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 Swansea (Premier League)

I covered this match live. Here are my thoughts on the match between Liverpool and Swansea.

Hey everyone welcome to the latest Live Thoughts feed. I'm back now after being away for six days. I didn't post yesterday because I was just too tired to. You'll all know about my amazing adventure on this site in a few months I promise.


Onto the football. Naturally I didn't cover the win against West Brom last week as I was in Argentina but it was nice to not only see us win but for Andy Carroll to score. He's had a disappointing start to his season and is getting a lot of criticism. I want him to be a success and I don't believe in criticising players too much. He's still a new member of the squad with injury problems and deserves patience to get into the swing of things. Hopefully he can kick start his season with that goal last week. Let's hope we can start a good winning streak too, Swansea at home is a game we should win. Any other result will be a bad one, like the Norwich draw a few weeks back.

Here are the teams: 

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

Strong team, good to see Carroll getting another start. Hopefully he scores as I said before. We just can't lose or draw this game, if we do, things will be a little more concerning.

Swansea: Vorm, Rangel, Monk, Williams, Taylor, Gower, Britton, Allen, Routledge, Graham, Dyer. Subs: Tremmel, Sinclair, Lita, Moore, Agustien, Richards, Moras.

On paper it doesn't seem like much, but Swansea aren't pushovers, none of the promoted sides are. But we should be winning today, there's just no excuse! Sinclair and Lita on the bench is interesting.

2' - Slow start at the moment but we have the ball more than the opposition, which is always a good thing.

5' - Great to see Suarez trying his ball skills early. I love that man at the moment. 

8' - Carroll! What a chance! A lovely ball from Downing down the left flank and Carroll connects and it hits the cross bar! Gutted!

8' - Carroll tries a shot from the edge of the goal line from the left but Vorm saves it with ease.

11' - Well we're definitely on top of Swansea, that chance before being one that we should have taken advantage of.

14' - Free kick for Swansea in a good area, just outside the box on the right. Gower is going to take it. 

15' - The free kick is taken and dealt with, it wasn't easy though and the ball came back in the box a few times. Swansea's most dangerous moment so far has gone. 

18' - Suarez! Close. Decent strike, he intercepts the ball around 25 yards out and takes a chance. He came very close, it skimmed past Vorm's right post. 

20' - Suarez on the left wing swings in a lovely cross to Carroll but he wasn't deep enough in the box. But the way he lifted the ball for the cross was pure quality. 

23' - Some good movement ends with a tame Suarez shot. Enrique crosses from the left and Suarez and Lucas are in the middle and neither really connect with force.

26' - We look comfortable but these games become concerning as they go on. We need a goal soon. 

27' - Danny Graham! Great save by Reina! Good work from Wayne Routeledge, he dinks the ball over the Liverpool defence and Graham taps it and it was a lovely reaction save by our keeper!

28' - Suarez! So so close! He loses his defender on the edge of the box and goes for placement over power, and shoots to the bottom left and it's nicely saved by Vorm! 

30' - Possession so far is 58%/42%, showing our general dominance. We need to score though. 

33' - Johnson does a darting run through a few defenders and gets into the edge of hte penalty box, the ball gets cleared for a throw-in in the end. Nice to see Johnson back.

36' - Allen! Skims past the post. That's the second time so far Swansea came close to scoring. A nice bit of movement from Joe Allen and he makes enough space on the edge of the box and takes a fierce shot and it skims past Reina's left post.

40' - Graham! Again, close. It started from a corner that we failed to clear properly, a cross comes in from the right and Graham connects but thankfully it wasn't good enough, it goes wide to the left.

43' - Another potentially dangerous situation ends when Graham crosses and it's not deep enough and Johnson heads back to Reina. Swansea are finishing stronger than we'd like them to.

45' - One minute of added time.

45+1' - Carroll from the corner! Close. We got another corner but that dissolved too. Half time.

Well it's been typical Liverpool really so far, looking good, looking good, no goals. Towards the end of the half Swansea took some chances and they came close to paying off a few times. We have an awful record in terms of shots to goals ratio, and it doesn't look like it's getting any better. But we do score goals, that's the good thing, and let's hope we can get one or two in the second half.

