Live Thoughts: Liverpool vs Stoke (FA Cup)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts on the quarter final FA Cup match between Liverpool and Stoke.

Welcome to another one of my live thoughts posts. This is a big match for us. A win today and we're back at Wembley. We weren't at Wembley for sixteen years and all of a sudden, an opportunity arises for two (or three) visits in one year. I love it. It's not going to be easy again today, but with us wooping Everton 3-0 earlier this week we're full of confidence and we need to continue that confidence today, and into the Premier League too. Let's see what the Reds can do.

Here are the teams:

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

No Bellamy, Johnson or Agger. Maxi gets a start for a change, he's either hit or miss when he starts, he can be brilliant for us at times but other times he looks disinterested. Let's hope for a maximum performance from Maxi. Pun intended. A good line up, I'm confident.

Stoke: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Shotton, Whitehead, Whelan, Etherington, Walters, Crouch; Subs: Nash, Jones, Pennant, Upson, Delap, Jerome, Palacios.

It's a good side again for Stoke, strong in defence, some creativity in the middle and Crouch up front. Walters has scored against us this season already. A tough side but one we'd be expecting to win.

3' - Tug and pull beginning so far, we're trying to spray the ball around with mixed results.

4' - Yellow card for Martin Kelly early on, a nasty tackle on Matthew Etherington. Etherington is staying down. It was quite nasty. Unintentional, but nasty.

7' - Etherington gingerly gets up and is back playing. It was deserving of a yellow card.

10' - Stoke playing a little tough at the moment, rightfully so. They have the physical presence needed to compete against Liverpool.

11' - We've won more games away this season than at home - it's been a problem. But the display against Everton gives me confidence we can turn that round.

12' - Crouch! Easy save for Reina. No defenders were marking the big man which was a little concerning, but his header was tame and straight at Reina.

13' - That's an odd statistic, no Welshman has won an FA Cup as manager. That's really weird. Never knew that. Incredible.

15' - Glenn Whelan gets a yellow card for a tackle on Jay Spearing. Not as bad as Kelly's tackle earlier, but it was clumsy.

18' - Stoke starting to pile the pressure on Liverpool at the moment. A little concerning what with the match only being 17 minutes old at the moment. We started a little brighter, then there was a lot of physical battles, and the last few minutes have belonged to Stoke. We need to get the ball and play.

20' - Haha, great by Marc Wilson, a nice dummy takes out two Liverpool plays to go flying to the deck. I may be a Liverpool fan but I love a good dummy. I'm sure that'll be on Soccer AM next week.

22' - GOAL! Suarez scores a beautiful goal! We needed that!  He combines excellently with Maxi Rodriguez, a one-two and then he just shoots a crisp shot to the bottom right corner. Exquisite.

24' - Stoke attack right from the off and Andy Wilkinson whips in a dangerous and fierce cross that Jon Walters and Peter Crouch just miss.

26' - GOAL! Peter Crouch scores. Stoke pile the pressure over and over again and actually get a corner that wasn't. That corner was headed in by Crouch. Pepe Reina gets a yellow card for protesting a Stoke player putting pressure on him.

28' - Replays of the corner that wasn't, the ball came off a Stoke players head. Andy Carroll takes down a Stoke player and wanted a corner but instead it was a free kick. Tempers are definitely a little raised today.

29' - Four yellow cards now, Andy Wilkinson goes in the book for a tackle on Luis Suarez.

32' - Jon Walters in space runs with the ball towards the final third and shoots just wide of the post.

35' - Suarez laughs at the linesman for getting a decision wrong terribly. It should have been a Liverpool corner but the linesman gave a goal kick.

38' - It's a very physical match this. It's funny as the Liverpool/Everton derby match last week was quite nice, and here we are against a side we have virtually no rivalry with, and it's so much more physical than the match earlier this week.

41' - We're starting to look a little better now, we haven't been at our best today, Stoke have matched us for most of the match.

43' - Free kick just outside the penalty area for Liverpool. Gerrard's shot is over the bar.

45' - Two minutes of added time.

45+2' - Half time.

Well we haven't played that well in honesty. Or more accurately, Stoke have played very well against us. They've irritated us, they've been very physical, and they haven't let us have time on the ball. The most time we had on the ball was in the build up to the goal, a very good goal from Suarez. Stoke's response was fantastic, and even though it shouldn't have been a corner, Crouch's headed goal was a deserving equaliser. If we want to win today we need to play better, we need to keep possession of that ball and go at them. It's the best way to play Stoke, not get physical with them, they're very good at that. Play football against them. Let's see if our second half performance is better.

