge. 

28' - Lucas goes into the book for his challenge.

29' - Suarez tries to take on two or three Chelsea players and more options open up, but he's selfishly trying to take on all the players and Cech gets the ball. He's not making the right options at the moment. 

31' - Brilliant attacking play by Liverpool! We pin Chelsea back to the final third, lovely passing from Enrique, Bellamy, Suarez and one or two others! We pin them back, a nice roar of applause by the travelling Reds! Come on you red men! 

32' - GOAL! MAXI RODRIGUEZ! Adam intercepts off Mikel, passes to Bellamy who runs forward, a one-two with Suarez lets in Maxi, who pokes it past Cech! 1-0 Liverpool! 

34' - I saw Maxi on the starting lineup and I thought it was a bold move, but I also knew it could be one that would work, his trickery and scoring ability when on form is a constant threat for Liverpool. It's only his second goal of the season, that being said he's only played five times due to Bellamy and Downing being preferred.

36' - A corner for Chelsea allows Terry to get a header but it's put over for another corner. Ivanovic gets close this time but once again it's dealt with. Goal kick.

38' - All of a sudden our squad looks like it has good depth again. Not in the starting 11 are are Gerrard, Henderson, Downing and Carroll for attacking options. It's good.

39' - Lucas gets angry for a decision going against him. He needs to be careful, it does feel like the Chelsea players are targeting him today, in terms of getting him riled up. He needs to 'calm down, calm down', Scouse style. 

41' - David Luiz is in the book, he tries to take on three Liverpool players in his own third, loses interception and takes a Red down clumsily. How bizarre! Just clear the ball from your half mate! 

42' - Petr Cech has an adaption on his mask to protect his nose, he got hit by Yakubu when Chelsea took on Blackburn. I wouldn't be surprised if he wears a helmet next season. This should suffice.

45' - One minute of added time. 

45' - Glen Johnson brings down Malouda on the left wing. Last attack for Chelsea in this half. 

45+1' - Drogba takes it, Johnson heads it over, corner. Nothing comes of it and it's half time.

A great first half. From an unbiased perspective you've had two sides going for it not full pelt, but with enough energy that it's very entertaining. After around half an hour of back and forth action, we start to build a bit of lovely attacking play and get the goal. The last fifteen minutes was basically frustration for Chelsea, and us trying to get a second, not dominantly but with more ease than before. Hopefully this type of play will continue, and if Chelsea continue to implode internally, we can get the three points today. Come on!

45' - Chelsea Substitution: Daniel Sturridge comes on for Mikel, who had a pretty bad first half.

48' - DROGBA! Just over the bar! That could have been in! Thankfully not. 

49' - Juan Mata comes close by Skrtel makes sure it goes for a corner. Some strong attacking play from Chelsea in the start of this half. 

51' - Torres is still on the bench, Sturridge is on, I wonder if this is because it's Liverpool playing or because he's genuinely not considered the best option off the bench? 

52' - Some lovely footwork from Jose Enrique there, it didn't lead to anything really, but I just thought I'd go on record here by mentioning it. He's had a great season for us, flourishing as our left back. 

54' - GOAL! Chelsea equalise. Daniel Sturridge gets the ball in the back of the net, Florent Malouda storms down to the left of the penalty area, and whips a cross towards Reina's left post and Sturridge clips it in. Shame. 

55' - Free kick in a dangerous area and DROGBA! Reina saves it very well. Our lead could have been made into a losing position in two minutes then, if it wasn't for Reina. Frustrating, things were looking so well 15 minutes ago. 

57' - Chelsea are definitely on top now, what a half time team talk can do to a world class team. We look like a shadow of the tenacious side of the first half. Come on Liverpool, shake it off! 

59' - Suarez goes for goal and it goes wide. Should have done better with that effort. 

59' - Malouda takes on Glen Johnson and whips in another dangerous low cross and Skrtel puts it over for a corner. Malouda's such a threat at the moment. 

61' - We try to break up Chelsea's play and successfully do. Skrtel storms forward and Ramires takes him down, and gets booked. Good stuff, let's hope we can break their play up more. 

62' - A long Chelsea ball is dealt with by Reina, kind of, Drogba challenges him and the ball ends up in the air, and Reina volleys it out of our third. Bizarre, but dealt with. 