46' - Liverpool Sub: Dirk Kuyt is coming on for Jordan Henderson. It must be tactical, not that Henderson really impressed in the first half.

48' - Swansea are playing some decent attacking football, they are very similar to the West Brom sides of a few years ago, it's nice to see these smaller sides play football and it's a shame when they break down and concede a lot. That being said let's hope that's what happens today.

51'-  Swansea are looking more and more confident. We need to stop that and soon. We can't lose or draw today, it would be really bad.

54' - The game is starting to stretch a little, both sides playing good football.

55' - Neil Taylor gets a yellow card for Swansea.

56' - Suarez header and it's straight at Vorm. It was the end of a free kick from Charlie Adam.

57' - Reina nearly fluffed up big time! Johnson gives him the ball and he takes a touch too long and Graham almost scores! Relief.

59' - Joe Allen takes a shot from range and it was always going wide. Nice try though.

62' - Swansea are definitely enjoying themselves at the moment, they're playing the better football and we just look nervous for the most part. We need to change the tables sooner rather than later.

64' - Double save from Reina! He's more than made up for his fluff-up before! A long range shot from Dyer is saved nicely and Graham comes for the rebound and Reina saves that too! It's not good for us at the moment and if it wasn't for that man we'd be a goal down.

66' - Daniel Agger goes in the book, yellow card.

68' - Free kick in a VERY dangerous area for Swansea. The foul was on the line, it could have been decided it was a penalty. Gower takes it and it was very poor. Still, we're giving Swansea the chance for glory today and it's not good.

69' - Wayne Routeledge comes off worse from a mid-air battle with Skrtel. Haven't you heard how badass Skrtel is? Check this out for evidence.

71' - Joe Allen runs from the Swansea half into deep into our half and battles about four Red shirts before going down to a Glen Johnson tackle. Great run from the young Welsh lad.

73' - Scott Sinclair is about to come on, and Craig Bellamy.

73' - Swansea Sub: Wayne Routeledge comes off for Scott Sinclair. Things can be a lot worse if Sinclair is on form today, he's a promising young player.

74' - Liverpool Sub: Craig Bellamy comes on for Andy Carroll, who hasn't been impressive really today, which is a shame.

75' - Haha, Cardiff boy Bellamy is getting a lot of boos from the Swansea fans.

75' - Downing takes a shot and it goes well over the bar. It had a feel of desperation that shot.

77' - Finally, some great movement from Liverpool! Kuyt and Suarez combine nicely, and not for the first time, Suarez sets Kuyt up in the box but the ball is bouncing and it's cleared before Kuyt can shoot.

78' - Agger! Just over the bar! It came from a corner and Vorm punches the ball out of the box and Agger headers the ball just over. A nice spell from Liverpool, keep it going boys!

79' - Angel Rangel (awesome name) tries a Stevie G special from around 35 yards to the left and it was awful. Where's Stevie when you need him...

80' - Liverpool free kick in a VERY dangerous position, similar position to Swansea above, just behind the penalty area line, to the right. Suarez was the one to go down and Ashley Williams gets a yellow card.

81' - Charlie Adam takes the shot and it deflects off the feet of one of the Swansea wall-boys. Corner.

82' - Nothing comes from the corner and the ball is cleared dramatically.

83' - GOWER! What a chance! Brilliant Swansea attack, Dyer skips past Enrique and curls in a lovely cross to Graham, who heads the ball down perfectly for Gower who shoots far too hard and it's awfully over the bar. Best chance of the game and thankfully for us Reds it didn't go in.

85' - Last five minutes and we're looking desperate. Suarez tries to fight his way with the ball into the box and there's too many Swansea shirts in his way. Lucas gets the ball and handball's it. Desperate.

87' - Free kick for Liverpool, in almost the same position as before. Suarez takes it and it's deflected once again for a corner.

87' - GOAL! NO! OFFSIDE! Kuyt scored! Agger get's a touch in the box and Kuyt was offside when he did, Kuyt heads the ball into the net but it was too late. What agony, so close but so far away.

88' - SUAREZ! Saved brilliantly from Vorm! GAH!

