Five Things Learnt: Lallana is a sorcerer, not a magician

1. Lallana has apparently put a spell on most LFC fans. I have never been more shocked and ashamed by my fellow Reds supporters than today.  Adam Lallana voted as Man of the Match? Why? Someone please give me a rational, logical explanation with examples and statistics.  Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling, Lovren, Moreno, Manquillo, and Skrtel were all more deserving.  Markovic is six years his senior and has never played 'English' football, though he wasn't much worse than the Prince of St. Albans.  Seriously, is it the Anglo-Saxon halo that is blinding you?

2. Balotelli is a match away from being rubbished. Or at least he should be.  Super Mario was all but and it's becoming more apparent with each match that he either doesn't want/understand/care to play our style of football. He stands around doing nothing, thinks he'll be able to perform magic once he gets the ball, and then looks like a donkey when he does.  I think he forgot how much faster and more physical the EPL is compared to Serie A.  He'll be longing to return to Italy soon enough.

3. Henderson's passing is becoming unparalleled. Some of his passes in the first half I have only seen the likes of from one Steven George Gerrard.  Brilliant stuff.  I am not a huge Hendo fan, but if he continues to move the ball around like he did today, it's only a matter of time.  Not to mention he has all-round skills with an engine that never quits.  The only issue I have with him is that he gets too excited and still let's his age show by turning the ball over, taking a bad shot, making a bad tackle, etc.

4, We can play defence. We held Everton to just a goal and it was a lucky one at that. Coming in the Blues had scored at least two goals in every previous EPL match.  Lovren and Skrtel appeared to get along and neither went forward too often, but even when they did, they would dump the ball then get back.  Everton actually had more possession and a free-flowing ball moment until they got close to the 18-yard area, then they got shut down.

5. Gerrard still has it. Though I'd still give Man of the Match to Hendo for his all-round performance, Stevie-G silenced his critics with an outstanding show.  The free kick was just the icing on the cake as his passing was world class, not to mention he added three successful tackles and three clearances to his tally.  He's far from done.

Liverpool 1, Everton 1: The Toffees have won the league!

Liverpool took a step in the right direction today, whether it was baby steps or a Neil Armstrong leap, we'll have to wait and see, but at least some of our issues of late look to have been addressed.  First, we played much better defense.  We shut down Everton nearly every opportunity that arose, especially when they tried to infiltrate the box.  It was more or less written in stone that the Blues would have to score from outside the area and of course, they did.  It doesn't take away from a valiant effort of defending, holding Everton to a single luck goal is an admirable achievement considering they've scored at least two goals in every other Prem match they've played.

It is also quite evident Rodgers gave his boys full permission to fire away though he should have taken that privilege from Balotelli after the half.  We took 24 shots, 10 from Balotelli alone, though only 8 were on-target.  A different story than Middlesbrough on Tuesday when we only took 11 shots in regulation.  Being a constant threat from anywhere around the goal opened lanes, allowing us easier access for runs and passes into the box.

As for individual performances, Jordan Henderson made some world class passes in the first half reminiscent of his captain.  He also created four chances, had five tackles, three interceptions, and completed 91% of his passes.  Sterling was outstanding as well, creating six chances and successful on five take-ons.  Gerrard put on a clinic in passing, completing 91%, going 3 for 4 on crosses and 7 for 8 on long balls, not to mention that class free kick goal.  Moreno, Lovren, Skrtel, Manquillo, and Coutinho all played well as well.

The not-so-good starts with Lallana.  How can anyone call that a great performance? He did little else other than dribble the ball and tackle out-of-bounds, take the Anglo-Saxon halo off his head and he'd been booed off the pitch for being a 26-year-old Championship quality player.  He is paid to create goals and he had nothing to do with it today.  Markovic was woeful as well, but first, he's 20-years-old, this is his first season playing Engliish football, and go back and look at the service he got, very few players in the world could have done anything with some of those passes.  I'm also not so sure he's comfortable in his role in the side, he's a winger, where he played a lot of the match, but it looked like Rodgers wanted him to play a more central, 'hole' position, which he looked uncomfortable and out-of-place when he did.

