Liverpool vs Blackburn Rovers Preview

EXPECTED LINE-UP

Liverpool : Reina, Aurelio, Skrtel, Carragher, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Alonso, Riera, Gerrard, Kuyt, Torres.

Blackburn : Robinson, Ooijer, Samba, Nelsen, Givet, Andrews, Mokoena, Warnock, Dunn, Diouf, McCarthy.

INJURIES

Hyypia, Degen (Both Liverpool), Santa Cruz, Roberts, Emerton, Grella, Reid, Pedersen (All Blackburn).

SUSPENSIONS

None

LAST 5 RESULTS (from most recent)

Liverpool : LWWWW

Home 1-3 Chelsea (Champions League)

Away 1-0 Fulham
Home 5-0 Aston Villa
Away 4-1 Man Utd
Home 4-0 Real Madrid (Champions League)
Home 2-0 Sunderland

Blackburn : WDLWD

Home 2-1 Tottenham

Home 1-1 West Ham

Away 0-4 Arsenal

Away 2-1 Fulham

Home 0-0 Everton

 

Premiership matches unless stated

STATISTICS

• In the previous 2 Premiership meetings of Liverpool and Blackburn have ended as 3-1 victories to the Reds.
  
• Blackburn have scored exactly 1 goal in 4 of their last 5 clashes with Liverpool.
  
• Out of 14 Premiership matches at Anfield, Blackburn have won only 1 going back to September 1993.
  
• All 4 goals in this fixture last season came in the final half hour of the match.
  
• Liverpool have gone 26 home games without defeat, the longest current run in the top-flight.
  
• Liverpool have scored the most 90th-minute goals this season : 8
  
• Liverpool have been hit the woodwork 24 times this season, currently leading in the Premiership.
  
• Both teams have been awarded a joint-high 5 penalties this season.
  
• Liverpool are the only side not to have 0 player sent off this season - Liverpool is the most disciplined team!
  
• Rovers have lost only 3 of their last 14 Premier League games.
  
• Liverpool have won 8 and drawn 3 of their 11 north-west derby games this season, scoring 25 goals in the process.

LINKS

• http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/premier-league/2008-2009/liverpool-blackburn-236935.html
  
• http://www.espnstar.com/football/premier-league/fixtures/preview/item94200/

Liverpool vs Chelsea Preview

In the quarter-final clashes of the Champions League, the match that is most worth to view is, and should be, Liverpool vs bitter rivals Chelsea at Anfield.

EXPECTED LINE-UP
Liverpool : Reina, Aurelio, Skrtel, Carragher, Arbeloa, Riera, Lucas, Gerrard, Alonso, Kuyt, Torres.
Chelsea : Cech, Ivanoic, Alex, Essien, Terry, Cole, Malouda, Lampard, Ballack, Anelka, Drogba.

INJURIES
Degen (Liverpool), J.Cole, Bosingwa, Ferreira (all Chelsea)

SUSPENSIONS
Mascherano (Liverpool)

LAST 5 RESULTS (from most recent)

Liverpool : WWWWW
Away 1-0 Fulham
Home 5-0 Aston Villa
Away 4-1 Man Utd
Home 4-0 Real Madrid (Champions League)
Home 2-0 Sunderland

Chelsea : WLWDW
Away 2-0 Newcastle
Away 0-1 Tottenham
Home 1-0 Man City
Away 2-2 Juventus (Champions League)
Away 2-0 Coventry City (FA Cup)

Premiership matches unless stated

HEAD TO HEAD (last 10 matches)
Liverpool leading by 4 victories, 3 draws and 3 defeats

FACTS "N" FIGURES

• Liverpool have met Chelsea in each of the last 5 seasons in the Champions League.
• The team who drawn at home in the 1st leg each of the last 3 meetings in the knockout stages was eliminated.
• Liverpool have won 7 and lost none of their last 9 Champions League home matches.
• Liverpool have played Chelsea 22 times in 4.5 seasons since Rafael Benitez's reign, with 7 victories and 9 defeats.
• Liverpool have won both matches against the Chelsea in the Premiership this season.
• Fernando Torres has scored 4 goals in his 4 appearances against the Chelsea.
• Steven Gerrard has scored 7 goals in 7 Champions League appearances this season, currently leading the top scorers.
• Didier Drogba has scored in his last 3 Champions League matches.
• In previous 8 Champions League encounters between Liverpool and Chelsea, only 1 has seen more than 2 goals, and 2 more than 1.
• Chelsea have been caught offside in the Champions League more than any other team so far : 36.
• Liverpool have taken and scored the most penalties in the competition so far : 3.

YESTERDAY'S RESULTS

Villareal 1-1 Arsenal
Senna 9’ ------ Adebayor 65’

Man Utd 2-2 Porto
Rooney 16’ ---- Mariano Gonzalez 89’
Tevez 85’ ------ Rodriguez 4’

TODAY'S FIXTURES

Barcelona vs Bayern
Liverpool vs Chelsea

Click on the following link to view the finer details of Liverpool vs Chelsea.

Liverpool vs Middlesbrough Preview

The match is going to take place 2 hours later, it is kind of late posting this, but never mind.