90' - JOHNSON! What another phenomenal save from Vorm! We're bombarding these shots and nothing is getting past Vorm! One of the saves of the season that!

90' - Four minutes of added time.

90+1' - Sorry but there's so much going on at the moment it's hard to update. We had another great bit of play then but Enrique tries to cross but it goes for a goal kick.

90+2' - Swansea Sub: Mark Gower comes off for Kemy Agustien. Time wasting for Swansea.

90+4' - Full time.

Another embarrassing draw for us. Man of the match was definitely Michel Vorm, the Dutch Swansea keeper. The last 10 minutes he probably made at least half a dozen saves and was the reason we didn't score. We were not good today. We weren't awful, but we most certainly weren't good enough. We had a good start, and Carroll should have scored early but didn't make the most of his shot that hit the cross bar, and for long periods, probably between 30 minutes and 70 minutes Swansea were better than us. The last 10 minutes was very good stuff, but Vorm saved everything we gave. Another home draw against a newly promoted side. Good luck to Swansea for the rest of the season, they were great today and it was a decent game of football, despite no goals. But for us, it's the international break and we need to come back better than this, if we want Champions League football next season. That's it from me today, have a good one.

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Live Thoughts: Liverpool vs Manchester United (Premier League)

I wrote this live. These are my unedited thoughts when we took on United at Anfield.
Hey everyone, welcome to another of my Live Thoughts feeds, this time I'm back with the mighty Reds, and by that I mean Liverpool obviously, when we take on The Red Devils in Manchester United. A win today would mean a lot, a win over the champions would finally give them their first defeat of the season, and would make us feel like we're closer to the top than some people think we are. That being said, a top 4 finish this season is still the target in my eyes. But that doesn't mean I want more! Let's kick the Mancs out of their stride at Anfield!

Here are teams:

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

Gerrard starts his first game since March, seven months ago today. Hopefully some of the anxious faithful can shut up now! It's an intruiging lineup with Gerrard playing in the hole and Suarez up front on his own. It's either a piece of tactical genius or it's a big mistake. We have no height in our attack now really and if their defence wins the battle, we aren't scoring, pure and simple. But Suarez ripped their defence with his trickery last time, let's hope he has a similar game. Suarez and Gerrard combining for the first time properly is a salivating thought though.

Manchester United: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra, Park, Fletcher, Giggs, Jones, Young, Welbeck. Subs: Lindegaard, Anderson, Rooney, Hernandez, Carrick, Nani, Valencia.

Wow... Rooney, Hernandez AND Nani on the bench? Are you serious bro? That's a huge gamble by Alex Ferguson, arguably his three most threatening players are on the bench. It makes a very strong bench mind. Let's hope we can put pressure on them early and make them pay for their potential mistake. Very dangerous gambling by old purple nose.

1' - Alex Ferguson says that Rooney had a bad week and that's why he's not playing. He's also playing more defensively because we took advantage of a lot of space on the pitch in the last match. Fair enough. It's still a defensive approach, one that hopefully we'll take advantage of.

4' - There's a lot of youth on both sides which is good, they just said that Phil Jones wasn't even born the last time we won the league. Ouch. We do have Martin Kelly and Suarez who are both very young. 

7' - Stewart Downing stretches into a tackle and it was slightly mistimed and it was called for a foul. I do like the crunching tackles and stuff, but we only just played Everton and in these derbies you need to be careful. 

10' - Manchester United are putting a bit of pressure on us but we're defending very well. No hoels at the moment. 

13' - Free kick for Manchester United a few yards outside the corner of the right side of the penalty area, Young takes it and it's straight to Reina's gloves.

15' - Some good attacking play from United, they're starting to get on top of us . It ends with Patrice Evra crossing from the left wing to Phil Jones who can't quite get to it. Not good.

18' - It's the one year anniversary since the new American owners took over. It's been a good year I'd say. 

20' - A small amount of pressure for us gets us a corner. A quick corner is taken and Gerrard can't quite get to it. Close though. 

23' - The game is a lot more open now, with us looking a little bit more threatening. 

26' - A huge amount of dominance now, pretty much three minutes straight of us just chipping away at them. Great stuff.

27' - The dominance halts as Lucas brings down Park Ji-Sung for a yellow card.