Finally, we get to Mr. Balotelli.  What a crock match from him.  When Sturridge comes back, we won't see a better Balotelli, we probably will hardly see him at all.  At least not for a while.  Benching him, making him a super sub and forcing him to play his way back into the side is probably best for all.  Make him learn his role the hard way.  A couple of those things he needs to learn is making runs and creating space.  When he's being marked, he seems to always just stand in the middle of the box, instead of moving about to allow other players to make runs or shoot.  Also, he needs to work on his timing, Markovic made the only decent run all day.  We could do with less of the antics as well.

This match reminded me of a few years ago when we would dominate matches, but were unable to score much and our opponents would get a wonder goal to win or draw.  The Champions league Marseille match when Valbuena scored that amazing curlier from outside of the box for the win comes to mind.  There were definite improvements all-round today and we are on the right track, but we can't let a luck goal knock us off our rail and distract us from our objectives.  We go to Basel on Wednesday and if he's not back by then, Sturridge should be ready for West Brom next Saturday.

Lovren back in top ten overall, but is Per Mertesacker the most underrated footballer in England?

Players must have played at least 300 minutes to qualify.  Efficiency ratings are how likely a positive outcome will occur while that player is either in possession (attacking) or reacting to opposition possession (defensive).

He's baaaaaaaaaaccckkkk.  Yaya Toure retakes the top spot on attack, but only really because Nasri came up 24 minutes short.  Gerrard is Liverpool's highest rated player at 19th.

Attacking efficiency ranking

Y. Toure	0.829
C. Fàbregas	0.814
P. Mertesacker	0.806
M. Schneiderlin	0.792
E. Capoue	0.786
Juan Mata	0.783
F. Coloccini	0.783
S. Distin	0.774
M. Özil	0.770
G. Barry	0.768

Per Mertesacker has sky-rocketed to the top of the defence rankings following a few solid performances.  Lovren is 7th and rising.

Defensive efficiency ranking

P. Mertesacker	0.948
Curtis Davies	0.934
P. Jagielka	0.921
R. Ferdinand	0.920
S. Dann	0.916
S. Distin	0.914
D. Lovren	0.914
M. Demichelis	0.914
John Terry	0.912
F. Coloccini	0.904

Sir Per goes top as Lovren breaks into the top ten overall.

Overall efficiency ranking

P. Mertesacker	0.877
S. Distin	0.844
F. Coloccini	0.843
Y. Toure	0.833
J. O'Shea	0.832
E. Capoue	0.830
M. Schneiderlin	0.830
P. Jagielka	0.828
T. Blackett	0.817
D. Lovren	0.806

Super super Senderos is no longer in the top ten of players most valuable to their club efficiency-wise, but he has so much 'character'.  John O'Shea continues to be a head and shoulders above his Sunderland teammates.

Most valuable to their club efficiency-wise

J. O'Shea	0.197
D. Hammond	0.194
S. N'Zonzi	0.194
R. Ferdinand	0.180
F. Coloccini	0.178
David Jones	0.174
Andy King	0.172
Dean Marney	0.163
P. Mertesacker	0.159
M. Schneiderlin	0.153

Leaders, notes, and squibs:

- Chucky 'Disco Biscuits' Fabregas leads the league in both assists (6) and chances created (18)

- Aaron Ramsey is top with 558 touches, the second most is Capoue with 501

- Eden Hazard has 31 successful dribbles, more than twice as many as any other player, Lamela is second with 14, while Raheem Sterling is 3rd with 13

- Mile Jedinak leads the league with 30 tackles, while the irrepressible Morgan Schniederlin is second with 23

- Curtis Davies leads all players with 62 clearances

Prince is suing Sterling over his hair plus five things learnt from the Boro penaltipalooza

1. Where was Enrique before the 109th minute? Didn't he start? It was almost if Rodgers held him back to protect the undisciplined Sakho.  Maybe he was afraid Old Man Kolo would get infected with catchus outofpositionus, the virus that deludes our centre backs to go forward at the worst of times, the Ivorian may try to roll his wheelchair into the opponent's box.  It was not only the inclusion of Suso and the realized ability of our players that they are capable of shooting the thing called a ball, but once Enrique started getting involved, the Boro defence really started to open up.

2. Rickie Lambert needs to go 'Syd Barret' on us all. Seriously, he should show up at the next match with all his shaved off: beard, scalp, eyebrows, legs, chest, the whole kitten kaboodle.  Then he should act like a man possessed, cussing himself and using crazy antics to baffle the opposition defense.  In the very least it'll make him faster, right? Eh.