63' - Dirk Kuyt goes in the book for pulling a Chelsea player back. 

65' - Liverpool Substitution: Jordan Henderson is coming on and Bellamy is coming off. He had a good first half. I think this means that Maxi is going to the left, and Henderson on the right. Kuyt up front? 

67' - The atmosphere is absolutely electrifying, we have a great match on at the moment and both sets of supporters are in good voice. 

69' - Malouda with the volley! Wide of the post! That was an exceptional piece of skill to control the ball in the penalty area, he chested it and tried the bicycle kick. It almost paid off. 

72' - The game has lost some of the excitement from earlier but it's still a good game. Chelsea look the more likely to score, although we have recouporated a little now. We look more defensively capable that's for sure. 

74' - Torres warms up to a mixed reaction. Chelsea fans still haven't warmed to him and let's not get started with Liverpool fans!

77' - Liverpool Substitution: Stewart Downing comes on for goalscorer Maxi Rodriguez. I think we're going for the draw now, or at least the less risky. 

80' - Charlie Adam with a free kick, it goes for a corner. Another corner won by Suarez. Chelsea clear. 

81' - Torres is looking likely to come on.

83' - Chelsea Subsitution: Raul Meireles comes on for Ramires. And Fernando Torres comes on for Didier Drogba. Mixed reactions... awkward...

85' - KUYT! Just wide! He just couldn't curl the ball past Cech's left post, gutted! 

88' - GOAL! Glen Johnson! What a solo effort! Johnson does one of his runs that usually don't end well, but guess what, this one does and we're back in front! Woo! He past both Ashley Cole and Malouda in that!

90' - Liverpool Substitution: Andy Carroll takes Luis Suarez's place on the pitch. All six subs made.

90' - Three minutes of added time. 

90+1' - It is true, all this talk of Torres and Meireles, and an ex Chelsea player scores. It's great. Johnson has been very good for us, despite not scoring often for an attacking pacey full back. 

90+3' - Full time!

What a win! We nabbed that in the end to be honest, Chelsea were all over us for the most of this half. Yet we dug in, dug through, and got the goals. Johnson's goal is probably the best goal of Liverpool's season so far, seriously, check it out later tonight if you haven't seen it. The way he drops the ball, cuts out Cole and Malouda and clips it past Cech is amazing. We were better in the first half than the second, probably outmatching Chelsea overall. In the second half we got pushed around and they could have scored three or four if it wasn't for better accuracy or our defenders and Reina being on decent form. And then we nicked it in the end. Excellent! A great statement! Let's hope we can go on a good run now! That's it from me, have a good night.

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Live Thoughts: Liverpool vs Wolves (Premier League)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts as the match took place.

Hey there, here's another live thoughts section from me. After two away defeats, we struggled but successfully fought off a valiant Brighton in the Carling Cup. Let's hope that we can build on that win with our first home fixture in around a month, against Wolves. It was announced today that our next opponent in the Carling Cup is Stoke away, the same fixture we lost two weeks ago. Hopefully we can cover some ground and beat them at the Britannia next time. It's not an easy fixture though.

Enough about Stoke, here are the lineups for today:

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Jose Enrique, Henderson, Lucas, Adam, Downing, Carroll, Suarez. Subs: Doni, Gerrard, Coates, Kuyt, Spearing, Flanagan, Bellamy.

Gerrard still not fit enough to start, but I'm sure he's going to play some part today. I'm disappointed not to see Kuyt play from the beginning after his goal against Brighton, and possibly the same for Bellamy. But it's a decent lineup. Best thing about it? Martin Kelly is back. We've missed him a lot, and I'm starting to think he has a realistic chance of taking over Glen Johnson as our main right back. There's still room for improvement though. Definitely better than Skrtel there though!

Wolves: Hennessey, Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Henry, Hunt, Edwards, O'Hara, Jarvis, Doyle. Subs: De Vries, Elokobi, Fletcher, Hammill, Milijas, Guedioura, Doherty.

Wolves beat us here last season, and they have improved a bit since. That being said we also have improved a lot since that fixture, and anything other than three points today is simply a disappointment. Their danger lies in Hunt and O'Hara, who are very dangerous when on form. Kevin Doyle is also an underrated striker in the Premier League.