29' - A battle between Suarez and Ferdinand and the veteran defender falls on his arse and is made to look a fool. Excellent.

32' - The game has calmed down a bit now which is a shame. 

34' - SUAREZ! Saved by De Gea! What a shame, he should have done better. He shook the last defender loose and shoots straight at the young Spaniard. 

35' - Possession so far is 56%/44% to Liverpool, which is good. We have been better in the last quarter. 

36' - Darren Fletcher wastes a good chance as Manchester United pass smoothly around the Liverpool defence, it's cut to Fletcher who takes a shot from the corner of the right side of the penalty area with a bit of space, and it's wide to the left. 

38' - The Kop is singing "I Just Can't Get Enough", I love this chant. 

39' - Skrtel goes down the right wing like a proper winger, he beats two defenders before Ferdinand stops him. Good stuff. 

40' - Wayne Rooney goes for a job on the touchline and gets booed by the Kop. As a Liverpool fan I'm happy naturally, although as an England fan I do think a three match ban was harsh. But it's Liverpool today and with Rooney not playing I'm chuffed. 

42' - Yellow card for Ashley Young for shoulder barging Gerrard.. Free kick towards the right corner flag, Charlie Adam takes it and De Gea punches it out.

43' - Lucas and Phil Jones bang heads and Jones is out for the moment. Lucas sluggishly falls to the floor. It wasn't intentional by Lucas. I hope Jones is okay. 

44' - Phil Jones is now sitting up, that's good. It looked really nasty. 

45' - Two minutes of added time, although they may be more. Jones has gone off the pitch and Lucas is staying on. 

45+2' - Half time.

My summary of the first half was that it's been an interesting game, it's not really been outstanding as such, but there's been some half chances on both sides. The best chance was Suarez's effort that was tame and straight at De Gea. I think we had the better half, but you can't rule out Manchester United, they've had their spells as well. Let's hope we can start the second half well, as their bench is really dangerous and we don't want to leave it at 0-0 when the big guns come on. 

47' - Pepe Reina doesn't deal with an Ashley Young free kick very well. Danger is over though.

48' - Downing claims that Chris Smalling was tugging at his shirt as they battle down the left flank. The ref lets it go for a goal kick. 

50' - Suarez does his magic in a tight situation with Chris Smalling and wins a corner. Smalling is lucky it was just that as it looked like he beat him!

51' - KUYT! Hand ball! It was hand ball in the Manchester United box but Johnny Evans gets away with it! 

53' - Yellow card for Ferdinand as he brings Adam down.

54' - Suarez takes a shot and it's saved well be De Gea. It was around 20 yards out and low, but there was some space in the corner of the box when he took it. 

55' - Gerrard storms into the right side of the box and takes a shot but it was too close to the end of the pitch for him to get a good enough shot and it's saved. 

56' - Liverpool Sub: Jordan Henderson comes on for Lucas Leiva. Interesting change, I think it's considered an attacking one. 

57' - Just a little observation, Martin Skrtel plays with a lot more passion nowadays than ever before. He goes forward more and he's a lot more animate. It's good. 

57' - Suarez fouls Evra and it was a little malicious. Evra is limping off. Suarez gets away with it, it looked intentional, not too dissimilar to Rooney's sending off last week, although more discrete.

60' - We're definitely playing better than Man United now, although Nani is about to come on. He's had an excellent year. Evra is back on by the way.

62' - United start an attack but we end up counter attacking it. It's end to end at the moment, a great game to watch. 

63' - Suarez dances around the Man United players in their box but he has to drift to the left and his shot is deflected. Corner. The corner leads to a retake, which then leads to a Charlie Adam shot which is from the wide and not deep enough.

64' - Patrice Evra is booked for moaning at the referee for the tackle from Suarez earlier, and for the fact that he's basically an awesome little Uruguayan menace in their box. 

66' - FREE KICK in a dangerous area. Ferdinand clips Adam down JUST outside the box. No card though, Ferdinand could have been booked and sent off for that. 

67' - GERRARD! FUCK YES! Gerrard slams the ball low into the bottom right of the United net! 1-0! 

