Robbie Fowler!

Mission Impossible?

Despite the heroics of Kuyt and Benayoun, Liverpool's superb 3-0 win over Newcastle, the Reds' chance of lifting the EPL title this season is still very slim. Man Utd's simple win over Boro ensured that their lead over Liverpool remains at 3 points with a game in hand.


Liverpool have 3 games left to play. They will have to beat the in-form West Ham, relegation favourites West Brom, and finally a Tottenham side who was just trounced by Man Utd despite taking a 2-0 lead.

Then, Liverpool will have to hope that Man Utd drop 6 points in the remaining 4 games. This may seem impossible but in the game of football, anything can happen. The problem is, Man Utd seems to have fully recovered from the trauma of losing to Liverpool at home. They lost to Fulham and struggled to overcome the likes of Sunderland and Aston Villa, who are themselves in the worst form of the entire season. But now Man Utd are back to their deadly best, beating Arsenal convincing over 2 legs in the Champions League Semi-Finals.

Man Utd have 4 more games to play... Man City, Wigan, Arsenal and Hull. If Man Utd lose in one of the first 3 games, through a freak or wonder goal, it may be enough to deflate them for the next match. Liverpool would then be level on points, albeit having played one game more. But with an inferior goal difference, Man Utd will be fearful of another slip-up - Liverpool can be ahead by the narrowest of margins when that happens.

Liverpool lost a English Division 1 title to a Michael Thomas equaliser. That equaliser ensured that Arsenal pip Liverpool to the title but having scored more goals.

Impossible?

We will walk on!

Advantage Man U

Liverpool came back from behind yet again to secure a second successive 4-4 draw. This time, against resurgent Arsenal. Once again, Benayoun's contribution is significant. He must have the biggest turn-around amongst all the Liverpool players this season. Together with Insua, they must be the 2 biggest "discoveries" this season.


Liverpool dropped another 2 points in the title race, and now Man U can be 6 points ahead if they win their 2 games in hand. While the quest for a record 19th title may now seem unlikely, Liverpool have an easier run-in compared to Man U. Anything, is still possible.

Tonight, Man U will take on inconsistent Portsmouth. If Man U wins tonight... it will be very very difficult for Liverpool this season. However, this is still Liverpool's best season in recent memories, definitely one to remember!

Liverpool 4 - 4 Arsenal Video Highlights

Liverpool v Arsenal

Positives to take away from the Bridge

Liverpool is out of the Champions League.
Liverpool lost 1 - 3 at home to Chelsea in the first leg.
Liverpool conceded 4 goals in the 2nd half after leading by 2 goals to one in the first.
Reina's conceded a dodgy and soft first goal on a big European night to give the tie away.

In another season, this would be a big blow to Liverpool. Since Rafa Benitez took over the helm, the Champions League has always been Liverpool's best hope for silverware (Liverpool tends to field an understrengthed team in the domestic cup competitions). We can still hold our heads high because we know that we are the most consistent and dangerous team in the continental competition over the past 5 years. Losing at this stage, especially after a andrenalin pulsing 4-4 draw away from home, would have sapped the morale and spirits from the Liverpool players and fans alike.


But this year, this season, is different. There are no despairs, but determination to come out from this stronger. There is added conviction and motivation to win the remaining games in the league. We may be out of the Champions League, but we are very much in the running for the most coveted trophy for Liverpool players and fans -the English Premier League title!

Chelsea v Liverpool


Liverpool took on a near full-strengthed Chelsea team, rejuvenated with the appointment of a new and inspirational manager. With Michael Essien and Didier Drogba back to fitness and their best, this is a different Chelsea to that who lost to Liverpool home and away in the league this year. Yet, despite going into the 2nd leg at Stamford Bridge with a 2 goal deficit, there is fire and optimism in the Liverpool players that they can pull it off. This is reminiscent of the successful Man Utd teams that won so many trophies over the years. Liverpool is building the character and mentality of a worthy champion!

And Liverpool nearly pulled it off. They have enough chances in the first half to sew up the quarter-final tie. They dominated the 1st half and came away with a credible 2-0 lead. They are only 1 goal away from achieving another great comeback. All this without their inspirational captain and without out-of-the-world goals from Fernando Torres. Aurelio, while still a suspect at times in defense, is fast becoming a free-kick super hero. He has now beaten Edwin Van Der Sar and Petr Cech with a dead ball struck so clinically that both keepers barely moved.

And while Kuyt is not the most clinical or prolific finisher, his goal yet again showed that Liverpool can score apart from Gerrard and Torres. Liverpool's overall team play has allowed players like Kuyt, Riera and Benayoun to get into good goal-scoring positions. Yet another feather of the cap of the great Man Utd teams of the past, where players like Scholes, Giggs and even O'Shea can pop up with match-winning goals.