3. Adam Lallana is a fantastic Championship player. He reminds me a lot of a young Adam Johnson, dancing around the pitch, making moves and breaking ankles reminiscent of Allen Iverson back in the day.  Of course, he is only a year younger than Johnson and though he did show some flash on the dribble, he did little else.  Twenty six million pounds! Don't think about it, I can see Del Boy's eyes popping out of his head before he almost dies of laughter.

4. What happened to the side that played Tottenham? The first thought is that we had Sturridge, but was he really that much of a factor?  He didn't really do much, he had one key pass, that's it.  Was starting he and Balotelli the secret?  Maybe, but doubtful.  One thing that is apparent is Moreno was more involved on attack versus Spurs than he was at Villa and West Ham.  The left back held the ball 10.9% of the time at White Hart Lane compared to 6.4% versus the Villans and 6.1% at Boleyn Ground.  Maybe the left back position is the biggest catalyst when it comes to Rodgers' tactics, let's why not find out.  Another factor was time spent on the ball, we whizzed that thing around the pitch like it was wasp nest in Sir Alec Ferguson's head.  Whatever we did pre-match to make us look that fresh and quick, Rodgers needs to repeat every match.

5. Raheem Sterling needs to work on his killer instinct. Is it just me or is Sterling's hair getting more and more Prince like with each match?  Let's have a comparison:

It's getting there, lad, but if he comes out full Purple Rain one match, I may lose the plot.  Anyhow, he has to learn to be selfish and shoot the ball more, it's the only way he'll ever get any better.  Plus, he just seems such a nice kid, he really needs to find his inner demon and unleash it on the ball at the proper time, his penalty yesterday and some of his better recent opportunities for a goal have fallen flat.

Liverpool 2, Middlesbrough 2: Weed the garden, Rodgers

Honestly, I don't know where to begin with this one.  I fought sleep and death from boredom throughout the match that could have been a 'how not to play football' instruction video and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  I felt like I was having a flashback from a childhood zoo trip where I had to search aimlessly at an exhibit for 15 minutes hopelessly hoping to catch a glimpse of a rare giant elephant shrew.

Liverpool played beyond poor and it was frankly embarassing.  We needed penalties to defeat a side that had no right to be on the same pitch as we were and once again, the same issues we have been dealing with recently, surfaced again.  Unfortunately, we can now add another as well, 'movement off the ball'.  The endless vertical back-and-forth passing and everyone standing around, waiting their turn to touch the magic football was dreadful.   There was only one decent example of movement off the ball, when Enrique broke forward to start the series of events leading to the second goal.

I'll just come out and say it, Rickie Lambert was a bad buy.  He has either lost a step since last season or the whole damn world has sped up a notch.  It's not just his pace that is lacking, but his quickness as well.  Everytime he gets the ball it's like he's standing in a tar puddle, not to mention the Elephant man's bones could predict where his next pass attempt is going.  It's time to wave the white flag, give Lambert a bunk in the Reserves' house, and let him play out his contract there.  He can title his autobiography, 'I got to play 136 minutes for Liverpool and my beard is better for it.'

Another player I have a big problem with is Lallana.  Man of the match?! Are you kidding me?  Was that halo of Anglo-Saxon Britishness glowing so bright above his head that no one noticed all he did was dance around the pitch like Cristiano Travolta and then throw the ball away?  If 'Out of Bounds' was a player on our side, he completed three amazing, perfect passes to him.  All the rest, save the 'no look' back heel were painfully obvious and lead to nothing.

A look at the statistics further shows Lallana's showmanship.  He turned over the ball 17 times, was 3 of 16 on cross attempts, and had no chances created.  Outstanding!  Markovic was apparently 'terrible' despite the fact his stats are very similar to the 'Chosen One' (14 turnovers, 0 for 1 crosses, also no chances created).  The only thing that baffled me about Markovic was his inability to shoot the ball, he was like a deer in highlights every time he got a chance to thump it.  Sterling shows this at times as well, maybe Rodgers has put the fear of God in them regarding bad shots and the 19-year-old and the 20-year-old are traumatized.  Oh yeah, Sterling gets the excuse of being 19, but Markovic is too old for that, right?