68' - Double Man United Substitution - Wayne Rooney and Nani come on for Park Ji-Sung and Ashley Young.

69' - People are arguing that Adam went down with minimal contact but I don't think so. It was a lazy foot that Ferdinand put out and there was enough contact. No, it wasn't a double footed challenge or anything rash, but it was enough. 

70' - Haha, when you see the replay of the goal, look at Suarez! He's in the wall with the United players and he turns around and starts dancing, taunting De Gea! Fucking legend! 

73' - More statistics for you, Man United have lost the last three visits to Anfield, this being the fourth in a row if they lose today. It doesn't feel like we've been that dominant at home against them, but it's true. Also, this is the first time United have been behind in a match this season, and if they lose, it's their first defeat. Let's hope all this continues or it all means nothing then! 

74' - One thing that frustrated me about Gerrard in the last eighteen months or so was his lack of goals from free kicks. Most of his goals were penalties last season. To see him score such a fantastic free kick is great, it's a sight I missed dearly. Steve Gerrard, Gerrard... 

75' - Nani blasts the ball well wide over the bar. 

76' - United Sub: Phil Jones comes off for Javier Hernandez. Obviously an attacking sub, and it's their last one.

77' - More stats, so far, both sides have had nine shots on goal, but six of ours have been on target. United? Only two. 

78' - Nani appeals for handball when it appears to his the lower inside arm of Jose Enrique. It looks unintentional, but it could have easily been given. 

80' - GOAL! Patrice Evra! Two United corners in succession, both taken by Nani, the second lands on Evra's head and it goes straight in. 1-1. Completely against the recent run of play. Gutted.

81' - KUYT! Great save by De Gea! A lovely cross from Downing bounces in the box and Kuyt gets to it and it looks like it's going straight in but for De Gea! 

83' - It's end to end stuff at the moment. I think we should bring Bellamy on for the last few minutes. We'll see.

85' - What passion form Jordan Henderson, the ball was loose and wild and he controls it and retreats slightly backwards and slides the ball into possession. It's hard to describe what he did but put it this way, it was appreciated by the Kop.

86' - Downing! Just wide. His shot was from the left just outside the box and he hits it just over the right side of the bar. 

88' - Free kick in relatively dangerous area for Liverpool. It's about 8 yards further back and more to the right than from the earlier one. Unfortunately it doesn't really go anywhere and it ends up leading to a goal kick for United. 

90' - HENDERSON! My goodness! That was close! Great save from De Gea in the end. Really Gerrard-esque, he who shoots from the outside of the right hand side of the box and it looks like it creeps into the top left corner, but De Gea gets a great glove to it! Three minutes of added time.

90+1' - The corner is taken and we're all over them in the box! Many near chances, the best being from Suarez who tries to head backwards into the net but it's dealt with. So close! 

90+1' - Henderson! Grr! Downing crosses from the left and Henderson is in the box and he heads it just over the bar.

90+3' - Full time. 

GAAHH!! We were so close. We beat the crap out of United in the second half. If it was a boxing match we would have won this match on points. But it's not boxing, it's football. Our free kick goal was the justification for this dominance, with Gerrard slotting it into the bottom right corner. Their goal was completely against the run of play. I genuinely believe we were the better side today. They were lucky to come away with a point. They're still undefeated but you know something? They'll go back to Manchester with their tails between their legs because they were beat on that pitch today. It's a reality check for them. And for us? A fantastic second half display against the best side in the land really will do us good. Yes it was two points dropped at home. But we played with passion and quality against a very good United side. It wasn't that United played badly today, it was that we played better than them all over the pitch. Bring on the next match! I can't wait! That's it from me today, take care and spike your hair.

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Live Thoughts: Everton vs Liverpool (Premier League)

O hollo. O'm Woll Smoth. Hor or mo lov thoghts os Lovopol tok on Ovoton.

Today, we take on our local rivals Everton in the first of two Liverpool derbies this season (unless we face them in the FA or Carling Cup). Everton haven't had the best of seasons so far but they are often slow to start their campaigns so it doesn't matter, we're away from home and it's a derby. This isn't an easy game. But... we can get three points today and it should be the target today. Especially as we have lost both our last two PL away games.