48' - Gerrard's free kick is tame and Robert Huth clears.

50' - We need to play better if we want to win. It's as simple as that.

52' - SUAREZ! So close! A free kick from the left wing comes in and Suarez reacts just a tad too slow to put some direction on his header, and it goes wide.

55' - That shot aside, we're still looking lost in link play.

56' - GOAL! Finally! Downing scores! An odd goal really, all of a sudden we just open up an opportunity, or more accurately, Downing opens up an opportunity, he runs down the right wing, takes a player on, passes to Gerrard and a clumsy one-two somehow goes back to Downing who gets back into the box and scores. It was the type of goal that Gerrard would score in honesty, no one on his wavelength and he just makes the goal himself! Great work!

59' - The game has livened up since the goal, we're on the front foot at the moment. Stoke haven't reacted as well as they did when we scored first which is good for us.

60' - Stoke Substitution: Ryan Shotton comes off for Jermaine Pennant. Welcome back to Anfield, Jermaine.

60' - Liverpool Substitution: Maxi Rodriguez comes off and Dirk Kuyt takes his place. Well Maxi assisted Suarez's first goal, other than that he's had a mixed game. A bit like his season really.

63' - Kuyt's first decent contribution to the match is a shot straight at Sorensen.

66' - We're looking comfortable probably for the first time in the match. We're playing the possession game, the game we like to play, and Stoke can't really make any progress at the moment which is good. We have control finally.

67' - Suarez! Good save by Sorensen. It was a long range effort from Suarez but it was bending to the bottom left corner, it was a nice strike. A little too far out and lacking in power mind, but nice.

68' - Haha, a Stoke free kick went terribly wrong. Everything was set up, the wall and everything, and a Liverpool player, I didn't actually spot who, basically runs straight to the ball and puts off the two Stoke players creating the free kick and it's all ruined! Great stuff.

71' - Stoke Substitution: Cameron Jerome is coming on in place of Matthew Etherington.

72' - Suarez tries the impossible, he dispossesses a Stoke player on the right hand side of the box, but it's a cluttered penalty area, so he tries to curl it around everyone, and it's way wide. Great idea, not good in execution.

73' - Stoke Substitution: Rory Delap is coming on for Dean Whitehead. That's all three Stoke subs now.

74' - Liverpool have a really nice counter attack going on, Gerrard whips in a long cross to Carroll who heads the ball to Suarez. He has Downing on his right, Carroll on his left and he... slips over. Ah well.

76' - The Kop are bouncing to Suarez's name in support of his efforts. He has been very good today, but he has tried too hard in times to do everything, the typical industrial Uruguayan.

79' - Jay Spearing finds some space and takes a shot and it's over the bar. Should have done better from that distance.

81' - Martin Kelly goes forward and a space is opened for him in the penalty box but his effort is dealt with really well by Shawcross who tackles to ground. Kelly is down from the collision.

84' - Every time Crouch has the ball up front, which hasn't been too often, he's been surrounded by Red shirts. We've dealt with the strikers really well this second half.

85' - I do want to go on record here to say I love Peter Crouch so much, he's an awesome fella and he did a great job with us all those years ago. Top bloke.

86' - Suarez has gone down, so has Kelly for the second time in five minutes. Concerningly Suarez didn't have any form of collision, I hope he's okay.

87' - Replays show Suarez got clipped by accident by Huth, he might have twisted his ankle or something. No idea. Bizarre.

88' - Double Liverpool Substitution:  Martin Kelly and Luis Suarez come off and Sebastian Coates and Jordan Henderson take their places. Suarez has probably been my man of the match, not that individually we have had a player that's been a stand out player.

89' - Gerrard is right back at the moment. I don't know if Carragher is going to move there, but at the moment Stevie G is playing in a position he hasn't played in for a good 10 years.

90' - Five minutes of added time. Good lord.

90+2' - Yellow card given for Marc Wilson.

90+4' - You'll Never Walk Alone is being sung at a massive volume now. You'd think we're going to Wembley for the second time in three months or something.

90+5' - Full time!

