The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[el_cuervo_fc]

Goal. Alonso.  great strike

[gawa316]

Live stream here apparently

http://www.justin.tv/mstv_2

http://www.justin.tv/pehtv

Isn't in english but the picture is better quality

[Hound]

Goal. Alonso.  great strike

Very good work from Arbeloa, and a nice flick by Keane to set up Xabi.

[corn02]

Gerrard injured.

[Hound]

Be a little ironic if Alonso and Barry ends up being our midfield partnership for the first month!

[Gabriel_Hurl]

3-1 now

Torres with #2 and Flossi with #3

[el_cuervo_fc]

4-1

[Hound]

Good displays by the 4 forward youngsters in the 2nd half. Nemeth, Pacheco, El Zhar and Ngog.

Ngog makes it 4 after great work by Pacheco.

[Minus15]

enjoyed that tonight. same four goalscorers from the weekend. Pacheco looks a real clever player. and have to say Plessis really impresses me everytime I see him play!

[stevo-08]

Team tonight:

Cavalieri
Arbeloa, Carra, Agger, Dossena
Kuyt, Gerrard, Alonso, Benayoun
Torres, Keane.

Subs: Reina, Plessis, Darby, Nemeth, Pacheco, Spearing, El Zhar, Insua, Ngog, Hyypia.

Its on channel 434 on the Sky system. Any pub with Setanta should have it. Kick off at 6pm

that team & subs list certainly seems to confirm that finnan, pennant & voronin are all on their way out.

Might mean those three are on the way out rather than Alonso.

Would leave us with lots of central midfielders unless Rafa is thinking of playing Barry on the left side of midfield.

was thinking the same Galwaybayboy, hopefully thats the plan. And no harm in having a few options in central midfield, especially when they are quality players. Barry & Alonso could be deployed in the centre with mascherano just sitting in behind. Gerrard, Keane & Torres leading the attack. Does leave it a bit narrow, relying on dossena & degen/arbeloa for the width.

on tonights game, how did agger look? How bad is gerrard's injury. Unfortunately i havent seen a kick of preseason but things certainly motoring well.

[AZOffaly]

According to LFC.tv Gerrard picked up a thigh strain. Out up to 7 days which puts him in jeopardy for the Liege first leg. Nothing too serious though.

[Minus15]

Agger was the only player to play a full game! He was great in possession as usual. He will be a great addition this season!

[gawa316]

Will the champ league quals be shown on ITV?

[stevo-08]

Glad to hear Gerrard's injury isnt too serious. But its a worry that he hasnt been able to take part in a full pre-season. The groin injury previously keeping him out for a while. Great to hear that Agger is doing well. It'll certainly be interesting to see who starts in the centre next tuesday. maybe with skrtel recovering from injury, rafa will start with carra & agger.

[Mentalman]

Gerrard injury could keep Alonso at AnfieldWednesday, 6 August 2008 17:03

Steven Gerrard's thigh injury will almost certainly scupper any thoughts Liverpool had of selling Xabi Alonso to raise money for a Gareth Barry deal.

The Anfield skipper returned from Oslo having picked up the injury in the 4-1 win over Valerenga and had a scan and further medical tests on Wednesday.

Boss Rafael Benitez believes it is 'touch and go' whether Gerrard will be fit for next Wednesday's Champions League third qualifying round, first leg fixture away to Standard Liege.

If Gerrard is not fit for that match then Alonso will have to play, considering that fellow midfielders Javier Mascherano and Lucas are away at the Olympics.

And once Alonso becomes cup-tied in the Champions League his value will drop significantly.

Alonso, valued at over £16 million by Benitez, would only ever consider a move to another of the Champions League elite. Otherwise he would be dropping down a level, and the chance to play in the UEFA Cup would not interest him.

And with the Barry deal seemingly no nearer completion, despite the green light from Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill at the weekend, Benitez may soon have to look at other means of raising the cash.

It was thought that the club's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett would come up with a short-term loan to allow Benitez to complete the Barry deal and then sell players.

And observers had been expecting the deal to be completed by now, bearing in mind that it was supposed to have been almost tied up last week before O'Neill's self-imposed deadline, withdrawn by the Villa boss at the weekend.

Any chance of Barry being unveiled at Friday's home friendly with Lazio seems long gone, which puts a further question mark on the Americans' ability to raise the cash.

And Benitez has clearly been impressed by Alonso's pre-season form - he has scored two in two now - while Yossi Benayoun's desire to stay at Anfield is obvious, too.

Benitez praised Alonso's performance in Oslo, saying: 'Xabi scored a good goal after scoring a penalty against Rangers on Saturday so this is very positive.

'He is showing that he is a good professional but then we already knew this and I am very pleased with his commitment on the pitch.'

Benitez is unlikely to try to order back from China his Olympic trio of Mascherano, Lucas and Ryan Babel, despite the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to allow clubs to pull their players out of the Games.

Liverpool declined to comment officially today on the surprise ruling that allows clubs to withdraw their players after Barcelona, Werder Bremen and Schalke appealed.

But Benitez does not want to upset his three players who are about to start the tournament later this week, particularly Mascherano, who wants to win a second gold medal with Argentina.

To recall them now would certainly leave Benitez with three very unhappy players, all of whom have made it clear they want to be in China.

So he will soldier on with the players he has fit for next week's trip to Liege. And if the money is not forthcoming from the American owners to push the Barry deal through, Benitez is expected to look elsewhere for finance rather than sell Alonso or Benayoun.

The Barry deal would require him to find half of the £18 million now, the rest payable in a year.

So the likes of Jermaine Pennant and Andriy Voronin are likely to be sold to raise around £9 million, but that would mean the deal is unlikely to be completed until the end of the transfer window.

Meanwhile the Reds have confirmed Sebastian Leto has signed a one-year loan agreement with Greek outfit Olympiacos and not a two-year deal as has been widely reported.

The 21-year-old midfielder, who joined the Reds from Lanus in 2007, had his work permit application refused last week and the club were forced to loan him out.

Leto's contract with Olympiacos runs until June 30, 2009 - meaning it is effectively a one season deal - contrary to reports which suggested a two-year contract had been agreed.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0806/gerrards.html