Source: SKY_Sports
Liverpool v Villa live!
// A bit of a hack but it works// The article snippet is wrapped onto a second line, even when #article-sub is emptyif( $("div#article-sub").children().length == 0 ) {$("div#article-sub").remove();} 85 Villa are seeing plenty of the ball now, and the crowd are getting restless. This wasn't what the Merseyside public had in mind when they left the comfort of their house this evening.[LNB]84 Carragher is flagged offside. Not a phrase you hear too often. He is pushing forward at every opportunity, but it may not be enough to save his side.[LNB]82 Kuyt should score as he slides in at the back post. A teasing cross evades Torres' outstreched leg, and Kuyt can then only prod wide once the ball reaches him.[LNB]81 Brilliant reaction stop by another ex-Red, Friedel. He casn see little of an effort whcih flicks of Beye, but he gets a firm hand to the ball to keep it out.[LNB]80 Young goes off and former Reds striker Emile Heskey comes on.[LNB]80 Another penalty claim. Kuty breaks into the box and is seen off by Beye. All the Villa man does is lever Kuyt out of the way. Nothing doing for the Reds.[LNB]79 Another handball shout as Petrov blocks a Gerrard shot from distance. In fairness he was defending his face and the ref was never going to give that. Desperate times for the hosts.[LNB]78 Torres sees yellow for moaning about Young's antics.[LNB]77 Carragher not happy with Young as the Villa man goes down under a tackle and rolls around a bit. Time-wasting, but you can't blame O'Neill's side. Any team would do the same.[LNB]76 Babel on in place of Benayoun.[LNB]75 GOAL VILLA - YOUNG. Ashley Young makes no mistake from the spot as he sends Reina the wrong way. Composed would be the best way to describe it. Liverpool's hopes appear to have been ended.[LNB]74 Reo-Coker goes down under a challenge from Gerrard. Sliding tackle from the Reds skipper and he got it all wrong.[LNB]73 The crowd are on their feet trying to spur their side on to victory. There is, however, a small section of Villa fans who appear to be fearing the worst![LNB]72 GOAL LIVERPOOL - TORRES. Game on. Voronin does well to hold play up. He sends Insua scampering into the box and his cross is volley home into the roof of the net by Torres. Is the comeback on?[LNB]71 Milner goes down off the ball, with Mascherano in close attendance. Difficult to see what happened, but the Villa man is holding his face. No action is taken.[LNB]70 Tackles flying in as times ticks away. At the moment Liverpool are on top, but Villa will not lie down.[LNB]69 Typical blockbuster from Gerrard swerves and dips goalwards. Again, though, it is very central and Friedel is able to beat it away.[LNB]68 Benayoun has been quiet after a bright start and Villa are keeping close tabs on him.[LNB]67 Worryingly for Liverpool Carragher has gone down. It appears that he will be fine, with his boot giving him a problem.[LNB]66 Lucas makes way for Voronin.[LNB]66 Torres tumbles under a challenge from Davies, but he gets nothing. Tangle of legs more than anything else.[LNB]65 Villa are starting to sit deeper and deeper. They are inviting Liverpool to attack because the Reds appear to be toothless.[LNB]64 Reo-Coker bombs forward and looks to be favourite to meet a clever through-ball. Johnson, though, gets back to him and pokes behind. Liverpool clear their lines but they have brought everybody back. Strange decision.[LNB]63 There is space opening up everywhere now, and that could play into Villa's hands.[LNB]62 Agbonlahor delivers a loss cross. It cuts out Carragher, but Johnson hammers clear from in front of Young. Reminder that Liverpool cannot afford to relax at the back.[LNB]61 Torres looks to dance past two Villa defenders, but comes up short and ends up on his backside.[LNB]60 Starting to look like only a matter of time before Liverpool find a route back into the game. Kuty again causes trouble and fires into the side-netting after brushing past Beye.[LNB]59 End-to-end stuff as Villa break. Young fires over a cross, which is onyl inches away from picking out Agbonlahor. Liverpool's defence was nowhere to be seen.[LNB]59 Liverpool up the tempo and force another corner. Kuyt is causing problems again and hits Shorey/the post, with a header from a tight angle.