We're going back to Wembley! Two semi finals this season for Liverpool! Brilliant achievement for Kenny Dalglish and Liverpool. So happy at the moment. We've had such a fantastic cup run twice this season. Now we need to somehow avoid Chelsea and Tottenham in the semi final draw, but it doesn't matter in the end, it's always going to be a tough game at Wembley no matter who we get. We have a strong chance to win two cups this season. A cup double would really be a statement for Liverpool. Let's make it happen!

As for the match, the first half was tough. Very tough. But all the effort Stoke put into that first half was lost in the second half, and we played well enough to score a second goal. Once again we never gave a masterclass display, but we gave a decent one, and we scored another two goals at Anfield. Downing scored which is good for his confidence, as well as Suarez for his. There have been many positives to take out of this game, the biggest one being, we're going back to Wembley! Thanks for joining me again and have a good evening.

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Live Thoughts: Cardiff vs Liverpool (Carling Cup)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts when Liverpool took on Cardiff in the Carling Cup final!

Hey there and welcome! Liverpool are in their first final in five years, it's been too long. I remember that final too well, when we lost 2-1 to AC Milan in the Champions League final. It was horrible. I really don't want to feel that feeling again, especially not today. We just simply have to win. If we lose, it'll be the first time in 21 years since a team outside of the top division won the League Cup. We just have to win. I'm thoroughly looking forward to this, but I just wish I was with my family in North Wales, who are all Liverpool supporters, rather than on my own in my house with my three year old daughter who doesn't understand football quite yet. But still, let's hope we can win and I'll be just as happy!

Here are the teams:

Cardiff: Heaton; McNaughton, Hudson, Turner, Taylor; Cowie, Gunnarsson, Whittingham, Gestede, Mason; Miller. Subs: Marshal, Kiss, Gerrard, Earnshaw, Conway, Naylor, Blake.

We were expecting Miller to play on his own up front but no matter, he's the main threat and he can score if given the chance. Peter Whittingham has been a great Championship player for years and can also be a threat. But this is a still a team we need to beat, no excuses.

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

The pundits on Match of the Day were surprised Bellamy didn't start but I'm not. We're not being overcautious, but this is a balanced side. It's 4-4-2 and there's some nice balance here. I like it. Having Bellamy and/or Kuyt would disrupt the balance in that team and I think it's important today to get on that pitch, maintain possession and go forward when we're in full control. This team allows that. Bellamy can come on later if we need an injection of pace in the squad. 

1' - JOHNSON! He hit the bar! So close! Gerrard on the rebound and it's over. What a shot by Glen Johnson! Both teams had a good attack then and we almost scored! 

3' - They just mentioned Johnson being an FA Cup winner when Portsmouth beat Cardiff here a few years ago. I live in Portsmouth and I can tell you, that was a special win for the south coast team. I'm not a Pompey fan but I was really happy for them. I want a taste of that tonight for my team! 

6' - We're piling the pressure on early, two corners didn't really get that close to their goal, but we're on top at the moment. We need to keep on this pressure early on, hopefully it'll lead to an early goal. 

9' - The pressure is off a little at the moment, but there's a long way to go. What matters is that we win, not how! 

12' - Another corner for Liverpool, Carroll is penalised for a push on a Cardiff player. 

15' - Carroll has an effort at goal and it's over the bar. 

17' - A nice bit of movement from Henderson, Johnson and Suarez and Suarez chips the ball to Carroll who has a troubling yet tame effort on target,


18' - GOAL! Joe Mason. We're behind. Martin Skrtel heads the ball back to a Cardiff player, the ball is played to Miller who passes to Mason, who clips the ball past Reina. Awful defending all-round.

21' - That was a poor bit of defending. Credit where it's due Cardiff passed the ball nice and slick for the goal, but our defence was asleep. I can't believe we're behind. 

21' - Agger doing one of his vintage runs down the the centre of the pitch and his shot is blocked by a defender.

22' - Possession is 65%/35% to Liverpool. Yet we're behind. We need to get back in this match, thankfully there's a lot of time to go. 

25' - We're all around their box at the moment, lovely work from Downing who backheels the ball to Jose Enrique into the box. We pile in their box but Cardiff deal with the pressure. 

28' - Downing loses his defender again and crosses low into the box again, it misses everyone, only Carroll was in the box that was in a Red shirt. It was a good ball from Downing, who's definitely winning the battle on the left flank at the moment.

31' - Handball claims in the Cardiff box but it was too quick in my eyes for it to be a penalty.

31' - ADAM! So close! A low drive from Adam and it's just wide. Good effort.

