The Liver Bird  

Liverpool make the short trip to Huddersfield this weekend as the Reds look to pick up where they left off prior to the international break. A draw with City for many at the time felt like quite a frustrating result for the Reds but having had time to ponder, in the grand scheme of things, if Klopp's side can get back in the saddle this weekend, things are looking rather rosy.

Huddersfield are struggling to say the least and so far this season they have yet to find the back of the net at home. The Terriers currently sit 18th in the table on just three points. By contrast, the Reds are in third only due to goal difference, joint on points with both Chelsea and Manchester City.

Injuries for Liverpool took a bad turn during the international break as news of knocks and even broken bones began to filter through. A suspected broken thumb for Sadio Mane has seen him undergo hand surgery, Naby Keita left the field with an injury in the Guinea v Rwanda match and Mo Salah also went off injur…

A frustrating result in Italy for Liverpool meant the Reds threw away a point in the 90th minute having somehow held on to a 0-0 draw for the majority of the match. The influential Insigne, who was always bound to have a say in this match, converted late on to send the tifosi wild leaving Liverpool fans utterly deflated. 
The game was an unproductive one for the Reds who failed really to call Napoli keeper Ospina into action. A front three consisting of Salah, Firmino and Mane would usually guarantee you a goal but not on Wednesday night. 
Added to the mix was an early injury to Naby Keita who went off clutching his back. At the time of writing, I believe he is getting checked over in hospital. It's hard to tell how much of an impact something like that has, especially so early on but it will have created an issue in Liverpool's momentum. 
Napoli were the ones with all the dangerous chances in this game and at one stage Mertens nearly converted only to see his deflection smash ou…

Liverpool fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea on Wednesday evening in the League Cup despite looking in control for large portions of the game.
Jurgen Klopp fielded a weakened XI but maintained experience with the likes of Milner, Mane and Sturridge.
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With the first half remaining 0-0 but both goalkeepers called into action, the Reds had to wait until just before the hour mark for their goal when Daniel Sturridge converted with an acrobatic effort at the Kop end.
The forward had missed an open net a few minutes earlier but redeemed himself with a brilliant goal. It's superb to know we have somebody like Daniel Sturridge to call upon because he will always find you a goal.
Chelsea equalised at 79 minutes thanks to a close-range conversion from Emerson. VAR was utilised but the goal was ruled onside. Simon Mignolet I thought was very unlucky here having made a great reaction save just prior to the effort. 
At this point, the match looke…

1) Daniel Sturridge is still a top class striker
Prior to the match having seen the starting line up, I was all over Sturridge to grab Liverpool a goal. So convinced was I that I popped a quid on a Daniel Sturridge 3-1 scorecast (close to winning bloody £35 quid!).
On Twitter though I was met with an interesting reaction, I was being too optimistic with the scoreline, Sturridge would never score etc. I think sometimes fans forget how prolific Sturridge has been in his career, give him an opportunity like a night under the floodlights against PSG and he will make you proud.
I was elated to see him dancing in front of the Kop after a cracking header.

2) PSG aren’t actually that good?
Supposedly one of the best teams in the world I think PSG put on display some of their weaknesses on Tuesday night. Yes, they have some superstars in the team but they left masses of space for Liverpool to attack and for me lacked in intensity when out of possession.
Their style may work week in, week out in the …

Liverpool collected their first victory of the Premier League season in some style on Sunday after putting four past West Ham with no return. Expectations were high for the Reds who had strengthened their side during the summer transfer window but there was no reason to fear as Klopp’s side made this game look relatively straightforward.

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The Liverpool XI featured new signings Keita and Alisson but Shaqiri and Fabinho started on the bench. Keita, in particular, made a real impression on the game leaving pundits drooling over his obvious ability. He’s the kind of player who is always looking for the next ball, the next pass, the next move forward and just going off Sunday’s performance I think we can expect to see a lot from him this season.

The first goal for the Reds came from a familiar face, Mr Mo Salah! In the right place, at the right time, the Egyptian king was never going to miss this opportunity as he converted Andy Robertson’s cross. I was never in any d…

Liverpool couldn't quite hold on to their 1-0 lead at Anfield on Saturday with the Reds having to settle for a draw after a Willian equaliser in the 85th minute. It was a strange starting line up from manager Jurgen Klopp but overall a draw was probably the right result.

A starting XI consisting of the likes of Milner and Daniel Sturridge meant players such as Firmino and Mane were left on the bench. It was an interesting decision by Klopp, was he rotating with one eye on the busy fixture schedule ahead? Did he change the line up specifically because he felt it would work well against Conte's Chelsea? Who knows. All I know is, if Mane and Firmino were on from the start, this would have been a different result.

The first half, even with the weird starting XI, went quite well for the Reds. No major chances but Liverpool maintained a lot of possession and looked relatively at ease against Chelsea who looked lacking in ideas to begin with. After neither side found the back of the ne…

Liverpool enter the Champions League group stages on Wednesday evening for the first time since 2014. The Reds' three year absence has felt like a lifetime to most fans and after a favourable draw in the group, all eyes are on Jurgen Klopp's side to open up our European season in a winning fashion.

Liverpool are no strangers to Sevilla having faced them extremely recently in the 2015/2016 Europa League final. This is however the only time that the two sides have met. Daniel Sturridge opened the scoring on the night but the Reds ended up losing the game 3-1.