[LNB]58 Gerrard picks out Kuyt with a corner, and his header is tipped over by Friedel. He rose well, but his effort was too straight. Second set-piece comes to nothing.[LNB]57 Petulant from Reo-Coker as he kicks the ball away and gets his name taken down.[LNB]57 Liverpool pass up the chance to deliver into the box and lose the ball after messing around with it on the adge of the area.[LNB]56 Pressure is building as Torres outmuscles Milner, who is forced to drag him to the turf. Friedel does well to get an important fingertip to the delivery, which was bound for Kuyt's head.[LNB]55 Reo-Coker fells Torres near the corner flag. Another chance to get men forward. Gerrard finds the heart of the box, and the head of Davies.[LNB]54 Handball shout is waved away by Martin Atkinson. The home supporters are not amused, but there didn't seem to be much in it. Villa survive. Actually appeared to hit Lucas' arm, not Beye's.[LNB]53 Johnson is getting forward much more and lofts a cross to the back post. There are only two red shirts in there, though, and they are both nowhere near the ball.[LNB]52 Gerrard crosses from the left and his delivery takes a wicked deflection. Villa get lucky, though, as the ball drifts into the arms of Friedel.[LNB] A very optimisitc Richard Brown on the Isle of Man sees Liverpool winning 4-2. That's faith for you. Wayne Clark feels the Reds were always going to struggle to replicate their achievements of last season.[LNB]51 Agbonlahor is flagged offside as he threatens to ghost in behind. Good line from the Reds, but they need to be careful of Agbonlahor's pace.[LNB]49 Frustrating times for the hosts as they snap into tackles they don't need to make. Villa are doing a great job of unsettling Liverpool. Kuyt it is this time who concedes a needless free-kick.[LNB] Paul Cordweel sees Agbonlahor grabbing a third, while Cathy Mulhern feels Rafa is treading on thin ice.[LNB]48 Sloppy from Cuellar, but he gets away with it as his loose pass escapes Insua and goes out for a throw. Liverpool need to cut out the mistakes.[LNB]47 Great play from Johnson as he bursts past a couple of challenges. He finds Gerrard and his low shot is kicked clear by Friedel. The home support find their voice.[LNB]46 No changes at the break so we remains as we were.[LNB] Liverpool get us up and running again.[LNB] Quick run through of a few more predictions. Peter Lowe is going 3-2 to the hosts. Adrian thinks one goal could turn the game on its head. Barry Wilson wants to know who I am going for. I couldn't possibly say, but on the first-half showing it is difficult to bet against Villa![LNB] Sam Morgan, a Man Utd fan, thinks it is still too ealry to write off Liverpool. Shaun Samra sees the Reds getting three after the break. Abhinav Chand, in India, sees Villa getting a couple more. Andrew Pierce, another Red Devil, feels the sale of Alonso looks costly.[LNB] Craig Wharton, tuning in from France, wants to see Riera and Babel after the break and is losing patience with Benitez. Fionn McGuinness is no fan of Lucas, and I can see why from this display! Meanwhile, Lee Emerson is happy to see the result going the way he wanted at the start.[LNB] You can also bet inplay at skybet.com. Liverpool have now slipped to 4/1, with Villa at 8/15. Anyone fancying a remarkable comeback can get 3-2 to the Reds at 13/2.[LNB] Remember you can contact me direct with your thoughts on the game at Chris.Burton@bskyb.com. How is the second half going to play out?[LNB] Liverpool 0 Villa 2. Smash and grab from Villa, but it is working. They now have a comfortable lead and will fancy their chances of taking maximum points back to the Midlands. Can the Reds recover after the break?[LNB]45+2 GOAL VILLA - DAVIES. The Kop is stunned as Davies meets Shorey's delivery and glances past Reina and in off the underside of the bar. Benitez fumes at the match officials, as they had signalled one minute of stoppage time.[LNB]45+1 Reina is cautioned for kicking the ball away. Not needed.[LNB]45+1 Poor effort from Sidwell as he almost hits the corner flag. Actually, it takes a deflection and goes for a corner.