2' - Wolves have had the better of the play so far. Not the best start for us.

4' - We counter attack with Suarez and Carroll but it leads to nothing. It's frustratingly the furthest we have gotten so far.

7' - You wouldn't think we're the home side at the moment based on how much pressure Wolves are putting on us. They're not dominating, but we are second best at the moment.

8' - Finally a decent burst of pressure. Adam had a shot saved and it goes for a cortner. Nothing comes of it, but we manage to put their defence under that little bit of pressure as we pass around their box.

10' - More pressure; another corner. Wayne Hennessy punches the ball nicely out of the box. Good keeping.

10' - GOAL! Liverpool 1-0! Charlie Adam takes a pot shot from around 20 yards that looks like it took a deflection! There's a possibility that Wolves should have had a free kick before, as Carroll put some pressure on Roger Johnson earlier.

11' - It's been put down as an own goal by the way. We are lucky to be winning this match. Wolves have been the better side and there is an argument to be made that the goal shouldn't have counted. My take was actually yes, it should have been a free kick for Wolves. But as a biased Reds fan... yay! We're winning!

13' - Adam! Close. We're on top now. That bit of luck has put the confidence in the Reds.

16' - They just showed the Carroll replay. It was a foul. But these things happen. These decisions go for and against teams all the time.

19' - That was excellent from Suarez then. Pepe Reina kicks the ball probably 100 yards up fron to Suarez, who drags the ball to the right of the penalty area, before backheeling, taking his defender away and tries to pass the ball. Wolves clear but it was a piece of magic by Suarez then, and Reina, once again, proving why he's one of the best kickers of all the keepers in the world.

22' - Suarez! Another close effort! Carroll and Suarez combine nicely, with
Carroll passing from the left but it's just a bit too long.

25' - Carroll clears the ball in our own box this time as Matt Jarvis puts in a cross. He's been great so far today Carroll, a justified selection from Kenny Dalglish.

27' - Dangerous free kick territory for Wolves. Around 20 yards out, slightly to the left. It hits our wall and nothing comes of it.

30' - Downing has a nice run down the left wing and crosses it to Suarez who scuffs it wide. Shame.

32' - Carl Henry gets a yellow card. Martin Skrtel makes a run down the centre of the pitch and Henry tugs him down. It's not really worthy of a yellow but the protests didn't help.

33' - Lucas is now yellow carded. There's a flurry of cards now, the players are a little agitated. Lucas has done a few challenges today mind.

34' - A very dangerous free kick for Wolves. It was on the outside of the penalty area, on the right. It goes over the wall and Lucas blocks it. Wolves should have done better with that.

36' - The possession apparently is 67%/33% to Liverpool in these past five minutes. It doesn't feel as we were as dominant now as we were 15 minutes ago.

37' - GOAL! Luis Suarez finally gets his goal! He completely times his run to perfection, taking the ENTIRE Wolves defence out. Enrique was the passer. Suarez is 1 to 1 with the keeper he takes his time, one of the Wolves players get to him, he takes him on and slams it into the centre of the net, keeper no chance! What a player!

39' - Suarez is on fire at the moment, he takes on a few players and passes to Carroll, but the ball completely missed it. No one is on his level on the pitch at the moment, not even Carroll knows what he's about to do!

42' - Yellow card for Stephen Hunt, he takes out Charlie Adam really late. A justified decision from the referee.

45' - Two minutes of added time.

45' - SUAREZ! Great save by Hennessy. There was some good movement from Downing and he gets the ball to Suarez, who with little space around passes the ball round the keeper but with a desperate hand, Hennessy saves well.

45+1' - Andy Carroll takes a wild shot that goes no where as there were too many Wolves players around him. He's had a good half though, no critisicm from me.

45+2 - Half time.

My thoughts on the first half are that we are on top of this game now. It took the second goal really for that to become official. Our first 10 minutes were pretty dire. The first goal was lucky, Carroll got away with a foul on Johnson, and Adam's shot was deflected into the net by the same player. As the match got on we grew in confidence, and that in turn made Suarez more and more dangerous. His second goal was fantastic, his timing to avoid the offside flag was perfect. He's easily the best player on that pitch today. I hope this performance continues to excel in the second half.

45' - Changes at half time for Wolves: Matt Doherty and Steven Fletcher for Richard Stearman and David Edwards.

