Liverpool 1, Porto 1: simply appalling

Where to begin? Well, first, that was the worse match I've ever seen Mascherano play. From the beginning it looked as if he was somewhere else. I'm not sure it was because he rarely plays for us these days, but his decisions on the ball were atrocious. I was actually surprised to not see him collect a few yellow cards (Yes, a few) with his suspect tackling.

Pennant was also a joke. I have no idea why Benayoun wasn't brought in to start the second half because it looked quite apparent to me that JP was a red card waiting happen. This was easily his worse appearance for us that I've witnessed. He needs to get his head together because if he continues being such a menace, he's really just a waste of space and that's a shame because he's so talented.

Gerrard, Arbeloa, and Hyypia were unimpressive as well.

As a team, we were shocking. Near the end we seemed to get it together and had a couple of near chances, but honestly, I didn't think we were going to score anyway. In the end, Porto were either just as poor or our defense is just that damn good, you can decide because I don't really care.

Positives? I thought Torres did well to worry the defense and forced them to have at least two to three players there, just in case. Kuyt played well also and probably should have gotten the penalty call after being pushed down in the box by a Porto defender, but it was away so we weren't going to get any calls. Babel put in a decent effort also, even if it found him all alone deep in the enemy's territory at most points.

Do I have a right to complain about a 1-1 draw at our most difficult opponent in the group stage's home? Not sure. I think if we played better, we could have pulled off the win, but maybe I'm not giving the Porto defense enough credit.

In the end I look at it this way, we played like crap and still got the point because of a penalty. That's impressive on some levels. Nobody was hurt and now Pennant will be available for more league matches. Mascherano though was wholly disappointing and I hope he never puts in a performance that awful again.

Liverpool vs Porto: the line-up

Here it is:
Reina
Arbeloa
Carragher
Hyypia
Finnan
Babel
Mascherano
Gerrard
Pennant
Kuyt
Torres

Bench:
Itandje
Lucas
Voronin
Benayoun
Aurelio
Agger
Crouch

Looks scarily familiar. Just as a heads up, there's little to no chance I'll be doing a halftime thoughts post because I'll be at the pub. I will be back after the match though. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Allardyce calls Rafa 'lucky', Love for Arbeloa & Pennant, Porto smack talk begins, & more

- Sam Allardyce, who's Newcastle side lost to Derby 0-1 yesterday, the same Derby County we dismantled 6-0 a few weeks back, has stated that Rafa is 'very lucky' to still be employed with LFC and the only reason he is so, is because of our Champions League showings. Other than the obvious that Big Sam needs to worry about his own job and his own side, the Magpies manager appears to be showing signs of amnesia. He says, and I quote, 'Being a foreigner, Rafa doesn't understand it's supposed to be Premier League first and Champions League second.' Really, Sammy? I didn't know that Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho were suddenly British.

- Football365.com has named Alvaro Arbeloa and Jermaine Pennant to their EPL side so far this season. Though I agree with the former, the latter is a bit odd of a selection. Pennant's performance so far this season is neither as impressive nor consistent as his November-on form from last season. One glaring omission from the team is Pepe Reina who has yet to allow a goal from open play. The Spaniard does get a nod, but Brad Friedel? Come on.

- Porto captain Lucho Gonzalez and boss Jesualdo Ferreira have made their feelings about today's match heard. The 26-year-old Argentine has made it clear that his side is ready and capable to beat Liverpool, while their manager thinks that Ricardo Quaresma will be instrumental in beating the English side that has not impressed him. Apparently Ferreira sent his assistants Rui Barros and Joao Pinto to scout LFC at the Pompey match. Hopefully, that's how they think we normally play.

- Supposedly Crouch is set to move to Portsmouth in the January transfer window. No... please... don't... if only it were true.

- Finally, Rafa gives Pepe some love. Cheers, I'll be back for the Porto line-up.

Liverpool vs Porto: What will Rafa do?