Here are the teams:

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Jagielka, Distin, Cahill, Osman, Coleman, Fellaini, Rodwell, Saha. Subs: Mucha, Bilyaletdinov, Drenthe, Stracqualursi, Neville, Barkley, Vellios

It's a strong line up. Saha is always a threat when fully fit, and Fellaini and Cahill always cause problems. Seamus Coleman is one of the brightest young football players in the Premier League at the moment, he's a quality player. I have a lot of respect for Everton, despite naturally hating them due to the rivalry. Let's hope we can beat them, it's definitely possible, but it won't be easy.

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

And Gerrard starts from the bench again. Some people are getting annoyed

with Dalglish for doing this but I think it's the right decision. He was out for six months. He can slowly get his fitness back up. Not only that, but it's not like Adam, Lucas or Suarez have been playing badly for him to take their place. He needs to earn it, I don't care if he's our captain, he has to start from scratch. But it's a debate that I'm sure many Liverpool fans will disagree with me on and that's fine. Kuyt starting is a good move as well, as I think he offers more than Henderson at the moment, and Henderson didn't have the best of games last week.

2' - Corner for Everton, sloppily given. Everton take it and Pepe Reina claims it with ease.

5' - Everton taking control for the moment without any real effort. There's some nice tackling going on as always in this match. Personally I love these derbies, although not everyone does.

8' - Suarez header! Straight at the keeper. A deep cross from Kuyt gets to Suarez but it wasn't a good header.

8' - Cahill! Nice save from Reina. Everton corner. That was some great attacking football from both sides then!

10' - Distin! Over the bar. Everton piling on the pressure at the moment.

13' - Possession is 66%/34% to Liverpool at the moment, it doesn't feel like it. The match has calmed down for the moment.

14' - Louis Saha has a decent low effort at goal that's a few inches away from Reina's bottom right post.

17' - Not too much to report at the moment, it's died down a bit.

20' - An Everton freekick from around 35 yards to the left is easily headed away by Liverpool.

22' - RED CARD! Jack Rodwell clumsily tackles Suarez with a double footed challenge. He got the player AND the ball, but it was dangerous and worthy of a red card.

25' - The Everton faithful aren't happy naturally and are very noisy at the moment. But it was the right decision based on it being a double footed challenge.

26' - They just showed replays of Rodwell storming off. I'm sure Phil Neville tapped him on the back of the head!

27' - Yellow card for Tim Cahill.

30' - Deep cross by Kuyt and Tim Howard claims it. We're naturally more dominant now. As for the tackle, to be fair to Everton, Rodwell didn't have his studs up when going into the challenge. There is a claim of unjustice for the Blues, although I just think for the potential danger, it was the right decision.

33' - Another replay of the incident, once again, more justice for the red is that his knees connected with Suarez's leg. It's a real debating point for some, as I said I stand by my opinion that it was the right decision.

36' - Free kick for Liverpool in a dangerous area, centrally on the pitch about 20 yards out. Fellaini brought Lucas down.

37' - It leads nowhere and Everton try to counter attack without success.

40' - Charlie Adam brings down Leon Osman and no card is shown. The Everton fans are almost begging the ref to give it out. Osman is down to be fair.

42' - PENALTY! Phil Jagielka brought down Suarez on the cusp of the penalty box! It did feel like Suarez did his best to be tackled just in the box and he got his way.

43' - SAVED! Dirk Kuyt takes his shot to Howards left and it was beautifully saved by the American stopper! What a shame!

45' - Three minutes of added time. Absolutely gutted. It was a decent penalty, but Howard met that very well.

45+2' - ADAM! Crossbar and out! What a shot that was! Deserving of a goal!

45+3' - Half time.

My first half analysis is that we've had fortune go in our favour in this match and we haven't capitalised. That's not to say it wasn't a red card or it wasn't a penalty, they were, but we haven't made the most of what was going in our favour. We barely broke their defence down, despite being one man up. Kuyt's penalty was fine, he did nothing wrong, it was Howard's excellent save that made the scores level. Adam deserved a goal at the end for his fantastic shot, but you have to earn your goals in this league. It's 0-0 at the break, and it's probably a good time for Dalglish to work some tactical magic now.

