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THURSDAY 15 |
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Man Utd await Heinze injury news
Manchester United's Gabriel Heinze will have a scan on
Thursday after suffering suspected knee ligament damage in
the Champions League draw at Villarreal.
The Argentine full-back was hurt in a tackle with Jan
Kromkamp during the first half of the 0-0 draw and had to be
substituted after 33 minutes.
"He will go for a scan but we think it is medial ligament
damage," said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
"If that is the case, he will be out for several weeks."
Heinze's injury is the latest blow for United, who are
likely to be without captain Roy Keane for at least two
weeks with a hamstring strain.
Gary Neville, Wes Brown, Louis Saha, Quinton Fortune and Ole
Gunnar Solskjaer are also sidelined.
Kieran Richardson looks set to fill Heinze's left-back
position in the Premiership game against Liverpool on
Sunday.
(BBC Sport Online)
Americans Krafting a Liverpool takeover?
First it was American tycoon Malcolm Glazer treading on
fans' wishes and strong-arming his way to control of
Manchester United, but now it appears Liverpool could be the
next to crumble.
Reports out of England's Daily Mail indicate the Kraft
family is on the verge of investing in the defending
European Champions--as much as a 30% stake to start.
(Goal.com)
Benitez: Sinama can be right man for Reds
Florent Sinama-Pongolle hopes his midweek Champions League
performance has provided Liverpool with an answer to their
right sided problems.
The French youngster's claims to the role have the backing
of manager Rafa Benitez following his goal-scoring return
against Real Betis.
"Flo has the pace and intelligence to play there. He gives
us a good option. I remember he played in the position very
well against Arsenal last season. He played really well that
day, as well as in the first half on Tuesday.
"There is an opportunity for him to learn the position."
(Liverpool Echo)
Crouch eyes rescue act
Liverpool striker Peter Crouch believes he can come to the
rescue of Sven Goran Eriksson and fire England to the World
Cup finals.
Eriksson is under intense pressure following England's
horror show in Northern Ireland, with Poland now in the
driving seat in Group Six.
"I'm not going to lie and say I've not thought that the
result in Belfast might help my chances of getting to the
World Cup," Crouch told the Sun.
"There's a void to be filled against Austria and I did
reasonably well out in America, but obviously club form is
the key.
"If you're playing well at a club like Liverpool then you
will get a chance.
"The manager seemed to be positive about me in America, but
obviously club form is the key.
"You don't get international recognition without doing the
job at club level. So if I do get into the England set-up,
it means I will have done the business for Liverpool."
(Sky Sports)
Terry wants Reds revenge
John Terry is hoping Chelsea exact revenge on Liverpool when
the sides meet later this month.
The Blues are still fuming at crashing out of last year's
UEFA Champions League semi-finals at Anfield, with The Reds
then going on to beat Milan in the final.
Luis Garcia's early goal eliminated Chelsea last season, a
night Terry has found hard to forget, but the England man
aims to put that right on September 28, live on Sky Sports
1.
The 24-year-old believes Jose Mourinho's side will be fired
up at Anfield in order to banish the memory of their
European exit back in May.
"We've got that extra incentive going back to Anfield. We
know the fans are going to be great again, that they'll be
up for it," explained Terry.
"But in the players' minds we're keeping quiet as we know
it's our chance to go there and get revenge.
"It was a terrible, terrible night, there are bad memories
for everybody. But this is the perfect opportunity to go
back and put it right."
(Sky Sports) |
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WEDNESDAY 14 |
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Barragan sinks Wolves
Spanish starlet Antonio Barragan scored the winner for the
second game running as Liverpool Reserves beat Wolves 1-0 at
Wrexham's Racecourse Ground.
Barragan netted the only goal of the game in the 1-0 win at
West Bromwich Albion in the Reds last game and he did the
same again against the Baggies black country rivals Wolves.
Barragan played right side midfield and had a great game. He
even ended the match as captain when David Raven limped off
the field for the final 20 minutes.
His goal came after 33 minutes from a move he started
himself in his own half. Darren Potter, back from injury,
produced a fantastic through ball and Barragan finished
superbly past experienced goalkeeper Stefan Postma.
Potter made a successful comeback from injury and played for
an hour. Paco Herrera and Hughie McAuley fielded a young
side with Miki Roque and Danny O'Donnell again impressive as
a centre back pairing. Zak Whitbread played left back.