[LNB]45 We drift towards the interval with neither side doing much of note. Bar a few bursts of life, the first 45 have been disappointing. Not if you're a Villa fan, though, i suppose. O'Neill has got his tactics spot on and the men from the Midlands look comfortable.[LNB]44 Good work by Kuyt as he tracks back, wins the ball and sets Liverpool on the marcg again. Unfortunately he is then let down by his team-mates. Liverpool lack width and that is proving to be a problem.[LNB]43 Villa are seizing on every Liverpool mistake and look dangerous on the counter. On this occasion Shorey (yes, really) is the furthest forward and he glances a tame header into the hands of Reina.[LNB]42 Answer - no. His strike clatters into the wall and is hacked to safety.[LNB]41 Torres trips Sidwell 30 yards from goal. Will we see a repeat from Young?[LNB]40 Reo-Coker drills wide from distance, but the Liverpool defence backed off dangerously. Carragher and Skrtel looked scared to get stuck in, unlike them.[LNB]39 Gerrard tries his best to swing over a cross from the right, but is denied on each occasion by Shorey. Villa are standing firm and it will take something special to beat them.[LNB]38 Friedel called into action to deny Torres. The Reds striker twists and turns to get in a shot, but it is straight at the Villa keeper.[LNB]37 Liverpool continue to see plenty of the ball - inside their own half. They lack urgency. At times they have looked good goign forward, but not often enough. Villa, meanwhile, look tight at the back.[LNB]36 Anfield is very quiet. This season promised so much and at the moment has delivered very little. Benitez is currently scribbling frantically into his notebook. He does not look like a happy man![LNB]35 Liverpool are unfortunate to be behind, but perhaps this will now show more adventure. They will need to, because don't expect Villa to go looking for anymore than they have got.[LNB]34 GOAL VILLA - YOUNG. Ashley Young goes for goal from 30 yards. His attempt seems ambitious, but it strikes Lucas on the head and sends Reina the wrong way. Might go down as an own goal.[LNB]33 Lucas trips Milner and Villa get a free-kick in a promising position. Can they make more of this than their earlier efforts?[LNB]32 A bout of keep-ball from the home side does little to inject life into the game. I know it is still early, but they appear to be running low on ideas.[LNB]31 Liverpool indulge in smart approach play again, only to fall down when it comes to the final ball. Lucas on this occasion with a horrible pass to nobody.[LNB]30 More frustration for Agbonlahor as, after all his hard work to chase down a lost cause, his cross bounces off Skrtel, back off his foot and out for a goal-kick. Not his night![LNB]29 Benayoun is the dangerman for Liverpool at the moment. He always appears to be in acres of space.[LNB] Liverpool new boy Kyrgiakos is in attendance tonight. He will be reasonably happy with what he has seen so far. The game does need a goal, one way or the other, though to liven things up.[LNB]27 Gerrard swings the ball into the middle and Cuellar is on hand to do soemthing of use on this occasion as he knocks back towards halfway.[LNB]26 Kuyt escapes in behind Cuellar, who is not having the best game, but can't pull back from the byline. The move is kept alive, though, and the Reds win a corner.[LNB]25 Villa need to get more men around Agbonlahor. His game is not suited to long balls. He needs the ball on the floor. Heskey might be an idea as he can hold the ball up and provide flick-ons for his mate.[LNB]24 Benyoun and Torres combine well, but the former sees the ball ricochet off his leg and through to Friedel as the Reds reach the edge of the box. Unfortunate, because Torres was actually looking for Gerrard.[LNB]23 Torres is down, but bounces back up. The Spaniard has been quiet so far, and will not have welcomed an elbow in the back of the head from Beye.[LNB]22 Villa are in rush to do anything. They win a free-kick inside their own half and take about four days to take it. I feel O'Neill's men might be happy to leave Merseyside tonight with a point![LNB]21 Back to matters on the field and we are experiencing a bit of a lull. Too many aimless long balls being played, giving there intended targets no chance.