33' - We're still piling forward but with not much intensity. Cardiff are defending well. Hopefully we can equalise before the second half, it's important that we do in honesty. 

36' - They just showed John W. Henry and his wife Linda in the stands. Man Linda is so hot. Lucky man. 

38' - GERRARD! Over the bar! Downing plays well again on the left flank, twisting and turning his defender out and he whips the ball into the box, Suarez, Carroll and Henderson all miss it and it comes to Gerrard outside the box and he shoots high above the bar. Great chance. 

41' - Suarez has been a nuisance a few times in the box today, but he's not controlling well enough to make opportunities to score. Hopefully he can continue though, he's a pain to deal with for defenders. He takes a shot in the end but it's tame and saved by Heaton. 

43' - Free kick, Gerrard takes it and it's inch perfect for AGGER who heads it straight at Heaton. Gutted, that was a great opportunity to equalise then. 

44' - Gerrard gets the ball in the box but can't control it and shoots high. Three defenders were in Gerrard's way. 

45' - One minute of added time. 

45+1' - Half time.

Well what happened? They got a goal, we couldn't score. Not much else to say in that respect. We've had a few chances but nothing clear cut, we haven't been clinical enough in front of goal. It's been the story of the season but if there's one match, one game of football where we need to right that wrong it's TODAY. We need to score. It's as simple as that. We haven't been bad but we haven't been good enough. Cardiff are defending very well. This needs to chance. I really hope we can avoid embarrassment today. Come on Reds! Please! 

48 ' - Miller! Just wide. Cardiff make a nuisance of themselves in and around our box and Milelr takes a chance from outside the box and it's just wide. Not the start we wanted, Cardiff are in our faces at the moment. 

49 ' - Suarez makes a nuisance on himself and intercepts the ball in the box! He shoots across the face of goal and it squirms under Heaton, then Cardiff clear! Unlucky! 

51' - Henderson is the first for a yellow card for a clumsy challenge. He's had a poor game today.

54' - The game is opening up a little, but we're still not really taking the game by the scruff of the neck yet. 

57' - Liverpool Substitution: Craig Bellamy comes on for Jordan Henderson. Says it all really. Henderson has been poor. Bellamy cheered by both sets of supporters due to his strong connection there. 

59' - GOAL! Martin Skrtel! Our eight corner of the match and Suarez gets on the end of it, it hits the post and then Skrtel shoots low into the box! Great finish!

61' - Finally, an equaliser. Hopefully we can now work for a second goal. No mistakes can be afforded now. 

63' - Skrtel's fourth goal of the season. He's had a brilliant season, both defensively and attacking for a defender. He's been a rock for us. Excellent player. Thanks Rafa! 

64' - Mason has a decent effort at goal, but it's met well by Reina. 

66' - The winds are definitely changing at the moment, we're really going for blood at the moment. It's about time, but we need to make sure we're not left open at the back. 

69' - A few more corners for us but with no end product. We're still the better side though. 

71' - Gerrard knocks a forearm into the back of Gunnarsson's head. The ref didn't see it, poor from our captain. I don't think it was intentional but it was dangerous. 

73' - 89,041 is the official crowd total today. Great work from both sets of supporters!


73' - SKRTEL! Great save from Heaton. It was a snap shot at short distance for Skrtel, that Heaton saves low  to. Good effort again!

74' - 21 shots on goal for us, and only 4 on target. Story of our season in a way, lots of effort but no product. But now is not the time to be negative, we need to score again! 

77' - Mark Hudson has gone down with cramp and we kick the ball out. Boos from some of the Reds faithful. Poor reaction from our own, we should respect things like this, if the boot was on the other foot we wouldn't like it if Cardiff continued. 

77' - DOWNING! Great save from Heaton! Downing takes a low driven shot through the Cardiff defence and Heaton just sees it in time to make the save. Great effort from Downing, who's been my man of the match so far for me. Great effort from Downing today. 

79' - Free kick in a dangerous area for Cardiff, Peter Whittingham shoots and it hits our defence and out. 

82' - TURNER! Just wide! Don Cowie whips the ball and it curls round the Reds and Turner heads the ball just wide. That could have been an upset if that went in, thankfully it didn't.

86' - Liverpool Substitution: Daniel Agger leaves the pitch with an injury, and Jamie Carragher takes his place. 

