Well, it looks like Juande Ramos is well forgotten already as Harry Hotspur seems to be starting a bit of a Harry Houdini act in putting some sort of “back from the dead” Spurs revival. I always new that they were too good a team to be where they are at the minute and a few more weeks in confusion with Ramos until after this fixture would have been better for us. The arrival of a new manager always lifts teams as they need to impress the new man at the helm and this certainly seems to have done the trick at White Hart Lane. Some of my ManU and Chelsea acquaintances seem to reackon the 4-4 draw with the Gunners shows that we are in trouble tomorrow. Well I watched the whole of that game and only for Arsenal being so stupid and missing chances it would have finished 6-2.

We have to go into tomorrows match against the basement team full of confidence after 5 wins on the bounce. We have never lost to Spurs under Rafa and we have won five and drawn three of the last eight games against them. Gerrard nailed it on the head earlier this week when he explained that Liverpool are playing with confidence that they can win anywhere and come back to win when their backs are against the wall which is proven by the fact thay we have won all four matches when we have been first to concede a goal.

We currently have a great record in London, unbeaten in six Premier League games against London clubs by drawing two and winning four, including the last three since a 1-0 loss away to West Ham on 30 January this year; our only defeat in 12 league games against clubs from the capital. We are chasing our third win in a row at Spurs and last years corresponding game was a 0-2 win for us with goals from Voronin and Torres (who may make a return this weekend).

Of course there is a extra significance to tomorrows evenings match with our own Mr Keane. He will face Spurs for the first time since his £19m move from White Hart Lane in July. The 28 year old Republic of Ireland international made 254 appearances (197 in the league) and scored 107 goals (80 league) in six seasons with the North London club. It will be interesting to see what sort of reception he will get which I think should be better that the one Berbatov will get on his return. I just hope he does himself proud and stick one in the net for us. Good luck Robbie.

Shanks Quote Of the Week

As we have went unbeaten so far I have decided to pick a well known piece of Shankly literature that is quite well known and I just think it is awesome. I think I am being realistic when I say we won’t go through the season unbeaten so I think I should use it now. I just hope it’s not a jinx but here goes -

“My idea was to build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility. Napoleon had that idea. He wanted to conquer the bloody world. I wanted Liverpool to be untouchable. My idea was to build Liverpool up and up until eventually everyone would have to submit and give in”.

It wasn’t pretty but it is 3 points. I can easily say, “This is what Champions are made of. Winning games when they are not playing well.” But honestly, I feel this line is getting old. A game like this, we should have won by atleast two goals and not have to sit at the edge of our seats in the closing minutes as Portsmouth attacked us seeking an equaliser.

To start off with, I was a bit surprised with the starting eleven Rafa sent out. He made four changes to the side that started against Chelsea. I expected one or two changes but not four. Rafa opted to start with Reina in goal, Aurelio continuing at left back, Arbeloa on the right, Carragher and Sami coming in for Agger. I can only assume that Agger was being rested and it was wise to put in Hyypia who was able to handle any threat Crouch possessed in the air. Riera was dropped and in came Babel on the left. Lucas replaced Mascherano in the middle. Alonso continued and Pennant came in on the right. Gerrard started just behind Kuyt.
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After 9 matches in this seasons EPL we entertain Portsmouth at home as the only undefeated team left in the premership. Due to this as you well know has moved us into 1st place in the premiership, rightly so. Sundays win at Stamford Bridge and the home win of Man U has started the debate once again about our chances of winning the title this year. Many believe these two games have shown that we can beat the best at home and away which must therefore prove that we are strong title contenders.

However we all know that Liverpool “on their day” have been able to at times mix it with the big boys but then ultimately fall down against the so called “weaker” sides within the EPL.  Evidence of this was the draw against Stoke following our win against ManU. However as Shanks once said “What can you do, playing against eleven goalposts?”.  Tonight we do not need another “Stoke” but back up our great win in London with a good solid home win to cement our position at the top.

So what about Pompey. They have a new manager in Tony Adams and he knows all about coming to Anfield and getting the business done and he would just love his first official match in charge to be win away at Anfield. He will have his players fired up and we all know that teams somehow always lift themselves when playing in front of the new gaffer for the first time as we saw with Spurs and Redknapp who we will have to travel to on Sunday. Last week I was seeing these games as quite an easy 6 points but with the switch of managers and players out to impress it may not be as simple as I would have wished.

So what about tonights game. Liverpool are again without Torres and Keane still has a slight groin problem but should start. Playing without Torres does not fill us with dread lately as we have done well without him to date but again Kuyt, Keane and Babel need to perform up front and hit the net. Adams is hoping for Sol Campbell to be fit but Johnson and Glen Little will miss out. Pompey also travel to Anfield undefeated in the last four matches but Liverpool have an unbeaten home EPL record against Portsmouth of three wins and two draws, with clean sheets in three of the five games. Portsmouth have only scored two goals in total in their last six top-flight visits to Anfield but this year they have more of a threat with Crouch and the on-form Defoe up front. One stat I am sure Portsmouth would like to end is the fact that it’s 57 years since they last took away maximum points from Anfield, winning 0-2 in the top-flight on 18 August 1951.