48' - Well so far we're on top of the game which is good, but we haven't done much as of yet.

49' - Yellow card for Lucas.

51' - Saha scuffs a shot wide to Reina's left post.

52' - A Liverpool corner and Carroll heads the ball on target but an Everton player gets to it and it's a break for Everton, that comes to nothing.

53' - Another Carroll effort that Howard pushes wide.

55' - A 50/50 challenge goes in our favour and Everton really think they're being penalised today. Even David Moyes puts his head in his hands.

57' - Lucas takes a shot from distance and its over the bar and wide. Royston Drenthe is about to come on for The Toffees. He's a great player when his attitude is under control.

58' - Everton Sub: Royston Drenthe comes on for Seamus Coleman.

60' - Saha takes his third long range shot of the match and once again it goes wide, this time to Reina's right.

64' - Fellaini has gone down with cramp. Not good for just over an hour of football. It might be worse than that mind, although there was no tackle or anything that caused this.

64' - The commentators are saying that they don't think the Rodwell challenge should have been a red card. Maybe I'm being biased, although I don't feel I am. Who knows?

66' - The boos are reeling in why? Liverpool Subs: Steven Gerrard and Craig Bellamy come on for Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing. Finally, Gerrard and Suarez on the pitch at the same time!

68' - Everton Sub: Leon Osman goes off and Phil Neville takes his place.

70' - GOAL! Carroll! Yes! A lovely run from Bellamy down the left flank finds Enrique who cuts it into the penalty box and Carroll clips it in! Great Liverpool goal!

71' - Replays of Reina celebrating. I absolutely love our Spanish keeper, he has so much love for this club, always celebrating like he scored himself!

73' - Finally, a goal. We haven't been very productive in front of goal, despite having one man more than Everton for 50 minutes now. But that goal has finally put us in front. We can defend better now we have that one man advantage, as we finally have something to defend.

76' - We're pressing them more now which is fine. A second goal would put the game to bed. I just hope we don't prioritise that over defending our clean sheet. We can wear them out with a one man advantage and we aren't really doing that at the moment, going for a second goal instead.

78' - Everton Sub: Tony Hibbert is off and replaced by Apostolos Vellios. Vellios has scored before this season so he can be a threat. He's only 19. That's Everton's last substitution.

81' - GOAL! Suarez! He has the ball in the box and the Everton defenders deal with him, but he somehow gets the ball back off them and slots it past Howard, to the keepers right! That should clench the game!

82' - Everton press and the ball is crossed from the left to Saha who controls the ball, but shoots it just over. He's tried very hard today Saha and kudos to him for that.

83' - My assessment on Suarez's performance today is that he's been dealt with for the most part by the Everton defence. He's been a little menace, but a controlled menace. That was, until the 82nd minute of the game.

85' - Jordan Henderson is getting ready to come on. I wonder who will come off, Kuyt or Suarez?

87' - A Liverpool corner. Carroll does a Suarez and becomes a difficulty in the Everton box and Howard pushes the ball out for a corner.

87' - Liverpool Sub: Jordan Henderson comes on for Lucas. Haha, I got it wrong both ways. I'm presuming Henderson is going to play in the middle, his preferred position when he was with Sunderland.

90' - Three minutes again of added time.

90' - Drenthe takes a decent effort at goal and Reina saves. It had a bit of pace on that shot.

90+1' - A Liverpool corner, no one is in the box but Kuyt, Suarez takes it and Kuyt somehow hits the post before Everton clear it.

90+2' - Everton penalty claim and the referee ignores it. I thought that was a penalty although I didn't see it clearly live.

90+3' - Full time, and the Everton fans boo.

Full time analysis, we did enough today. Everton had a red card that some are arguing wasn't the right decision. I think it was, but it doesn't matter, it's what the referee thinks that matters. A penalty just before half time was saved wonderfully by Howard. Our second half performance, although better than the first, was adequate. We did enough. We got our two goals with enough grit and the first goal was some great movement from Bellamy and Carroll was in the right place to slot it in. But the performance can be described with two woods. Did enough.

That's it from me today, have a good day and I'll be back here tomorrow with my review of the year 1997 in music! Take care!

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