87' - MILLER! Just above the bar! Cardiff free kick and once again our defence is asleep and Cardiff take advantage, Miller shoots hard and high and thankfully it was just over the bar. Come on Reds! Seriously! 

89' - Free kick for Cardiff and Jamie Carragher doesn't give them the ball! I think his message was because we weren't ready to defend the kick.

90' - Four minutes of added time.

90' - Suarez is on his own up front and is onside! Three Cardiff defenders catch up with him and he takes a shot that's well over the bar.

91' - Corner for Liverpool and it's passed to Johnson who sets Gerrard up for a belter outside the box and it's over the bar. Good idea, but its execution wasn't what it should have been. 

94' - Ten seconds remain and Gerrard delivers a long ball to Downing who puts his hands in his face because he failed to control the cross. Full time. 

Thirty minutes of added time to go now. The main thing is we got the equaliser. We still have one substitution left, Cardiff have all three. You have to give it to Cardiff, they've worked their asses off today to get to extra time. But we need to finish this match off. I really don't want it to go to penalties, despite being confident in a shootout situation. I want us to win on goals scored not penalties. Let's hope we can finish them off in these 30 minutes. Come on Liverpool!

90' - Cardiff Substitution: Filip Kiss comes on for Joe Mason.

90' - Bellamy takes a corner and SUAREZ heads it and Andrew Taylor clears it off the line! So close again! 

91' - Gerrard shoots from outside the box again and once again it's well over the bar. He's not been very clinical today our captain. I dare say he's not had the greatest of games in honesty, but we need him on that pitch that's for sure, in games like this.

94' - Free kick, Gerrard takes it and Suarez frees from his marker and volleys just wide. He was offside anyway, but great movement from the Uruguayan. 

97' - That's an odd statistic, Kuyt has the longest Liverpool career without winning a medal since Emlyn Hughes, in six years without a metal. It's true though, since he joined we haven't won any trophies. 

98' - Kiss gets a yellow card after his little tussle with Craig Bellamy.

99' - Cardiff Substitution: Mark Hudson comes off and Anthony Gerrard comes on, whose cousin is our captain Steven.

102' - Downing takes another corner and Carroll heads it backwards towards goal, a good effort. That's his last touch of the match.

102' - Liverpool Substitution: Andy Carroll comes off and Dirk Kuyt comes on. Carroll's had a mixed game, not as good as recent weeks. 

103' - BELLAMY! Just over the bar! A great one-two with Kuyt and he makes some space and curls a right footer just over the bar. Best effort from the Welshman so far. 

105' - One minute of added time. 

105' - JOHNSON! Just wide again. Lovely work from Adam who set up Johnson, his shot was nice and clean but just wide. 

105+1' - Half time.

Nothing much different to report, it's been pretty much all Liverpool with no end product. It feels destined for penalties, the way it feels at the moment. Hopefully that won't be the case, and we can score in the next fifteen minutes. 

Cardiff Substitution: Kevin McNaughton comes off in place for Darcy Blake. Cardiff and Liverpool have now made all their substitutions.

106' - Kuyt loses his defender and is free! He puts the ball square across the penalty box and it's just slightly behind Suarez, who tries to adjust but can't. Great effort from Kuyt, unfortuante of Suarez not to be positioned correctly!

107' - GOAL! KUYT! COME ON KUYT GET IN THERE! Kuyt shoots and a defender clears poorly back to him, and he shoots hard and low to the bottom corner!

110' - We need to be patient and careful now. We can't let this lead slip. 

113' - Haha, sorry, you've got to love OptaJoke on Twitter, check this tweet:


"55 - Dirk Kuyt's first attempt on goal was going 55 metres wide. Rebound."


Follow OptaJoke @OptaJoke, they're really funny.

115' - Cardiff are on top at the moment, trying their best to equalise. We're defending well enough at the moment, but they've just won a corner. 

117' - GOAL! Ben Turner. Three corners in succession for Cardiff, they almost score from the second corner and Kuyt clears it off the line, but that third corner was the same, we couldn't clear and they bumble it into the box. Penalties loom.

120' - One minute of added time. 

120+1' - Full time. Penalties.

Amazing match, Cardiff have been amazing. Penalties now. I can't believe this match. I'll cover the penalties on this site as well. I'm in bits at the moment. Horrible feeling, although as I said I'm comfortable with penalties, Reina is usually very good at penalties.