Liverpool Reserves: Willis, Raven (Antwi 70), Whitbread,
Roque, O'Donnell, Peltier, Barragan, Mannix, Calliste,
Idrizaj (Hobbs 73), Potter (Guthrie 60).
(LFC Official Website)
Gerrard happy with rotation policy
Steven Gerrard has confirmed he is fully supportive of
manager Rafael Benitez's policy to rest him as Liverpool's
season hots up.
There was shock when the Anfield skipper was left on the
bench for Liverpool's Champions League clash with Real
Betis.
"After my calf injury I hadn't had much training and I was
really tired after the two England games in such a short
space of time," Gerrard admitted.
"I think the idea was to use all of the squad, and I have no
problem with that. It is not about me, we have got a big
squad of fantastic players and I think you will see the
manager use them throughout the season."
(Sporting Life)
Betis defender praises Crouch
Real Betis defender Juanito praised the performance of
Liverpool striker Peter Crouch and said the Reds new front
man caused no end of panic to him and his team.
Juanito said he is a tough player to mark and difficult to
play against.
Juanito said: "He was very difficult to play against and we
never got to grips with him. You could see it with the goals
Liverpool scored. We couldn't work out how to deal with him
and he was a very difficult opponent."
(LFC Offical Website)
Le Tallec not worried
Anthony Le Tallec says sitting at the foot of the league
with Sunderland isn't a new experience for him.
Having suffered relegation from Le Championnat with Le Havre
three years ago, the loaned out Liverpool player is
confident that he won't suffer a repeat of that misery with
Sunderland even though they're rooted to the bottom of the
Premier League with no points from a possible twelve.
"This is not a new situation for me, I have been here
before," said Le Tallec. "We struggled all season (at Le
Havre) and we were relegated at the end of it. I don't want
to go through the same thing again here but I don't think
that I will.
"I'm not concerned because this is a much different
situation, the two things aren't the same. We will not
finish at the bottom like Le Havre did - I think we can
finish 10th this season - and we all believe that we can
survive."
(Kop Talk)
Pepe: Carra's one of the best
Jose Reina today labelled Jamie Carragher as one of the
world's best defenders - as he vowed the Reds' back line is
in the mood to continue their run of Premiership clean
sheets against Man United on Sunday.
Reina is yet to concede a goal after three games of the
league season as the Reds have made a solid start to their
Premiership campaign.
The Liverpool goalkeeper admits the toughest test of the
season so far lies ahead on Sunday - but he is confident the
Reds' defence will once again hold form, especially with the
inspirational Jamie Carragher in the team.
He said: "For me, Carra is one of the best defenders in the
world. He is a very important player for us.
"He was very good again last night, particularly in the
second half when they put us under a lot of pressure.
"The only problem is I don't understand a lot of what Carra
is saying. It's not so difficult with Sami, but I still need
to improve my communication overall with the defenders."
(LFC Official Website)
Man Utd suffer Keane injury blow
Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane is set to be
sidelined for at least two weeks because of a hamstring
problem.
The 34-year-old suffered a recurrence of the injury, which
dogged him during pre-season, after coming on during
Saturday's draw with Manchester City.
He is set to miss two Champions League games and the
Premiership matches against Liverpool and Blackburn.
It is unclear if he will be fit for the Republic of
Ireland's World Cup qualifier with Switzerland next month.
(BBC Sport Online)
Benitez backing Crouch for England
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez believes striker Peter Crouch
has done his chances of playing a vital role in England's
chase for World Cup qualification no harm after his
performance in Tuesday night's Champions League victory over
Real Betis.
Crouch, the 6ft 7in frontman, was being watched by England
boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, and his display in the 2-1 Group G
win was praised by Benitez.
Eriksson has expressed his desire to use Crouch - who played
the first hour - in the forthcoming England matches against
Austria and Poland while Benitez has been waiting for the
£7million man to recover from a hamstring injury.
Benitez said: "Peter Crouch played very well in the first
half, he has done his England chances no harm.
"Sven knows he is a good target man, he keeps possession
well for us and allows us to play our football much higher
up the park rather than in defence."
(icLiverpool)
Shields' father meets Straw
The father of a British teenager jailed in Bulgaria for a
crime to which another man confessed, met Foreign Secretary
Jack Straw yesterday.
Michael Shields, 18, was jailed for 15 years after he was
found guilty of the attempted murder of a man in Golden
Sands, Varna, in May.
