The Liver Bird  

Oh Gini Wijnaldum, how much do I love you? I was on the edge of a football breakdown at 45 minutes so thank god he stepped up with that cracking goal in the 46th!
That first half was agonising on Sunday and while you kind of expect that Liverpool these days need time to build themselves up into a game, time is something we didn't really have this weekend. Not when Manchester City are romping home and a Arsenal are somehow still ahead despite having a man sent off!
Thankfully, none of that mattered as in the end Liverpool did find their stride and it was plain sailing from there. The Reds are back in Europe and deservedly so I think. 
We've had our ups and downs this season but overall I feel we've had a respectable campaign. Our record against teams in the traditional top four for example was nothing short of phenomenal. Our pitfall of course was against the smaller teams, teams who were extremely hard to break down, we just didn't appear to have a Plan B. When push came …

Granted, being a Liverpool fan isn't the toughest of tasks, we've had our fair share of glory over the years but even when that glory has arrived, it's never been an easy process has it?!
If the Reds had beaten Southampton earlier this month or managed to beat Bournemouth in April or if they didn't lose to Hull at home in February! Things could have been so different. But they aren't, so here we are on the final day of the season feeling massively nervous about a game that on paper should be a victory for Liverpool.
There are just three points separating Manchester City in third from Arsenal in fifth meaning a multitude of outcomes could happen on Sunday. City just need to avoid defeat to stay in the Champions League places. Similarly, if Liverpool win their European dreams are alive, a draw could be enough but it's a dangerous line to be treading with Arsenal right behind. The Gunners are very much reliant on results around them to make it into the top four on t…

In a joint record for the competition Liverpool were crowned eventual winners against Middlesbrough last night after the penalty tally read 14-13. A phenomenal end to a difficult night for the Reds who looked to have sealed things with a Suso goal late on only for Raheem Sterling to make a terrible pass, forcing Kolo Toure to concede a penalty.

Brendan Rodgers as expected started with a very different line up. Rickie Lambert lead the line with youngster Jordan Rossiter given his debut in midfield. Despite the assumption Boro would field a full starting XI manager Aitor did make several changes.

The game got off to a good start for Liverpool who only took nine minutes to convert. Attacking play from both teams eventually led to a break for Liverpool. Youngster Jordan Rossiter was awaiting outside the box and with a sweet strike sent his effort to the left of goal past the Middlesbrough keeper Blackman.

With the upper hand it was perhaps expected that the Reds would grasp a hold of the…

After a somewhat dismal week for Liverpool, manager Brendan Rodgers will be hoping his side can pick themselves up and progress past Middlesbrough in tomorrow night's league cup tie. The two sides have met on numerous occasions and were last drawn against each other in this competition back in 1998!

Liverpool are still in a bit of a rut with injuries however and with a Merseyside derby to contend with at the weekend it is expected that Brendan will pick an unfamiliar line up anyway. Rickie Lambert is predicted to get his first start in a Liverpool shirt.

For Middlesbrough they are without Whitehead who is serving a suspension but ex Red Daniel Ayala is available after serving a ban himself.

The last time the two teams met was in February 2009 'Boro actually beat the Reds on that occasion 2-0 with Xabi Alonso scoring an own goal. Their last trip to Anfield was in 2008, after taking the lead via Mido an own goal from Pogatetz and a very late Steven Gerrard goal eventually gave …