Speaking of youngsters, it was quite clear that Rodgers gave Suso a 'shoot away' speech when he took the pitch and the Spaniard took it to heart, taking 4 shots in 22 minutes.  Despite spending less time on the pitch than any other LFC player, he had the most shots and tied Sterling with the team lead with two shots-on-goal.  It also seemed to really open up the match.  Wonder what would have happened if Lazar and Sterling had done so in the first half.

We're going to improve, right?  I mean this match was a step forward? I don't think so.  We played Middlesbrough at Anfield for Christ's sake and still had trouble marking players, still had trouble communicating on defence, still couldn't create space, and were still more predictable than Augustus Gloop near a chocolate river.  These are issues that have gotten worse in each of the four matches.  Rodgers is the gardener and needs to weed it out or else suffer the consequences of sub-par production.

Liverpool may throttle Boro

From the looks of it, a win by Liverpool is likely though a convincing one is in doubt.  A trusted source has told me that there is a lot of money on Middlesbrough to win, which usually means a lot of people will lose money.  Whether by wind or wonder, the house usually wins.  The North Yorkshire club is also dominating final score and 'will qualify' wagering, meaning if it goes into extra time or pens.

Another reason LFC may win convincingly is the shear amount of firepower in midfield that Rodgers has decided to unleash upon Boro at Anfield today.  Sterling and Markovic have the weaponry to tear the Championship sides to threads and leave a few morsels of poaching for Lambert.  Oh, Lalllana is playing as well, but seeing his first two mediocre performances against more legitimate sides, a 'fantastic' performance for him would be pretentious and lead one to believe that maybe he belongs in second-tier football.

I'm sort of disappointed, but also surprised at Rodgers' selections.  Suso deserves a chance and if he could show a commanding performance against the 5th place Teesside club, it may be a stepping stone for time against more formidable opponents.  I think he'll get to see the pitch at some point today though, hopefully more than just a cameo.

The surprise is that Mignolet is starting, but maybe that's our gaffer's way of punishing the Belgian for his recent sub-par performances.  Also no Sinclair? I thought for sure he'd he get a spot on the bench, but apparently Welsh defender Jordan Williams gets the call.  Could be a tactical move who knows? Well, match starts soon, come on you Reds.

West Ham 3, Liverpool 1: The big top is burning

There is a weathered tale about a 19th century Siberian circus that while traveling through Eastern Europe is brutally attacked by the people of an isolated, starving mountain village.  The circus performers were so shocked by the merciless gore of the rampage upon them, they stood and did nothing while being torn to shreds.  Clowns were sadistically murdered, trapeze artists tortured and mangled, and all the animals, except the elephants, were killed and eaten raw.  The elephants apparently got away, but were never seen from again.  Though the town in Siberia where the circus originated made inquiries and notified the proper officials in Moscow about their missing family members and citizens, nothing was ever done.  It was brushed under the rug because, ultimately, nobody cares about a dead clown.

That's what Liverpool were today, a bunch of dead clowns.  Almost from the get-go it was apparent the ref was going to be lenient when it came to physical play.  How many times does Liverpool have to lose before they realize the match official is going to call a match a certain way and it's best to play that way instead of our own style.  This is how it works, there is no precedent for how a match is called no matter how much verbal feces the EPL aficionados defecate in our ears.  Now, had Liverpool started playing like West Ham, tackling viciously, studs up or not, being overtly physical, and then were called for it, then we have an issue, but LFC players didn't wrangle, they fell to the ground in the fetal position and let the Hammers have their way.  Sure, Kouyate should have been sent off for his barbaric tackle on Moreno, but he wasn't and that's my point.  Break Winston Reid's leg with a stud up sliding tackle and if the ref does anything about it, then we have an argument for fairness.  Ultimately the fault would have fallen on the ref and the EPL's inability to produce a consistent, legitimate product.

The biggest issue I have with the match is Craig Pawson referring to his ear-piece for the Balotelli-Adrian incident.  Why isn't this happening more often?  And why isn't it happening when it should actually matter?  The Moreno-Kouyote incident in particular.  Again, if the Premier League wants to avoid situations of complicity, shouldn't they do this every time to avoid controversy?  Maybe I'm not just the average ignorant, blinded, and drunk Premier League fan.