• Gerrard to take first. SAVED! Tom Heaton! Amazing save! Gerrard top corner and it was amazingly met by Heaton! Instant pressure for Liverpool! 
• Kenny Miller to take now. He hit the post and out! YES! 0-0 still! Stalemate still! 
• Charlie Adam now... WELL OVER THE BAR! WHAT THE HELL!? 
• Cowie now to take for Cardiff and it's in the goal! 1-0 to Cardiff on penalties. Not good. 
• Kuyt now for Liverpool, come on Kuyt! Kuyt scores! Thankfully! Now we need Reina to save.
• Rudy Gestede to take now for Cardiff... and it hits the post! 1-1 now after three attempts each! We're back in it! 
• Stewart Downing now and he scores! We take the lead in penalties! 
• Peter Whittingham now for Cardiff... he scores. 2-2 now with one penalty each remaining. 
• Glen Johnson now to take. Come on Johnson! He scores! Cardiff NEED to score now! 
• Anthony Gerrard now... and he misses! LIVERPOOL WIN THE CARLING CUP!

We did it! What a match! Emotions were everywhere and I'm so proud that we've won. Great credit to Cardiff who worked as hard as they could to cause the upset. We put in a lot of effort today and it felt like it wasn't going to happen, especially when we missed our first two penalties. But we did it, and hopefully this can now be the catalyst for more trophies. Hopefully we can win the FA Cup later on this season. It's about time we won a trophy. Now we want more! Carling Cup winners. Amazing. Thanks for joining me today and if you're a Liverpool fan, enjoy your celebrations!

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Live Thoughts: Manchester City vs Liverpool (Premier League)

I covered this match live. Here are my unedited thoughts on the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool.

Hey there, thanks for joining me on another live thoughts feed. After a two match break (or 'ban', whatever word you prefer), I'm back. Before I get to the preview, let me talk about Suarez.

Just in case you didn't know, Liverpool are not to appeal against the Suarez ban. They're backing Suarez, are still showing the FA they're unhappy with the situation yet they're accepting of the ban for the good of football and the fight against racism. My thoughts? All in all I think Liverpool have done the right thing. They're standing ground in terms of their beliefs and support yet accepting of the situation, predominantly because everyone has been against their strong support of Suarez because the media are twisting that somehow as 'pro-racism'. It's not. It's pro-Suarez. Big difference. But still, it means we have no Suarez for eight games. No more. No less. I think it was too risky to appeal, because it just felt the FA wanted to make an example of Suarez. That's fine, as long as they show the same stance for every player doing a similar thing. Starting with John Terry of Chelsea. I wrote an article about this a few weeks ago if you're more interested in my thoughts on the Suarez situation, you can read that here. Anyway, like Liverpool, let's all draw a line against this.

Man City! Away from home! Tough match. But with City losing on the weekend, I think it's a good time to play them. Especially as we scored 3 goals against Newcastle, the first time we have scored 3 in the Premier League since August, when we beat Bolton 3-1, the same margin. Let's hope our strikers have their scoring boots on, and the defence can keep their watertight lock on that goal! I feel quite confident today in honesty!

Here are the teams:

Man City: Hart, Clichy, Toure Kolo, Richards, Kompany, Silva, Toure Yaya, Barry, Milner, Aguero, Dzeko. Subs: Pantilimon, Lescot, Zabaleta, Savic, de Jong, Johnson, Kolarov. 

It's hard to find a fault in this team. But this is the team we drew earlier this season, and beat last season. In fact, Man City have only lost 1 of the last 13 games against us. But City are very very dangerous now and we need to be careful. I think we can still win though. No Balotelli, but Aguero and the emergence of Dzeko this season makes a strong attacking duo. 

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

Naturally no Suarez now. Bellamy on the bench is surprising though. He's been our best player recently and has scored most of the goals too. It looks like 4-4-2 today, with Carroll and Kuyt up front and Henderson and Downing on the wings. I suppose you can understand, what with us playing away from home, against the benchmark team of the Premier League. Bellamy can always come on later if needed, and Gerrard. Our bench looks pretty good at least.

3' - We're all wearing black armbands in memory of Gary Ablett who passed away a few days ago. 

6' - A half chance for Dzeko who hesitated in front of goal. Good for us. Richards was the man who set him up.

7' - DOWNING! Great chance but Hart saves! 

8' - Silva goes down the left wing and sets up Dzeko in the Liverpool box, who from a tight angle forces Reina into a save. 