Mr Shields' father, also called Michael, met Mr Straw at the
Foreign Office in London.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Shields described the meeting as
"positive" and said Mr Straw had promised to speak to his
Bulgarian counterpart.
He said: "I was fairly happy with the way the meeting went.
"The most important thing is that Jack Straw appeared to
take it seriously, and he said he would speak to his
Bulgarian counterpart on Michael's behalf."
(Daily Post) |
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TUESDAY 13 |
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Rafa: We're off to a good start
Rafael Benitez watched his side kick off the defence of
their Champions League with a win and declared : "We're off
to a good start."
Benitez said: "I think we have done a good job tonight and
we did well to win the game.
"Betis are a good side and we knew it would be difficult,
but we had a clear idea about what we wanted to do and we
did well, especially in the first half."
(LFC Official Website)
Gerrard happy with away win
Steven Gerrard was delighted with the 2-1 win away at Real
Betis.
"We're very happy with the three points," he said after the
game. "It was a good performance and I'm sure the manager
will be really happy. We need to do the same against Man
United at the weekend."
The Liverpool skipper was a second half substitute as Rafael
Benitez made use of his strong squad.
"We've got a big squad and I think you'll see throuought the
season the manager will use all the players," he added.
"I think they were surprised with what we went with. I think
they expected Cisse to start so we managed to use Luis
behind their midfield and it worked very well. He's popped
up and scored another important goal for us."
(LFC Online)
Liverpool's dream start
European champions Liverpool began the defence of their
crown with an authoritative 2-1 win away to debutants Real
Betis in their opening Group G match on Tuesday.
The Merseysiders, who had to come through three qualifying
rounds to earn the right to defend the trophy they won in
dramatic fashion against AC Milan last season, stunned the
Spaniards with two quick-fire goals in the first 14 minutes.
French striker Florent Sinama-Pongolle opened with a
delightful lob just two minutes into the game and Spanish
midfielder Luis Garcia squeezed a first-time shot in at the
near post to make it 2-0 before Betis had time to react.
King's Cup winners Betis finally found their rhythm towards
the end of the first half and pulled a goal back when
midfielder Arzu steered the ball past keeper Pepe Reina six
minutes after the break, but Liverpool weathered the storm
to hold on for an important away win.
(Reuters)
Real Betis v Liverpool - confirmed team
LIVERPOOL: Reina, Josemi, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Luis
Garcia, Sissoko, Alonso, Zenden, Sinama-Pongolle, Crouch.
SUBS: Carson, Finnan, Riise, Gerrard, Cisse, Hamann,
Warnock.
(Kop Talk)
Thai bid for Liverpool on track
A Thai consortium's bid for a stake in English Premiership
football club Liverpool was still on track but negotiations
could take another year, a Thai media tycoon said on
Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference about raising his company's
slice of two Thai publishing companies, chairman Paiboon
Damranongchiatham let slip that the Liverpool deal was still
in progress.
"The negotiations will resume in autumn, in another year,"
Paiboon said, giving no
further details.
(AFP)
Rafa pleased with squad
Rafael Benitez says this season's first team squad is better
than the European Cup winning squad of last season.
Benitez said: "In my opinion we have a better team and a
better squad. We still have some problems in some areas but
we have to manage the situation until January.
"I don't want to think about winning the Champions League
again or the pressure that comes with being champions. All I
want to do is concentrate on the next game against Real
Betis. We know it is going to be a difficult game, they have
good players and even though they have some injury problems
they have a good enough squad that other players can come in
and do a job.
"We did a good job against Tottenham at the weekend and I'm
looking for the same kind of performance against Betis, but
with some goals this time."
(LFC Online)
Joaquin happy at Betis
Real Betis star Joaquin has played down talk that he is
looking to leave the Spanish club.
The Spanish international has been linked with a possible
move away from Betis after claiming he would like the chance
to play for Liverpool.
However, Joaquin insists he is happy at Betis and that he is
looking forward to the opportunity of pitting his wits
against Liverpool and former suitors Chelsea in the UEFA
Champions League.
"Personally I am not aiming to demonstrate myself in these
matches against the English," Joaquin told skysports.com.
"The clubs know my abilities on the field and it is not
necessary to do any test.
"Today I am happy in Betis and I am not thinking about an
exit.
"In my life money is not the key question. If this was the
case I would have moved to Chelsea last year.
"(Roman) Abramovich had wanted to sign me several times but
(Betis chairman Manuel Ruiz de) Lopera has rejected the
money."
(Sky Sports)
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Thor Zakariassen
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