Now, with that said, Liverpool played atrocious defense.  Who in Hades' name was marking Reid on the first goal?  From the looks of the replay, nobody, so it is the fault of Skrtel, Lovren, and Manquillo, who were closest to him at the beginning of the free kick.  Communication guys, come on, this is getting old.  I honestly think Lovren and Skrtel dislike one another for whatever Eastern European rubbish reason, but regardless, you aren't playing for your countries, you're not on the battlefield, and you play for the same team who is paying you and counting on you to perform to the best of your abilities.  Suck up your pride and do what is best for the club.

The second goal allowed was more dumb luck than anything.  Lovren laid off Sakho because Moreno was there, should the Spaniard have played him tighter?  Probably, but it was just one of those perfectly placed goals where not much could have stopped it. It reminded me of the goal by Konchesky in the 2006 FA Cup final.  I doubt Mignolet could have been better positioned either, if he was further back, Sakho would have probably tried to slam in closer to the near post.  It was a great goal by Sakho, get over it.

Borini is rubbish, he doesn't know when to pass and when to shoot and that was quite evident.  When he had the breakaway in the 54th minute with Moreno and Lallana lurking, but took the impossible angle shot, that was ridiculous.  Then he took the optimistic shot outside of the box in the 64th minute when he should have held the ball and see what developed since no West Ham players were close enough to dispossess him.  Adrian pulled in his leg there, by the way, so any studs up calls on that one are rubbish.  Then, finally, when Sterling tries to do a give-and-go in the 74th minute, he should have went for goal.  His style of play just doesn't work for us, put him on the reserves squad and let him die a slow play less death.

For once, Balotelli played well, he even got back on defence a couple of times which impressed me, but he has to take advantage of every scoring chance and his weak effort in the 59th minute was unacceptable.  He puts that three yards higher and it's a goal.  He's a special player, but has yet to play so for us.

I was a bit baffled by the no-call on Lallana right outside of the box in the 61st minute.  Why didn't Pawson refer to his ear-piece then?  If the Premier League doesn't want to be accused of complicity than don't put others in the situation to do so.  That was a clear foul by Song from behind and though I don't think it was penalty worthy, it still should have been called back for a free kick despite play-on due to possession.  I personally love Noble's applauding the ref for his non-call at the end of the 'play'.

Ultimately, I think are defence was suspect and Sterling has to realize he is the new 'man'.  He has to step up and be the replacement for Sturridge,  Unfortunately, he is only 19 and that has to suck for him.  He is our best player and probably the most talented player at his age in the world.  One goal was not enough and hopefully he'll realize that most fans, especially myself, would rather see him take 5 bad shots than make a useless pass.

Lazar to get off the Markovic? Liverpool to win 6-0? What the markets say...

Aston Villa to win at 11/1 seems like a decent gamble and 45.92% of all bettors agree.  Looks like a sucker bet to me and Liverpool at 1/3 isn't worth the return.  5/1 for a draw seems to high, expect Liverpool to win.

To win:
Aston Villa	11/1	45.92%
Liverpool	1/3	43.78%
Draw	5/1	10.30%

A lot of people seem to think Sterling will be the first to score and there's a nice pay off if they're right, but if I was a betting man, I'd go with Balotelli or even Gerrard.  Hopefully someone doesn't bet on Studge.

First goalscorer:
Sterling	6/1	39.02%
Balotelli	15/4	24.39%
Weimann	16/1	7.32%
Gerrard	8/1	4.88%
Coutinho	10/1	4.88%
Markovic	7/1
Lambert	7/2
Agbonlahor	14/1
Borini	6/1
Henderson	10/1
Sturridge	14/5

The market is giving Aston Villa much of a chance when it comes to the final tally.  The lowest odds for the visiting side to win is 1-0 and that's at 25/1.  Liverpool at 12/1 for 4-0 looks intriguing and a tiny wager on 6-0 at 50/1 wouldn't hurt.  Apparently most bettors think Villa will double their average goals per a match and score twice against Liverpool.  It's possible, just not very probable.  

Correct score:
Liverpool	4-2	40/1	13.89%
Liverpool	3-0	17/2	11.11%
Liverpool	3-1	11/1	8.33%
Liverpool	2-0	6/1
Liverpool	4-0	12/1
Liverpool	5-0	25/1
Liverpool	6-0	50/1

Bettors overwhelmingly think Balotelli will score at some point in the match and the 19/20 pay off shows it.  Even Markovic with a 21/10 return is not that great off odds.  Henderson at 4/1 or Lovren at 6/1 look like good wagers to me.