Champions League results aside, Liverpool has done the double over Man Utd and Chelsea, while getting a credible away draw at the Emirates Stadium. While Arsenal is on a high, Liverpool has every chance of securing 3 points against the Gunners next week. Recent thrashing of Villa and Blackburn, and the 4 strikes off the wood-work of Fulham gave further evidence that this Liverpool team has improved vastly since the beginning of the season. It is now very possible for Liverpool to win the remaining games against Hull, Newcastle, West Ham, West Brom and Spurs.

Of course, for Liverpool to end their 19 year wait for their 19th title, there is still the small issue of Man Utd's potential 4 points lead over the Reds. But while Liverpool may have stuttered against Chelsea in the Champions League, Man Utd have been struggling of late, even if they still managed to pick up points in the league and prgress in Europe. A comparison of some recent fixtures proves my point that Liverpool has the better league form than Man Utd at the moment:

Liverpool 2 - 0 Sunderland
Sunderland 1 - 2 Man Utd (Sunderland nearly equalised in the dying minutes)

Fulham 2 - 0 Man Utd
Fulham 0 - 1 Liverpool (Liverpool struck the woodworks 4 times in the first half)

Liverpool 5 - 0 Aston Villa
Man Utd 3 - 2 Aston Villa (Man Utd struck a late equaliser in injury time after falling behind 2-1)

It remains to be seen is Man Utd can grap maximum points against in-form Arsenal and Everton. And if Fulham, Aston Villa and Sunderland can cause so much problems for Man Utd now, I wouldn't bet against the likes of Portsmouth, Spurs, Man City (Manchester Derby) and Hull!

Liverpool's deadly league form continues

Liverpool bounced back from midweek's defeat to Chelsea in the best possible way - a resounding victory at home against 'struggling' Blackburn. Liverpool lost the way in the quest for their 19th title midway in the season mainly due to their poor home form against the lower teams in the league. Liverpool could only draw against Fulham, West Ham, Hull, Man City and Everton from Nov to Feb, a run of 5 draws and 2 wins in 7 home games. That's easily 8 points squandered and you can imagine Liverpool sitting comfortably on top of the league if they had won them. But their irresistible league form of late gave them to boost to go on and record their biggest wins this season against Villa and Blackburn.


Since their morale boosting 4-0 win at home against Real Madrid, Liverpool plays like a team possessed. The team dished out 14 goals and conceded just one in the 4 league fixtures. However, to me, the turning point is the away win at The Bernabeu. Yossi Benayoun scored the dramatic winner late on to give the team much need self-belief that they can beat anyone in the world. Though they inexplicably lost at Middlesbrough in the next game, the team knew that they have it in them to control their own destiny this season. They bounced back with ease at home against Sunderland, when their previous home form suggested a potential banana skin, and they have not looked back since.

The Champions League quarter-final loss to Chelsea might be hurting, but the spirit and character of the team is now so strong that any hopes of Blackburn taking advantage of Liverpool's dip in form and morale, disappeared within minutes as Liverpool and Torres in particular made their intentions known.

Just like Liverpool's season had a turning point, Man U's season also took a turn - for the worst - after possibly the season defining game against their greatest domestic rival. With 11 consecutive league wins since Boxing Day, scoring 21 and conceding only 2, Man U looked set to end Liverpool's 19 years wait for their 19th title in disappointment. During that incredible run of form, Man U despatched Fulham 3-0 and 4-0 in the league and F.A. Cup respectively. The 4-0 thrashing of Fulham in the F.A. Cup is followed by a 2-0 win over Inter in the Champions League. Talk of a quintuple winning season was all over the media.

The turning point, and all would agree with me, is the largely unexpected and humiliating loss at home to their greatest rival of all. Such was the 'superiority' of Man U's play that Liverpool couldn't get out of their own half for the first 15 min. And when LIverpool did manage to contrive some attacking moves of their own, they were pegged back by a needless penalty after a counter attack from the Red Devils. Just like in last night's win against Blackburn, a long punt and Torres' individual brilliance was all that was required for parity to be restored. The rest, we all know too well.

This game saw Vidic getting the red card and resulting in the Serbian missing the next two games. Man U didn't recover. Just 3 games after the 4-0 win at the fortress that was Craven Cottage, Man U paid another visit but this time the table was turned. First Scholes, then Rooney got sent off. Fulham went on to register a hugely surprising 2-0 win over the reigning England and European champions. Suddenly, the aura of invincibility is gone. While Man U has not lost another game since, the teams who played Man U always knew they have the chance to score. Man U conceded 2 goals to Fulham, Villa and Porto. Even Sunderland scored 1 and threatened to score another.

Man U was twice saved by their 17 year old wonderkid and their season may still end with their 18th league title. However, domestic supremacy is no longer a foregone conclusion. Liverpool's late form coupled with Man U's own faltering one, will ensure that the title chase go down to the wire. With in-form Everton on the horizon, the stage is set for another upset! And if Liverpool can better their away draw at the Emirates Stadium, Liverpool will take a firmer grasp on the English Premier League trophy!