Last years corresponding fixture was an emphatic 4-1 for The Reds and a resounding victory of this type again would in my opinion send out a clear message, if we have not done already, that we are here this year for the long haul. We of course will be facing 3 ex-Reds in the form of James who was between the post for Liverpool 277 times, Crouch with 134 appearances with 42 goals in three seasons. Fortunately for Liverpool Djimi Traore is at Portsmouth who played 141 times for us (is it any wonder why we havn’t won the EPL yet)

Match Prediction 2-1 Liverpool - No clean sheet for Reina tonight as I think Crouch and Defoe will pose problems for our defense.

Very important stretch of 6 matches against teams in the lower half of the league. These six games will def show if it’s on our not this season.

YNWA.

Congratulations to Stevie and Fernando for being named in the FifPro World XI team of the year. It is a pitty that neither of them could scoop the main award of Fifpro World Footballer of the Year which went to Cristiano Ronaldo.

The selected team in full is:

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Spain/Real Madrid)

Defenders: Sergio Ramos (Spain/Real Madrid); John Terry (England/Chelsea); Carles Puyol (Spain/ Barcelona); Rio Ferdinand (England/Manchester United)

Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (England/Liverpool); Xavi (Spain/Barcelona); Kaka (Brazil/AC Milan).

Forwards: Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona); Fernando Torres (Spain/Liverpool); Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Manchester United)

Praise must go to Alonso for scoring the winner on Sunday against Chelsea. It may have been a deflection but Xabi has rightfully claimed the goal as his shot was goal-bound. Xabi was very unlucky not to get a second as his brilliant freekick came off the foot of the post. Here we have a player who was on the verge of leaving Liverpool in the summer but now, according to me, has been our best player so far this term.
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What a game! What a result! I am floating on cloud nine right now and I do not think I will be coming back down to earth anytime soon! We have broken Chelsea’s 86 home win record and how sweet it was. I think what makes it feel even better is that we totally out played them in their own back yard which no one has been able to do for almost 4 years now. I know we should not be getting too carried away at this stage but I feel we have the makings of going on to win the title this season.
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So it was only a matter of time before a fixture arrived that would, if you can believe it mean more than just trying to pick up 3 points and that game has arrived with our pending visit to Stamford Bridge. We not only visit them in the hope of increasing our points tally but protecting an unbeaten start to the season only copied by Chelsea themselves and the chance to claim the top spot in the EPL for ourselves. How great it would be to be top of the league on Sunday night and be the only undefeated team as well or am I draeming too much.

Well in order for my dreams to come true and few things need to fall into place with regards to the Liverpool squad.  We know we are without Torres which is bad enough but we all though Rafa was resting Gerrard, Keane and Alonso when they were brought off on Wednesday night against A.Madrid. However reports now claim that all three are carrying niggling injuries which is not good news as you need players at their peak nowadays when visiting the Bridge. Chelsea have a long injury list as well but we all saw how well their so called reserve players demolished Boro last week.

The match itsel sees us protecting a 15 game unbeaten run but if you think thats pretty The Blues go into the game protecting an amazing 29 and a head buzzing home record of 86 unbeaten that goes back 4 YEARS AND EIGHT MONTHS !!!. Wouldn’t it be great to be the team to bring this to and end and repeat our only EPL win at Chelsea which was 7th Jan 2004. We are the last team to beat Chelsea at The Bridge but the facts show that Liverpool have lost the most away points to Chelsea than any other club to date in the EPL.

Last years corresponding fixture was a stalemate at 0-0 and I think it will be a very tuff game. I would be pleased to actually get away from The Bridge with a draw but would love, oh just love to sneak a win. We all know that luck has been with us so far this season so lets hope that continues on Sunday.

So on to the players. For Chelsea Lampard Jnr is two goals short of a career century and Chelsea are four short of 1000 EPL strikes which has only been passed so far by ourselves ManU and Arsenal. We face again an ex-Red in the form of moody Mr Anelka who played 22 times for The Reds and if selected this game will see him reach 250 EPL appearances. Ballack and Malouda need one more game to reach 50 abd J.Cole one more to reach his 150th EPL start. 

Shanks Quote of The Week.

If you are first you are first. If you are second you are nothing.

Before the game, if you had told me that we were going to get a 1-1 draw I would have been happy. I had actually predicted that the game would end 1-1. So I maybe happy that I got my prediction spot on but after the 90 minutes I am really disappointed with the result as we should have won this game with ease. We bossed the first half and large parts of the second half but were never able to get that killer second goal to put the game to bed.
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Tomorrow we take on Atletico Madrid in Spain for our third game in the Champions League. So far we have won both our games rather comfortably and the game in Madrid is going to be by far our biggest test so far in the competition. I am actually looking forward to the game as it will give us a good account on how far we have come as a team.

It is a pitty Fernando Torres will not be playing due to his hamstring injury. I am sure he was looking forward to this match when the draw was done as he was going to go back to his home ground and play infront of the fans that loved him so much. Loosing Torres is a big blow for us but we saw on the weekend that we can get results even without our hitman. Kuyt seems to have taken the role upfront now in Torres’ absence and he bagged two goals against Wigan, you could not have asked for more. Now we will see if he can do the same tomorrow. Many maybe surprised that Kuyt is now scoring goals but lets not forget that we signed him as an out and out striker so he has the ability to score.
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One would have thought that the transfer window is now closed there would not be a lot of transfer talk but alas, names are still being thrown around about possible targets for Liverpool. It is clear Rafa is after another striker. The name of Emile Heskey had been thrown around last week but I was not really keen about Heskey coming back to Liverpool. But today there is now talk about Amr Zaki being a possible target for Rafa.
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