This should be pretty easy considering who Rafa didn't start on Saturday at Pompey. The more I think about it, the more shocked I am that he started what is usually our European front in Voronin and Crouch. I understand that Torres and Kuyt probably needed the rest, but it sort of undermines the goal of the league. Anyhow, that's Rafa the Gaffa for ya.

Speaking of the Spanish mastermind, he has announced our Champions League intentions of qualifying for the knockout stages as quickly as possible and then turning our focus back to the Premiership. What better way to prove that aspiration then beating our toughest group stage opponent in their house. I don't see it happening and think we'll come away with a 1-1 or 0-0 draw, but you never know.

Up front we'll probably see Kuyt and Torres. In the midfield on the right, Jermaine Pennant, Gerrard and Mascherano in the middle, and Ryan Babel on the left. There is a possibility of seeing Babel start on the right and Fabio Aurelio making his first start of the year on the left, but I'm not sure how fit the Brazilian is. With Riise injured, the backline will probably have Arbeloa on the left, Hyypia and Carragher anchoring the middle, and Finnan on the right. Pepe in goal.

On the bench I expect to find Itandje, Aurelio, Agger, Xabi, Lucas, Voronin, and Benayoun. Harry Kewell, calling Harry Kewell, where are ya?

So here's my final answer:
Reina
Finnan
Hyypia
Carragher
Arbeloa
Pennant
Mascherano
Gerrard
Babel
Kuyt
Torres

Subs:
Itandje
Agger
Xabi
Voronin
Benayoun
Lucas
Aurelio

I was debating with myself whether or not Pennant would start on the right, but now that I just realized that's probably why Rafa took him out so early in the Portsmouth match I'm more confident he'll get the nod here. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Carra officially set to return, Traore talking junk, Abigail gets the axe, & more

- Well, at least we'll have Carra. With the Agger injury and Hyypia coming off two full matches in five days, it was unclear what we were going to do for centre backs come Saturday, but it looks like Jamie Carragher will definitely start. I assume that Arbeloa will be there along with him. As for the full backs, it would be great if Aurelio was declared fit and ready, but I doubt it, and I haven't heard anything in regards to Finnan's condition. I'll assume it'll be Riise on the left though and who knows, maybe Stephen Darby on the right? That would be interesting.

- Djimi Traore, quite possibly one of the worst players ever to win a Champions League medal, is talking a little smack about his former club with whom he won that medal, Liverpool. The Portsmouth back thinks his side will win on Saturday because they won't give the Reds much respect and the long travel south will make them tired. What? Are they walking? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, but then again, this is Traore we're talking about. It's only about 250 miles by car and our boys will most likely be flying. Anyhow, the linked article which is from a Portsmouth fan site mentions that Portsmouth has won three of the last five games between the two clubs, but then mentions that one of the wins was against a weak Liverpool side as we were on the march in the Champions League last year and the other was on penalty kicks this past summer in a meaningless preseason tournament final. So against full LFC sides, they've won one of the last three. Luckily for them though, they probably won't meet a first team squad on Saturday.

- Peter Crouch's girlfriend, the sort of attractive Abigail Clancy (pictured above), has gotten the axe from Hell's Kitchen, the reality cooking show she's been a part of recently. She apparently will now use her new-found cooking skills to fatten up her boy.

- Rafa, who was named 33rd on the top 50 managers of all-time by the Times Online, has once again expressed the unfairness of our schedule. For the second consecutive time we have to play a lunch fixture following an international break. I can sort of understand his complaining with not having a lot of preparation time on the day of the game and some players being out of sorts with the earlier than usual start, but come on, it's only a couple of hours. I do think they should play a large majority of the matches following an international break on Sunday though as it would allow players an extra day rest and probably increase the quality of their play and the matches in general. Of course, that would just mean less time to prepare for the Champions League match in the middle of the upcoming week. By the way, Paisley and Shankly were 6th and 5th respectively on that list though both should have been ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson for obvious reasons.