Expected line-up
Liverpool : Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Dossena, Benayoun, Mascherano, Lucas, Reira, Gerrard, Kuyt
Middlesbrough : Jones, Hoyte, Wheater, Huth, Pogatetz, O'Neil, Arca, Johnson, Downing, Aliadière, King

Injuries
Liverpool : Torres, Degen
Middlesbrough : Riggott, Digard

Suspensions
None

Statistics

• Middlesbrough have failed to score in 8 of their last nine Premiership matches. It is 8 hours and 15 minutes since they last scored.
• Middlesbrough have converted just 8% of their shots into goals - the worst percentage in the top flight.
• Liverpool have gone 15 league games without a defeat.
• Liverpool have come from behind to claim 18 points this season, more than any other team, including a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough earlier this season. They also won 3-2 at Anfield last season after falling behind.
• Liverpool have scored 16 goals in the closing 15 minutes of games, more than any other team.
• Middlesbrough have scored 44% of their goals in the final 15 minutes, the highest proportion in the top division.
• Middlesbrough have scored only 1 miserable goal in the opening 15 minutes of a match - the lowest tally in the Premier League.
• Similarly, Liverpool have only netted 5% of their goals in the opening 15 minutes.
• Fernando Torres scored 4 goals in 2 games against Middlesbrough last season including a hat-trick at Anfield.

My prediction : Liverpool came off better with a 2-0 win!

You can visit this website for live match highlights.

Liverpool vs Man City Preview

Liverpool will face ninth-in-the-league Manchester City in Anfield (1500 hrs in UK time, 2300 hrs in Singapore time).

I figure that Liverpool will have to win at least 11 out of 13 matches, if not more, to prevent Man Utd from winning the title and matching their record, so this is a must-win game for them.

EXPECTED LINE-UP

Liverpool : Reina, Aurelio, Skrtel, Carragher, Arbeloa, Reira, Lucas, Mascherano, Benayon, Torres, Kuyt

Man City : Given, Onuoha, Richards, Dunne, Bridge, Zabaleta, Elano, De Jong, Robinho, Bellamy

INJURIES

Liverpool : Gerrard, Degen

Man City : Hamann, Petrov, Benjani, Johnson, Sturridge

SUSPENSIONS

Alonso (Liverpool), Wright-Phillips (Man City)

Now, let us take a look at some interesting statistics of this match :

• Fernando Torres has scored 3 goals in his last 2 appearances against Manchester City.
• Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 7 Premier League encounters with the Citizens.
• City have failed to score in 6 of those 7 games.
• The last 3 Premier League clashes between these sides at Anfield have ended as 1-0 wins for the Reds.
• City's only Premier League win at Anfield came in May 2003.
• Liverpool have gone 14 league games without a defeat, longer than any other team currently.
• The Reds have gone 23 home games without being beaten - also a current Premier League best figure.
• City have gone 32 games since a goalless draw, longer than any other top-flight team currently.
• Liverpool have been denied by the woodwork 18 times this season, more than any other team.
• Torres has scored a goal every 114 minutes this season, the best rate in the Premier League.
• City have managed only 2 points more than West Brom on their travels.

Wow! Most of this stats seems to benefit Liverpool. But it may not be an easy win. Captain Steven Gerrard has still been ruled out of the clash with City as he is still recovering from a hamstring strain. Lucas and Javier Mascherano are likely to make-up an all South American central midfield as Xabi Alonso is suspended.

My prediction : Liverpool 2-0 Man City!

Liverpool vs Everton - Preview

Back in action now - I manage to squeeze in some time to edit my blog today, admist all the revisions and preparations for the class test.

Now, Liverpool will be facing Merseyside rivals Everton in FA Cup 4th round replay. The statistics of the match are as follow :

Expected line-ups :

Liverpool : Reina, Aurelio, Agger, Skrtel, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Alonso, Riera, Gerrard, Kuyt, Torres

Everton : Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Arteta, Neville, Felliani, Osman, Pienaar, Cahill

Injuries :

Liverpool : P. Degen

Everton : L. Saha, A. Yakubu, N. Valente, J. Vaughan

Suspended : None

Last Head-to-Head game : 1-1

My Prediction : Liverpool 2-0 Everton (Torres netting a double again!)

Other matches taking place today :

England - FA Cup 4th round replay

Aston Villa vs Doncaster Rovers (W)

Nottingham Forest vs Derby County (D)

Sunderland vs Blackburn Rovers (D)

Liverpool vs Everton (W)

Fixtures for last 16 :

Shefflied Utd vs Hull City

Watford vs Chelsea

West Ham Utd vs Middlesbrough

Sunderland/Blackburn vs Coventry City

Derby/Nottingham Forest vs Man Utd

Swansea vs Fulham

Liverpool/Everton vs Aston Villa/Doncaster

Cardiff City vs Arsenal

Spain - Copa del Rey

Sevilla vs Atl. Bilbao

Italy - Coppa Italia

Juventus vs Napoli

France - French League Cup

Nice vs Vannes
PSG vs Bordeaux

Friendly Match

Rangers vs AC Milan

Liverpool vs Chelsea Preview

Sunday, 1^st Feb 2009, 1500hours, Anfield

Expected line-up

Liverpool : Reina, Aurelio, Carragher, Skrtel, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Alonso, Reira, Gerrard, Kuyt, Torres

Chelsea : Cech, Boasingwa, Alex, Mikel, Tery, A.Cole, Kalou, Ballack, Lampard, Deco, Anelka

Injuries:

Liverpool : Phillip Degen

Chelsea : Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole, Micheal Essien

Suspended

Liverpool : None

Chelsea : None

Latest 5 results (recent results in front)

Liverpool : DDDDW, Chelsea : WWWWL

Most recent match played against each other: Chelsea lose 0-1 to Liverpool

Head To Head - Last 10 games : Liverpool 3W3D4L

My predictions : Liverpool win 1-0! :-D

I hope that ...... Liverpool win as much as possible of course! XD