Anytime scorer:
Balotelli	19/20	71.43%
Lambert	6/5	9.52%
Bent	6/1	4.76%
Henderson	4/1
Lovren	6/1
Markovic	21/10

Balotelli to score 3 is awfully low at 20/1 and there's a great pay-off if either Markovic gets hot or free-kicks and penalties come into play for Gerrard.

Score hat-trick:
Balotelli	20/1
Markovic	80/1
Gerrard	50/1

Balotelli to score a brace is not that great of a payoff either, Markovic and Gerrard seem most likely again but the return is much less.  Henderson at 25/1 here seems like a decent wager.

Two or more goals:
Balotelli	9/2
Markovic	14/1
Gerrard	12/1

Bettors and bookmakers agree that Sterling will be Man of the Match, but since the pay-off isn't that great and there usually isn't much money bet on these kind of perks, it could happen.  Vlaar at 22/1 though, yeah, good luck.  The best bet is probably Balotelli at 6/1, but I like Henderson at 12/1 and Markovic as a long shot at 14/1 though the return isn't that great.

Man of the match:
Sterling	4/1	37.50%
Vlaar	22/1	25.00%
Balotelli	6/1
Gerrard	4/1
Henderson	12/1
Markovic	14/1

Finally, who do you think will most likely get shown a card?  Yeah, me too, and at 3/1 he isn't even the favorite.  Hutton and Lucas are, which isn't that surprising.

Shown a card:
Balotelli	3/1
Hutton	7/4
Lucas	7/4

EPL Fantasy Picks R4: Can't budge on Studge

I have yet to be able to adorn these fantasy picks posts with Liverpool players and now that I can, Sturridge is sidelined.  There is a plethora of chop-lickin' picks this week including Liverpool, Chelsea, Stoke, Southampton, Man U, and even Hull?

Keeper
Asmir Begovic is the best keeper in the league and has the third most efficient defence playing in front of him.  Factor in Stoke is home against Leicester on Saturday and it's a no-brainer.  The Foxes have dropped all the way to second-to-last in attack eficiency, but they should be able to get off some shots on goal, though nothing Begovic can't handle.

Alternates: Speroni (CP), Mignolet (Liv), Forster (Sou), MacGregor (Hull)

Begovic also looks like a solid long-term pick as well with Stoke's upcoming fixtures: vs Leicester, at QPR, home to Newwcastle, at Sunderland, and then hosting Swansea.  Mignolet has a lot of clean sheet chances coming up, the only worry being the massive schedule congestion coming up with Champions League and League Cup play.  LFC play a ridiculous 7 fixtures in the next 23 days.  Other decent picks are DeGea (Man U), Forster (Sou), and if you're feeling particularly cardiac-ish, Burnley's Tom Heaton has 5 weeks of clean sheet chances coming up.

Defenders
A blind monkey could probably pick a productive group of backs this week. The dream team would be Shawcross (Sto), Ivanovic (Che), Lovren (Liv), and Chester (Hull).  The almost dreamy team would be Pieters (Sto), Moreno (Liv), Davies (Hull), and Clyne (Sou).  The 'what the hell they'll probably do well' side would be Terry (Che), Dann (CP), Alderweireld (Sou), and Sakho (or Skrtel) (Liv).  Finally, the 'why not? they are worth a shot' side is Rojo (Man U), Blackett (Man U), Kelly (CP), and Wilson (Sto).  If I could only pick four, I would really role the dice and go with: Terry, Rojo, Kelly, and Pieters, just have a 'weird' feeling about those four.  Is Daley Blind (Man U) listed as a defender? If so, he's worth a shot as well.

In the long term, it's more of who to avoid from Stoke, Liverpool, Man U, and Southampton.  I think I'd go Shawcross, Lovren, Rojo, and oddly enough, Fonte (Sou).  The latter is also worthy of a pick this week as well.  The players I would avoid from those four clubs are Sakho (Liv), mostly because Skrtel will start when he's fit, Bardsley (Sto), Bertrand (Sou),  and Evans (Man U).  The latter three are all capable of having a solid run, but statistically least likely.

