And it keeps getting worse

Liverpool drew with Birmingham City today, 2-2.  By all accounts, they were lucky to get the draw as Steven Gerrard scored the equalizer on a dubious penalty.  It’s definitely a game the Reds should have won (at home!).  On a somewhat positive note, Alberto Aquilani saw his first action at Anfield.  Also, Gerrard and Glen Johnson returned from injury. On a sour note, other than the draw, Yossi Benayoun and Albert Riera picked up injuries.  Apparently, the hamstring muscle seriously hates Liverpool as manager Rafa Benitez fears that both Benayoun and Riera tore theirs.

The international break definitely comes at a good time for Liverpool since it seems as if half the squad is injured.  The two week layoff will do the team good so long as no one picks up any knocks on international duty.

Liverpool need a miracle

The Reds need a miracle to:

• finish in the top four of the Premier League.  Despite Chelsea’s chippy 1-0 win over Manchester United, both teams look poised to stay in the top four (likely top two).  Arsenal has also surprised people this season; the Gunners are playing really good football.  At this rate, it’s going to be some sort of miracle if the Reds even finish in the top seven – yay Europa League!
• keep Torres and Gerrard healthy the rest of the season.  Torres leads the league in goals, but the Gernando partnership hasn’t had much chance to flourish as both players have struggled with injury, much like last season.  This year however, the team is even more reliant on them to carry the load.  The two stars aren’t the only ones having injury issues though; Glen Johnson missed a couple games as well.  Albert Riera hasn’t been 100% either.
• advance to the knockout stage in Champions League play.  Liverpool won its opening group game against Debrecen, but have only taken one point out of the next three.  They are no longer in control of their own fate, which is a very scary and undesirable place to be.  Group leader Lyon has already booked a spot in the next round, while Fiorentina only needs to win once to advance.
• beat Birmingham City.  I can’t believe I just had to write that.

Four spots gone in the round of 16

Bordeaux, Manchester United, Chelsea and Porto all booked a place in the knockout stage yesterday.  United continued its lucky ways, netting a 3-3 draw with CSKA, thanks to an Antonio Valencia equaliser in injury time.  Sergio Aguero was the hero for Atletico, scoring in injury time to deny Chelsea a win and earn the home side a point. Bordeaux shocked Bayern with a 2-0 shutout win, while Porto scored a late goal to book their spot.

Tuesday’s Results
Beşiktaş 0
Wolfsburg 3 (Misimović 14, Gentner 80, Džeko 87)

Bayern 0
Bordeaux 2 (Gourcuff 37, Chamakh 90)

Maccabi Haifa 0
Juventus 1 (Camoranesi 45+ 2)

Manchester United 3 (Owen 29, Scholes 84, Valencia 90+ 2)
CSKA Moskva 3 (Dzagoev 25, Krasić 31, V. Berezutski 47)

AC Milan 1 (Ronaldinho 35-pen)
Real Madrid 1 (Benzema 29)

Marseille 6 (Aegerter 3-og, Abriel 11, Niang 51, Hilton 80, Cheyrou 87, Brandão 90)
Zurich 1 (Alphonse 31)

APOEL 0
Porto 1 (Falcao 84)

Atletico Madrid 2 (Agüero 66, 90+1)
Chelsea 2 (Drogba 82, 88)

Champions League Schedule – Matchday 4

The second half of the group stage gets underway today and several big clubs have work to do if they want any chance of advancing to the knockout stage.  In today’s games, Bayern Munich needs a win against Bordeaux, while the winner of the mouth-watering AC Milan/Real Madrid clash will be in the drivers seat in group C.  In Wednesday’s matches, Liverpool is desperate for a win at Lyon after only gaining three points from the first three fixtures.  Spanish powerhouse Barcelona has struggled in group F as three teams have four points going into Wednesday.  Barca was “upset” by Rubin last time out, while Inter has failed to establish the same form that has them atop Serie A.  Check out the complete standings here.

Tuesday, Nov. 3
APOEL vs. Porto
Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea – 2:30 pm ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Bayern vs. Bordeaux – 1 am ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Beşiktaş vs. Wolfsburg
Maccabi Haifa vs. Juventus – 10 am ET Wed./Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Manchester United vs. CSKA Moskva – 2:30 pm ET/Setanta (Live); 5 pm ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Marseille vs. Zurich
AC Milan vs. Real Madrid – 7 pm ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)

Wednesday, Nov. 4
Rubin vs. Barcelona – 12:30 pm ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Arsenal vs. AZ – 2:30 pm ET/Setanta (Live); 5 pm ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Dynamo vs. Inter – 1 am ET/Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Fiorentina vs. Debrecen
Lyon vs. Liverpool – 2:30 pm ET/Fox Soccer (Live)
Sevilla vs. Stuttgart – 11 am ET Thurs./Fox Soccer (Delayed)
Standard vs. Olympiacos
Unirea Urziceni vs. Rangers

Liverpool loses (again); Chelsea continues to dominate

Weekend thoughts and observations

• Liverpool could not sustain the momentum from a big win against Manchester United, falling 3-1 to Fulham on Saturday.  Both Jamie Carragher and Phillip Degen got sent off for the Reds (the first red cards since the 2007/08 season, I believe).  The squad was without Steven Gerrard (again) as well as Glen Johnson.  Pretty much the lone bright spot for the Reds has been Fernando Torres, who leads the league with 10 goals in 11 games.  The team’s struggles highlight the lack of depth, but that’s a story for another time.  It seems as if most of the team is injured and/or sick going into this week’s Champions League clash away to Lyon, which is a must-win if they want any chance at advancing to the knockout stage.  Things are not looking positive for Liverpool right now.  The team has already lost five games, more than double the number they did last year!  Barring an epic collapse from Chelsea/Manchester United and ridiculously improved form from the Reds, you can kiss any title chances good-bye.
• Speaking of Chelsea, they are pretty much kicking ass right now.  The Blues have won four straight and have been beating the crap out of their opponents, including a 4-0 thrashing of Blackburn at the weekend. 
• West Ham and Portsmouth are struggling mightily.  Both teams have a mere seven points.  Hull City isn’t faring much better as they sit 18th with eight points.
• FIFA10 is awesome.  I’ll admit that I’m a newcomer to the video game scene, but it’s a pretty easy game to pick up and it’s really fun to play.  Although, it’s slightly frustrating to see my FIFA Liverpool doing much better than the real team.