Liverpool/Arsenal, Premier League, 8pm, Sky Sports 1
With Steven Gerrard still out injured, the main point of contention is whether Lucas should keep his place. We’ve decided that Yossi Benayoun is the better option and would also opt for Daniel Agger over Martin Skrtel, who hasn’t impressed us as much recently as he did earlier in the season:
Let us know how you would line Liverpool up for tonight’s game with a comment below.
The chances are you’ll come up with something better than us
It wasn’t until The Spoiler tried to figure out how we would set Liverpool up tonight that we realised just how tough a task Rafael Benitez faces. They need to field as attacking a line-up as possible without leaving themselves so vulnerable at the back that they risk humiliation. After lots of umming and ahhing, here’s what we settled on:
Playing without full-backs is risky with Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou both likely to start for Chelsea so we’d need Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger to move wide a lot with Javier Mascherano operating as a virtual centre-back at times. The reason we chose Sami Hyypia over Martin Skrtel is that he has scored in three previous Champions League quarter-finals for Liverpool and could unsettle a Chelsea defence missing John Terry at set-pieces.
Our approach is fairly suicidal so if you have a better way of balancing all-out attack with a steady defence, let us know with a comment below.
One of ten reasons it sucks to be a referee
[Big Soccer]
Are Disney about to win the Premier League TV rights?
[The Guardian]
Manchester Utd may hijack Spurs’ Wilson Palacios bid
[Daily Mail]
Daniel Agger might be San Siro bound
[Footy Latest]
Arthur Boka turns down a move to Tottenham
[Sky Sports]
Barcelona get slapped with a huge beer fine
[Dirty Tackle]
Page Three girl Amii Grove caught Jermaine Pennant cheating on her, then agreed to marry him when he proposed in a graveyard. Their relationship has taken another tempestuous turn…
[The Mirror]
There’s just thirteen days to go before the window is opened
In the summer everyone was expecting Xabi Alonso to move to Juventus only for coach Claudio Ranieri to eventually decide that he was too slow. The Daily Telegraph today claim that Ranieri is planning another Anfield raid, with underused duo Daniel Agger and Ryan Babel, who have eight league starts between them this season, top of his wishlist. The former Chelsea coach is poised to offer £19 million to persuade Rafael Benitez to part with his favourite substitutes. Here are today’s other major rumours:
Slaven Bilic to Sunderland
Former West Ham and Everton defender Super Slav has been backed down from 12/1 to 6/4 favourite for the Sunderland job but don’t be fooled into wasting money backing him because The Times say he is still not a leading contender.
Thanks to Sporno fan Eliza for the submission. If you’ve seen any great sport/ porn hybrids, send them here and we’ll cross your palm with ten shiny pounds if it is used.
Brazilian probably won’t be kissing his badge in Spain any more
Brazilian man-’o-sex Robinho is determined to push Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Barry all the way with a late charge to make his prolonged transfer saga the most irritating of the summer. The winger told Spanish news agency EFE:
“I want to leave. I’ve told the president, the directors and the coach. I want to play in the Premier League. Chelsea have a great squad, a great team and their offer is good for me and for the team.”
Real Madrid have announced that the player is not for sale, but it’s hard to see Chelsea heeding that warning after the Spanish club spent most of the summer ignoring similar proclamations from Manchester United about Ronaldo.
Elsewhere in footballnewsland…
Daniel Agger sets Liverpool up for a fall
Liverpool’s Danish defender Daniel Agger