Midfielders
The elephant man's bones could pick a decent midfield this week. The ace picks are Sterling (Liv),Fabregas, Oscar, Hazard (Che), Schniederlin (Sou), Zaha (CP), DiMaria (Man U), and Mata (Man U).  Decent picks are Henderson, Gerrard (Liv), Schurrle (Che), Cazorla (Ars), MacArthur, Puncheon (CP), McGeady (Eve), Livermore, Elmohamady, Ramirez (Hull), Ward-Prowse (Sou), N'Zonzi, Whelan, Moses (Sto), Johnson, Larrson, Rodwell, Giaccherini (Sun), Brunt, Gardner, and Morrison (WBA).  Seriously, put all those names in a hat and draw, you'll probably have a better chance than anyone picking a high-scoring group.  Again, if I had a gun to my head and had to go with my gut, I'd take Sterling, Schniederlin, Zaha, and DiMaria.  If you truly want to take a gamble go with either Markovic or Lallana.

Long term picks are the same for defenders, pick from Stoke, Liverpool, Man U, and Southampton with a little sense and it should turn out fine.  The players I would avoid though are Davis, Wanyama (Sou), Herrera (Man U), Allen and Lucas (Liv).  Mainly because they are either inconsistent or not consistently in the line-up.

Forwards
Seriously, if you need help picking a few strikers for your team this week, you should probably just quit.  A dead fish on a ouija board listening to Justin Bieber could pick decent front men this round.  The prime picks are Balotelli (Liv), DeCosta (Che), Rooney, Van Persie (Man U), Pelle, Long (Sou), and Diouf (Sto).  The boss picks are Gayle (CP), Lukaku, Naismith (Eve), Hernandez, Jelavic (Hull), Crouch (Sto), Wickham (Sun), and Berahino (WBA). The 'that guy at Anfield Banter don't know squat' picks are Zarate (WHam), Dzeko (MCity), Mirallas (Eve), Flacao (Man U) and Welbeck (Ars).  If I went with my gut, I'd go with Balotelli, DeCosta, and Gayle.

My long term forwards would be Balotelli, Rooney, Pelle, Long, Diouf, and Bony (Swa).

Make sure to check and make sure your players are not injured and expected to start before the first match on Saturday.  Not my problem otherwise.  Cheers and buena suerte.

England will go only as far as they let Sterling take them

The Three Lions weren't very good tonight and were lucky to get the win.  The first half was forgettable at best with England putting on a clinic on how not to win a match.  Tactically, Hodgson further showed he is oblivious to, well, tactics, football, reality, etc.  Starting Sterling in the middle doesn't work if you don't have any players on the pitch who can play wide and create space for him.  In fact, the two goals were both products of our 31 on the flanks, while he seemed lost most of the time in the middle.  Not to mention he had Wilshere, Hendo, and Delph crowding him.

In the second half, England seemed more composed.  They absorbed the attempts on attack from Switzerland well, were more relaxed on the ball in general, and let the match come to them.  By the way, nearly every single legitimate goal chance for the Swiss were offside, though I believe they were only called once.  It was a decent display of defence, especially for Cahill, and even Phil Jones was adequate, though he still did his normal bonehead moves like clearing the ball and conceding a corner despite no opposition players near.

The home side dominated possession at 56% to 44% and were the better passers with a completion rate of 90.6% to England's 88.5% while completing nearly a hundred more passes overall.  Fabian Delph, who put in a solid performance, came up a pass short of perfection, going 38 for 39.  Rickie Lambert posted the highest attacking efficiency rating ever of 1.50 getting an assist on his only official touch of the match.  I am a bit baffled at why people thought Rooney had a good match, his attacking efficiency score was 0.651, while his overall was 0.635.  He was most hurt with his 17 give-aways.

In the end, it was all about Sterling being allowed to do what he does best, even if it was only for a few possessions.  If Hodgson starts Sterling in the middle again, he has to start Milner and Oxalade-Chamberlain on the wings with Sturridge up front when healthy, either Welbeck or Rooney when he isn't.  I know it's sacrilegious not to start the captain, but honestly, he doesn't deserve it anyhow.

Tottenham 0, Liverpool 3: Sometimes moments of madness...