Team news for Liverpool means that Philippe Coutinho could feature for the first time since the whole Barcelona saga unfolded. I for one can't be arsed with holding a grudge, I'm perfectly happy for him to feature in the side, frankly it would be a waste not to use such a talent. Hopefully if he does start he can find the back of the net.

Thankfully for the Reds Sadio Mane will also be available, his red card picked up…

Liverpool walked away from Anfield on Sunday afternoon with all three points after an emphatic victory over an extremely dire Arsenal side. The Gunners offered absolutely nothing in front of goal leaving Loris Karius with very little to do.
The lack of goalkeeping requirement was perhaps a blessing in disguise for the Reds as Karius looked nervous on occasion stepping in to the role after months without a game. The bizarre decision to entirely drop Simon Mignolet from the side (not even allowing the Belgian to appear on the bench) left many Liverpool fans scratching their heads before kick off.
Jurgen Klopp explained that Migs was simply being "rested" but I wasn't born yesterday. A goalkeeper doesn't need to be "rested" and certainly not this early in the season. Something has happened, I'm not sure what, but you don't just drop a keeper with no real reason behind it. I have no qualms with Karius making an appearance in goal to give Mignolet some com…

❓: Champions League first play-off round, first leg 📅: Tuesday 15th August 19:45 GMT 📍: Rhein-Neckar Arena, Sinsheim Who are Hoffenheim?  The German side hail from the Sinsheim region and up until 2008 were a team struggling in the lower realms of the German football system. Last year they finished 4th in the Bundesliga and they have some solid centre forwards to call upon. 

Manager Julian Nagelsmann got his side through the whole of the 2016/2017 season with just four losses to their name in the league.
Fun fact: Hoffenheim open their home matches by playing Rammstein's "Engel".

Should Liverpool be concerned? On the one hand, Liverpool should be very concerned, other than perhaps Nice most would agree that Hoffenheim were the toughest draw for our Champions League qualifier. The German side may be relatively inexperienced when it comes to Europe but they will be hungrier than most to get through and they enter this fixture on the back of a cracking season.
On the other hand Li…

Welcome back to The Liver Bird for the eighth year of me blogging about the Reds! Let's get stuck straight in with a preview for the opener against Watford shall we? CoutinhoI can't really type this post without bringing up Couts can I? On Wednesday evening the Reds rejected a £90 million bid from Barcelona for the magician, it's the second time they've come knocking this season, but manager Jurgen Klopp has no plans to let one of his star players go.

"No price at which we are ready to give in. Our goal is to have the best possible team. So we want to keep our guys and add new ones. That is our plan."
I honestly don't think Coutinho is going anywhere this window. I think he knows he can afford to give us another season and if he wants to go to Spain, Barcelona will still be there at the end of it. Liverpool of course can cope without the Brazilian but he'd leave a huge hole. Particularly when we need to turn those dogged draws into wins, he's the man…

It looks increasingly likely that Italian outfit Lazio will seal the signing of Lucas Leiva this week for £5 million. The Brazilian entered his 10th year at Liverpool Football Club in 2017 and while it's impossible to deny that his time here has consisted of some ups and downs, overall he has been a phenomenal servant to the club.


Signed by Rafa Benitez weirdly also for £5 million in 2007, he started his first game in November of that year. Lucas Leiva was the first ever Brazilian to score for Liverpool, a fact I always forget.

Throughout his Liverpool career I always appeared to be that fan who was constantly backing Lucas up, whilst others became frustrated I just saw dips in form as just that, a blip.

Lucas was invaluable at times to Liverpool and for me he was one of those players who you didn't really appreciate until he was gone. His ability to control the game defensively from the midfield, breaking up the play of the opposition assisted Liverpool on countless occasions…

Yes I know, this post is ridiculously late on the blog but better late than never ay? Below I provide you with a quick rundown of each month of the 2016/2017 season. 

Was 4th place good enough? Why do I think Klopp can often be as stubborn as hell? Why did 2017 contain one of the worst matches I have ever watched as a Liverpool fan? Read on to find out.
AugustLiverpool kicked off Jurgen Klopp's full season as manager in a game away to Arsenal. The Reds have had some interesting fixtures with Arsene Wenger's side over recent years and this opening tie was no different.

Seven goals were scored in the game, four of which came from Liverpool. I was left with a strange sense of disappointment at the result though after I bet 50p on a 4-4 scoreline for a hundred quid haha.
The Reds also picked up a draw with Spurs this month but famously were beaten 2-0 by Burnley.  A 5-0 win over Burton Albion in the second round of the League Cup completed the month of August.
SeptemberLiverpool kicked…

1) Playing two strikers can actually work

I've been saying for months now, Liverpool should not be afraid to field two strikers. For me, the whole season we have faced sides such as West Ham and failed to break them down with our Plan A. I love Jurgen Klopp but I think most of us would agree that he can be a bit stubborn at times. On far too may occasions this season Klopp has decided for whatever reason to field the same tactics and an extremely similar team against sides who are determined to make things difficult for us.

Teams like West Ham all season have been more than happy to sit back and allow Liverpool to keep possession, fail to score due to a lack of ideas and a lack of directness and then simply hit us on the break.

In my opinion, having a true striker like Daniel Sturridge on, even better in a front two gives us a much greater chance of breaking down this kind of opposition. Yes it took a significant proportion of the game to take effect on Sunday but it is not a coincid…