- It's been revealed that Dirk Kuyt's schoolboy German lessons have paid off in helping Andriy Voronin adjust to Liverpool life. Though a bit rusty and sometimes unsure of what he was saying, Kuyt has been instrumental in helping the Ukrainian communicate with his coach and teammates. Kuyt also praised Voronin for his work rate and as one of the players he used to admire in his Bundesliga watching days. Being involved in the international scene so long, I'm sort of surprised Voronin doesn't speak English or even Dutch.

- Finally, just because you play for LFC and are named Jamie Carragher doesn't mean you get special treatment. Even if that means getting bumped to the front of a book signing line for a book in which you are featured. As was the case for Here We Go Gathering Cups In May, a book about LFC's seven European trophy runs. Carra had to wait in a line that wrapped around the bookstore just like everyone else.

Mascherano 94th? Ha ha ha!

I've seen this list posted on a few sites and still can't believe how unbelievably retarded it is. First of all, what is FourFourTwo's criteria? The opinion of Nike, Adidas, and FIFA? They certainly didn't take all-round play into account, because Kaka is a second rate defender at best. That's why they have Gattuso on Milan. There's no doubting the Brazilian's attacking skills, but he's utterly useless and a borderline burden on the other end. I know, I know, they have to make sure he doesn't get hurt. My bad.

I know I may be biased, but please prove me wrong. Mascherano was arguably our best player in our Champions League run last year, he was arguably the best player on the pitch versus AC Milan in the final (Just ask Kaka, who did shit all when Javi was on the pitch), and he was arguably Argentina's best player in Copa this past summer (save maybe Riquelme, and that's a big maybe). The biggest difference between a player like Mascherano and Kaka? Mascherano can play on the attack as he has for Liverpool and his country, but Kaka could never become a holding/defensive midfielder.

I guess being great at a couple of things is better than being really good at practically everything? Yeah, I want a player that you can only play if you have another certain kind player on their with them. In that regard, Mascherano is two players for the price of one, Kaka is not. FourFourTwo aren't idiots though. They know how to ride the marketing machine that has already pumped the name 'Kaka' into millions of the air-filled heads of the mindless masses. They know how to sell magazines and that's all that matters.

Bernd Schuster already worried about drawing Liverpool in CL play

I didn't really expect anyone to be paying us any attention in the Champions League at least until after the Group Stage, but apparently we're causing Real Madrid's Bernd Schuster a little anxiety, which is surprising seeing how well his squad has started this season. In this article, the former German International has this to say about our side:

"Liverpool is not so attractive in it's game; it is an ugly team to play, hard and difficult. It is not necessary to remind people how tough they made it for Barcelona last season."

Though most newspapers are trying to play this up as Schuster talking a little smack, it looks as if they're just trying to sell papers. I think all he's saying is that we are great defensively and unpredictable on attack as much can be lost or added in translation.

The thing that baffles me is how he says that Man U has the best attack and Chelsea have the best defense. Has he watched either of these sides play this season? I have no doubts that a fully fit Man U squad with Rooney, Giggs, Ronaldo, and Scholes firing on all cylinders are certainly a formidable attack, but Rooney's injured, Giggs and Scholes look a year older, and I guess we'll have to wait and see what post-suspension Ronaldo looks like. Nani and Tevez have been competent, but also look like two new players struggling to build chemistry with their new teammates.

As for Chelsea's defense, they are certainly capable of being an impenetrable fortress, but allowing two goals against Birmingham at Stamford Bridge and the two goals they allowed against Aston Villa this past weekend make them far from impressive nor in top form. I honestly think they should have never gotten rid of Diarra, but apparently that was unavoidable, and Alex has been far less impressive than he was at PSV last year.

Ultimately, if we can stay fit and maintain our current form, then sure, Schuster does have something to worry about, but to come out now and voice his concerns just doesn't make much sense.