Reds go top, prepare to host Portsmouth

Stamford Bridge was Chelsea Football Club's impenetrable fortress. 86 games they went unbeaten, coming close to loosing a few times, but always managing to hold on and preserve their record. It was a feat that broke British records. But all of that came to an end on Sunday when Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso's strike deflected into Petr Cech's goal.

The match was a battle between two clubs deadlocked on points at the top of the table. Chelsea had (and still have) the greater goal difference and had been absolutely smashing teams on their way to the top. Liverpool, on the other hand, had proven themselves to be comeback kings on multiple occasions in the season already. With the 1-0 win, Liverpool are 3 points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table.

I actually didn't get to watch the game because on Saturday I traveled to LA to visit my friend, see the sights, and go to Monster Massive. So I woke up too late on Sunday to actually see it (it was a fair trade though, because I had an awesome weekend). But beating Chelsea, ending their unbeaten home record, and going top of the league was a really great way to cap what was an amazing weekend for me.

Being on top of the league is fantastic, but it can be shortlived. Today there is a match against Portsmouth and that could bring our reign at the top to an end. We'll be up against Jermaine Defoe, who has been in great form all season, and Peter Crouch - the 6'8'' former Liverpool player with an incredibly hot girlfriend. Both of those players will be a test for our backline.

I think Fernando Torres is still injured, but if he can play I want to see him come back. If not, I hope Robbie Keane can start scoring in the league. Keane's a good player, but he's not scoring enough for the price we paid for him. I hope he comes good soon.

Until next time, my friends!

Liverpool prepare to face Chelsea

I said I would write again on Saturday, and here we are at 37 minutes past midnight and I am writing my second blog post on Saturday. All the focus in the Liverpool world is the impending match with Chelsea.

Chelsea are a weird club. We have probably played them more than any other club in Europe since 2005. I know we've played them in 3 Champions League Semi-Finals in the last four years (being victorious twice!). But they've got a very good record at home, and we'll be traveling to their stadium hoping to carry on our unbeaten run. Both teams are undefeated and Chelsea haven't lost at home for 86 matches or something ridiculous like that. I hope it's a good game.

I know it will probably be a dull game with both teams playing really defensive football because neither team will want to lose. And if I'm honest, if I were to expect one team to try to take the game to the other, it would probably be them (being that they are the home team). But this is a pretty good time to play them in terms of how injuries and suspensions have effected their squad. They've got Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, and Joe Cole definitely out - those are huge players for them. We've got our own injury problems with Skrtel definitely out for a few months, Torres not being likely to play, and Keane, Gerrard, and Alonso all carrying what Rafa Benitez describes as "minor knocks." I really wish Torres could play though, that would be great.

I really hope that we can win this one. Chelsea are major title contenders and we're level with them on points (although they have a higher goal difference). Winning away at Chelsea wouldn't just mean ending their insane home undefeated stretch - but it would send out a serious message to the rest of the league. We want to win the league and I think this is the closest we've come to actually challenging in a long time. It's a long season, obviously, but I'm not old enough to remember the last time Liverpool won the league and it's something that I'm desperately looking to see.

I've got a busy week ahead of me with take home midterms, regular midterms, and various other activities. I hope that Sunday will kick start a productive week with a Liverpool win!

It begins! (It being my blog)

So it took me a very long time to figure out what exactly I'd want to write a blog about. Probably a lot longer than it usually takes people to think about something they would be interested in and then write about it. But yesterday in the morning at about 11:45 AM as I was watching ESPN2 it came to me - I want to write my blog about Liverpool Football Club.

I've been a Liverpool fan since I can remember and the team has given me some great memories over the years. Moving to Southern California when I was a kid proved to be a burden, because it disconnected me from my team. But now, through the magic of the internet and more European ex-pats in America, it is easier than ever for me (and people like me) to get to watch the games. Which has created me waking up at random times in the morning to watch my team, which kind of sucks to be honest. I hope that through my blog I can interact with other soccer fans of various European teams who also are in my situation.

When I started this blog I mentioned that there was a game on Wednesday and it was a pretty disappointing game (at least from my point of view). We scored early through a good finish from Irishman Robbie Keane and that was good (obviously), but we failed to really capitalize on the boatload of chances we created. I’m also concerned at the way the defense has performed in the past few games. We’re conceding goals that Liverpool don’t normally concede, and Agger’s been looking sloppy for a while. The game finished 1-1, and I don’t really like draws unless they’re very high scoring draws (also, I don’t like when Liverpool draw) so I was quite disappointed. Although Atletico are a pretty good team and in the group stages a draw is not a bad result.

The worst aspect of the match was the injuries we suffered. Robbie Keane was taken off at half time for Dirk Kuyt. Our glorious captain, Steven Gerrard, has a calf strain, and Xabi Alonso who has been in great form I believe also got an injury. These are not good injuries to have, especially with our talisman striker Fernando Torres out for about a week with a hamstring problem. Our next game is against Chelsea, who like Liverpool are undefeated this season, and it will definitely be our toughest game of the season. It would be incredibly disappointing to have to play a depleted side against them.

Farewell until Saturday.

-The Redman