48' - GOAL! Steven Fletcher! That's what you call making an impact... a cross from the left, but Reina doesn't deal with it. Hunt lays it for Fletcher who slams it into the net. Wolves are back in this.

49' - SUAREZ! He should have a brace now! Good play from Carroll who puts Hennessy under pressure and the ball gets to Suarez who's shot is saved nicely by the keeper.

52' - CARROLL! Oh dear it hit the post! Unlucky!

54' - It's been a very exciting start to the second half from the unbiased audience, although we shouldn't have made the mistake to let Wolves back in this.

55' - Doyle! Reina collects the ball! Doyle has some space in the box and takes a shot that hits a Red, and Reina collects it.

56' - Carroll slides at a Wolves player rashly, and he's given a yellow card. Very rash.

57' - The ball drifts to the Liverpool defence on the left, and for some reason Reina's out towards the corner flag. Thankfully he clears it, a bit odd though.

61' - O'Hara takes his chance from distance and it floats over the goal.

64' - Jarvis wins a corner for Wolves. Kelly was dealing with him okay in the first half but tale is starting to change.

65' - Nothing comes of the corner. Wolves are playing much better now, they're the better team at this moment of time. It's probably time to start thinking of subs now I say. Gerrard could come on and try to steady ship.

66' - Kelly looks like he's getting a yellow card. He mistimes his tackle quite badly, although unintentionally. It's proof that Jarvis is winning the battle at the moment if Kelly feels to resort to do sliding tackles.

67' - O'Hara takes the free kick from near the left corner flag. He lifts the ball off the ground and kicking it right into the middle of the box. Absolute mayhem in the box, we didn't deal with it and it's a corner for Wolves.

68' - Nothing comes of it but they're still on top. A cross is in the box and Berra tustles with Reinafor it and Berra wins, but heads it wide.

69' - LUCAS! Just wide. Carroll sets Lucas up for a shot a good 20 yards out and he places the ball, just wide of the Wolves left goal post. Nice effort although I'm sure a blasted shot would have been more effective.

70' - Liverpool Sub: Dirk Kuyt comes on for Jordan Henderson. Good move I say, not to say Henderson has had a bad game, I just think Kuyt's presence is needed.

71' - Downing passes it to Suarez just outside the box and Suarez takes on his defender and beats him! He shoots wide though. Bad shot at the end unfortunately.

73' - We're making the game a bit more even now, a bit of a surge in the last three minutes is going our way.

75' - A lot of the ball is going to Downing who keeps trying to whip crosses from the left with mixed results. He has found Suarez a couple of times though.

78' - Gerrard is going to come on soon.

81' - Liverpool Sub: Gerrard comes on for Luis Suarez, two games in a row. Suarez was excellent in the second half.

82' - Wolves Sub: Adlene Guedioura replaces Stephen Hunt. That's all three Wolves subs used now.

83' - Replays of Suarez going off and he kicks a bottle in frustration. I love and hate his frustration. He needs to show respect to the other players in the team who are also wanting to play. But at least he cares, at least he's passionate. As I said I like and hate it.

86' - GERRARD! Just over. Vintage Gerrard gets the ball just outside the box, he heads it down and a sharp volley is just over the bar. I missed those shots! Welcome back Gerrard!

88' - Nice counter attacking football from Gerrard and Kuyt as they pass and switch places from the centre and left sides of the pitch. It ends with Gerrard on the left of the penalty box but the Wolves defender intercepts. It was nice movement from those two great Reds. Gerrard is looking lively today.

90' - Three minutes of added time.

90+3' - Carroll gets the ball in the box and dances around two defenders but just can't shoot, the defender takes the ball off him in the end and the whistle blows.

Full time analysis is that once again, we did enough. We were the better team after the first goal, until the first half finished. Luck was definitely on our side as we were quite bad for the first 10 minutes. A freak deflection got our game going, and going into half time 2-0 was enough for the win today. A great tactical decision from Mick McCarthy to go 4-4-2 (they started 4-5-1) and to put Fletcher on got them their goal. It also made them much more dangerous than in the first half. Gerrard's inclusion in the last 10 minutes made the game much easier to phase out, and we get 3 more points which brings us to 4th place, but with one game more played than those teams around us. Until next time, take care.

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