10' - GOAL! Aguero. Kuyt concedes the ball and it gets to Aguero who takes a tame shot at goal, and the ball lands under Reina and goes in. That wasn't good from the usually excellent Reina. 

12' - I love Reina so much, but he's done a few mistakes this season, more so than usual. But that being said our defence has been pretty solid this season in comparison. I hope this is a little blip because Reina is just brilliant on his day. 

13' - A strong City attack with many one-twos ends up with Aguero who tries to chip the ball above Reina, and fails. 

15' - A half chance for Liverpool, Kuyt crossed from outside the penalty box on the right and Carroll gets a head to it, and it's over the bar. 

17' - @Anonymous - I don't think Reina needs to be sold, I just think he's having a blip. He's one of our most consistent players usually. He's still at a great age and I doubt he's going to slip long term. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt I say. 

19' - Some good pressure there from the Reds. It's hard to pinpoint one good moment really, but it was nice to see. We're not out of this by a long stretch.

21' - A shot from Dzeko takes a deflection and Reina attempts to save in shot's direction, and Aguero almost slotted the ball in an empty net but it was travelling too fast. Relief.

22' - Downing has been tripped by Silva just outside the City box. Shame Bellamy isn't on the pitch to take this cross, he's been pretty good with his crosses recently. 

23' - Adam takes the free kick and it's dealt with easily by Hart. 

24' - Henderson was set up nicely for a shot by Kuyt and it goes wide to Hart's goal. Decent effort though. 

26' - We've responded very nicely from the goal we conceded, we're much more dominant now. City have barely threat, bar the deflected shot five minutes ago. 

27' - A battle between Aguero and Skrtel and Aguero wins, but the ball once again travels too far and Reina clears. 

27' - Adam wins us another free kick in another great position.

28' - Henderson takes it and it hits the wall. Shame, it was an excellent place to win a free kick, central and just outside the box. 

30' - Aguero looks for a handball against Skrtel but the replay rejects it. The replays clearly show Skrtel's hand moving away from the ball, he couldn't have done anything about it. Good refereeing decision.

32' - KOMPANY! Great save by Reina from the corner! Lightning reactions from the Spaniard! 

32' - GOAL! Yaya Toure scores after another corner. Another header and this one goes in. We're 2-0 down now. Not good.

35' - Downing gets called for a free kick for handball. That wasn't handball either, the ref got this one wrong I'd say. 

36' - Steven Gerrard is warming up. Put him in at the start of the second half? I'm not sure. 

38' - @Anonymous #2 - Are you a Liverpool fan? I really hope not, Reina has played more than 300 times for this club and doesn't need fans turning on him when he's set numerous clean sheet records and saved many penalties over the years. Show him some respect.

41' - Charlie Adam concedes a free kick after a poor tackle on Dzeko. This is a decent area for City, I really hope we don't concede a third now. Silva takes it and it's gone for a goal kick.

42' - Carroll heads it down to Kuyt who has a decent effort but it's blocked by Kompany at goal-sight and then dealt with. 

44' - There's been a few tackles for the past few minutes by both sides that have been pretty poor, tensions are rising I'd say. Gareth Barry goes in the book for the latest one. 

45' - One minute of added time. 

45+1' - Half time. 

Well we conceded a poor goal by Reina. He should have done better than that, but there's no point in hounding Reina, he's been one of the best players for Liverpool in the past 6 and a half years and all players make mistakes. The difference being a goalkeeper's errors are easier to see. The second goal was unavoidable, City were strong in the set pieces and Toure's headed goal was too strong for anyone to deal with. Between the two goals they scored we looked pretty solid, definitely the better side. Are we out of the match? No. We need a quick reaction in the second half and then it's game on. Do we go to the bench and make changes? That's up to King Kenny of course, but my opinion is purely based on the fitness of Bellamy, Gerrard and possibly Maxi. Any of those three can be match winners when on form so if they're fit and raring to go, put on or two on at the start of the second half. We can still get something out of this, but if we concede another I'd say that's the end then.

45' - No substitutes made. That's fine, but it's going to have to be in the next 20 minutes surely, unless we score in that time of course! 

48' - A decent cross from Enrique, the first time he's been able to get forward properly, and Kompany heads it for a throw in, stopping Carroll from getting a vital touch.

50' - We've started the second half well, pushing City back as often as we can. No major penetration yet though. 