They dominated possession, had a higher pass completion percentage, and were superior in the air, but Tottenham still limped away 3-0 losers.  How could this be? Counter attack and positioning.  All three of Liverpool goals were due to anticipating our opponent's movements and responding quickly.  That takes practice and talent, an ode to our mad Professor Rodgers.

What made it most impressive is that Gerrard had an uncharacteristically poor performance on attack, but made up for it on defence.  He completed just 71.1% of his passes, his lowest amount for a long time, but did have 3 tackles and 8 clearances.  Without some of those clearances, it may have been a closer match.

Gerrard's bi-polar display was quite indicative of many other LFC 'stars'.  Sterling was tremendous on the ball, scored a great goal, but his passing was poor (69.7%)and he really should have had scored from point blank range.  Lovren was impressive as well with 4 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 13 clearances, but his passing was also dreadful and he had to make two potential goal-saving tackles that were probably his fault to begin with.

Balotelli and Allen were not at their best, but Manquillo and Sturridge were the worst of the bunch.  The former was clearly rattled and wasted passes throughout, while the latter seemed to be trying to hard to make things happen.  I don't want to say he is trying to make up for the loss of Suarez, but he is, and it isn't working.  He's got to let the match come to him.

Henderson, Can, and Markovic played well, the last two in a cameo capacity.  I can't wait to see how the Serbian does in a full debut, he's very confident and smooth on the ball, which is entertaining to watch.  My man of the match though was Moreno, but not just because of his lung-bursting stunner.  He also added 4 tackles, 9 clearances, and a passing percentage of  87.1%, when others failed to post decent passing stats.

This was a must-win for several reasons, mostly for the confidence of the team and supporters.  If we can go into a place like White Hart Lane and not play to the best of our ability, but still come away with an impressive 3-0 win, just imagine who we can beat at our best.  Fortunately our next 12 fixtures are favorable, hopefully we'll win all of them and be at our confident best when Chelsea come to town November 8th.

Sturridge dethrones Coutinho as the king of inefficiency: Liverpool stat leaders

Chances created

R. Sterling	4
S. Gerrard	3
Henderson	3
P. Coutinho	2
D. Sturridge	2

Passing

Emre Can	10	10	1.000
D. Lovren	119	129	0.922
M. Skrtel	118	130	0.908
A. Moreno	38	42	0.905
S. Gerrard	123	136	0.904

Shots

	sh	sot	shacc	sh%
D. Sturridge	8	3	0.375	0.125
R. Sterling	5	3	0.600	0.200
Henderson	2	0	0.000	0.000
G. Johnson	2	0	0.000	0.000
L. Leiva	1	1	1.000	0.000
R. Lambert	1	1	1.000	0.000

  

Aerial duels

M. Skrtel	9	11	0.818
D. Lovren	8	17	0.471
G. Johnson	3	4	0.750
S. Gerrard	2	3	0.667
J. Manquillo	2	3	0.667

 

Tackles

J. Manquillo	6
Henderson	6
D. Lovren	4
S. Gerrard	4
A. Moreno	4

  

Interceptions

D. Lovren	6
M. Skrtel	6
J. Manquillo	4
Henderson	2
S. Gerrard	2

  

Clearances

M. Skrtel	25
D. Lovren	17
J. Manquillo	5
S. Gerrard	4
L. Leiva	4

  

Attacking efficiency

S. Gerrard	0.797
D. Lovren	0.726
M. Skrtel	0.708
R. Sterling	0.681
J. Allen	0.672

  

Defensive efficiency

M. Skrtel	0.905
D. Lovren	0.896
S. Gerrard	0.842
L. Leiva	0.833
Emre Can	0.706

  

Overall efficiency

S. Gerrard	0.820
D. Lovren	0.811
L. Leiva	0.808
M. Skrtel	0.807
Henderson	0.674

  

Efficiency over team

S. Gerrard	0.135
D. Lovren	0.127
L. Leiva	0.124
M. Skrtel	0.122
Henderson	-0.010

  

So only four players boast a positive EOT, which means they make up for half of the sides' positive results in possession.  If that doesn't improve, Liverpool are in a world of trouble.

Least efficient players overall

D. Sturridge	0.494
P. Coutinho	0.571
G. Johnson	0.622
J. Manquillo	0.624
R. Lambert	0.625