53' - The commentators think we lack pace, it's possible. We do have pace on the bench in Gerrard and Bellamy, that's not a hint I promise! 

56' - Double Liverpool Substitution: Steven Gerrard and Craig Bellamy come on for Charlie Adam and Dirk Kuyt, who both haven't had the best of games. 

57' - I think Kenny has made a good move putting these two players on. They're both match winners and both scored good and important goals against Newcastle.

60' - We need to score soon, 30 minutes left to go, a goal soon would make take momentum strongly in our favour.

62' - Enrique and Reina have a mixup whether or not who retrieves the travelling ball. It's not good that there was a communication issue at the back.

64' - Aguero has caused a lot of problems for us today. He's a tremendous player. That being said I'd say man of the match so far has to be Vincent Kompany, who's been a rock at the back for City.

66' - Both Milner and Glen Johnson have gone down due to a tackle from the former on the latter. 

69' - We're still dominating possession without putting that much pressure on City. I don't think this is going to be our night to be honest. We need a piece of magic from somewhere and fast. 

71' - Manchester City Substitution: Sergio Aguero comes off for Adam Johnson. Aguero was excellent today, really getting in between our defenders and just generally causing chaos, not too dissimilar to Suarez.

72' - RED CARD FOR BARRY! Two yellows for Barry, for a tackle on Gerrard. I don't think it was deserving of a yellow that tackle, I think he's unlucky, but it gives us some hope! 

73' - PENALTY FOR CITY! Grrrr! The ref gave a penalty as Toure went down when Skrtel was chasing, I'm unsure if that was a penalty! Some possible bad decisions here by the ref.

74' - GOAL! Milner scores the penalty and City are 3-0 up, and have pretty much got the points in the bag.

75' - Manchester City Substitution: David Silva comes off in place of Lescott, a good move for City, who have to defend for 15 minutes, now with 5 defenders. 

75' - Liverpool Substitution: Jay Spearing comes off and Maxi Rodriguez comes on. It might be too little too late, but you never know in football.

78' - Another miscommunication from the back! This time it's Skrtel and Reina, Skrtel gave a very short passback and Dzeko almost took advantage. Our back 5 really haven't been very good today. 

79' - ADAM JOHNSON! Hit the post! A lovely strike from the young Englishman, Reina was beat! This is definitely a match to forget for us. 

81' - GERRARD! Just wide. It was a nice strike, vintage of Gerrard, and it was just passed the post. 

84' - Kudos to Liverpool, we're still trying to get another goal despite being three down, but it lead to a counter attack in the end. We don't want to concede a fourth. 

85' - Rodriguez! Close. He was in the box and backheels to make space, and shoots just over the bar. More accuracy and it would have been a nice goal.

89' - Bellamy! Saved by Hart and it rolls for a rebound for Rodriguez and another Hart save. Frustrating stuff.

90' - Gout minutes of added time.

90+1' - Vincent Kompany wins man of the match, and it's rightfully deserved. He's been absolutely amazing today. At least it wasn't the goalkeeper this time that did all the heroics, not that Hart has had a bad game either.

90+2' - Downing finds some space in the penalty box and goes for goal, but Hart saves low to his right. 

90+4' - Full time.

What to say? Well, simply, this was a Premier League title winning performance for Manchester City. I don't mean they thrashed us or anything. But they had their chances and took them. Over the ninety minutes, we were the better side, the side with possession, the side with the most chances. But important moments in this game cost us. Reina's mistake, followed by a strong City set piece header by  Yaya Toure, and then the excellent break by Yaya again for Skrtel to concede the penalty, and then Milner's spot kick. Three important moments, three goals. That's what champions do, that's what United have done for so long. I really think City can win the title, if they keep staying one step ahead.

As for us? Same old Liverpool, loads of chances, zero goals. We need a new striker, it's as simple as that. Bellamy and Kuyt aren't always being used as strikers, so Carroll and Suarez are the only two out and out strikers we have. That needs to change. It's a major priority to get another striker in. Who? For me, dare I say it, but we need someone like Yakubu. Despite being an ex-Blue, I've always been a fan of the Yak. When on form he's fantastic. He's big and strong and really intimidating. He's an up front presence we haven't had at Liverpool since the days of in prime Emile Heskey. We need that time of presence. But as long as we get a clinical finisher, another good quality striker, I don't mind who we get. That's up to the owners and Kenny. Anyway, thank you for reading my live thoughts, it's been a pleasure, have a good night.

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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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