[LNB] Gary Enright has been in touch, saying Benitez needs to keep faith with the same side if Liverpool are to challenge. He feels continuity will be key, and he could be right.[LNB]19 Milner and Beye look to combine down the right, and almost do. Milner's clever backheel bypasses Mascherano, but his bucaneering team-mate is flagged offside.[LNB]18 Mike Atkinson has a word with Lucas after he trips Milner. The ref lets him off with a warning and appears to be prepared to let things go tonight, which is pleasing.[LNB]18 Another disappointing set-piece from Shorey as he drifts a ball to the back post, and straight into the grateful hands of Reina.[LNB]17 Torres with a sloppy pass which sends Agbonlahor scampering towards goal. Mascherano is forced to hack him down and is fortunate to escape a caution.[LNB]16 Opportunity for Villa to throw men forward for a free-kick from the right. Shorey takes, but he fails to pick out a white shirt in the middle. His delivery so far has not been the best.[LNB]15 It is all Liverpool at the moment. They may not be causing much of a threat, but they are knocking on the door.[LNB]14 No space for Liverpool at the moment as Villa are doing a good job of getting tight to their men. As I say that Benayoun makes a yard and Gerrard lashes inches over from 20 yards.[LNB]13 Gerrard delivers towards Lucas. He gets a toe to the ball, but sends it straight up in the air. Villa then clear their lines.[LNB]12 Ashley Young goes into the book for pulling down Kuyt on the edge of the box.[LNB]12 Sidwell bursts into the box and looks to fire across goal. Carragher is there, though, to knock behind. Reina drops Shorey's delivery, but gathers at the second attempt.[LNB]11 Rafa is already on his feet prowling the touchline. No need to tell you that O'Neill is also out there. I don't think he sleeps does he?[LNB]10 The set-piece comes to nothing and Villa breathe a huge sigh of relief. It was an almighty scramble in the box and how the deadlock was not broken is a mystery![LNB]9 How Liverpool are not ahead I have no idea. Benayoun, Torres and Gerrard all have a go, but somehow the Villa defence holds firm. Gerrard had the last effort and sees his effort from close range deflected behind.[LNB]9 Mascherano lets fly from 25-yards, but smashes straight at Reo-Coker.[LNB]8 Corner to Villa after good work by Agbonlahor. He appeared to push Skrtel, but the linesman gives him the benefit of the doubt. Shorey takes and Torres heads clear.[LNB] Few more names to mention. Lewis Moyes is going 4-2 to the Reds, Alex goes 3-0, Neil Podmore favours 2-0 and Nathan Jones is going for a Torres hat-trick.[LNB]6 Villa are holding rigid lines at the back and across midfield. They are happy to let Liverpool have the ball and try to pick a way though.[LNB]5 Carragher is sporting a fetching headband over the gash he picked up against Spurs, while Torres has a plaster above his eye. The Reds have been in the wars so far this season and look like they have played 32 games not 2![LNB]4 I'm told that Villa didn't sell out their allocation of tickets, but Liverpool fans have made up the numbers and we still have a full house. Seems a bit odd. Any idea why Villa fans?[LNB]3 Better by Friedel as he gets a strong fist to Gerrard's centre. He clears his lines by a fully 30 yards and Villa see out the danger.[LNB]3 Gerrard on the move and he is hauled down by Cuellar on the edge of the box. What can the Reds make of this?[LNB]2 First touch for Beye, but he is unable to squeeze over a cross from the right. Nodded clear by Carragher.[LNB]1 Lucas makes headway and feeds Torres. He lobs an effort into the heart of the box and Benayoun nods narrowly wide. Friedel came and got nowhere near the ball and we could have had a goal inside the opening 33 seconds![LNB] Villa get us underway.[LNB] Good luck to Chris Musgrave, who has stuck a fiver on Mascherano first goal at 25/1. That comes in the first round is on you my friend![LNB] Just a quick mention for Frank in LA before we start. He feels a refreshed Villa side will prove too strong and claim a morale-boosting success. He also says Rafa will resign within three hours of the final whistle. Bold shout![LNB] The teams are out. You'll Never Walk Alone rings around Anfield and we are ready for the off![LNB] Phil Gaughran goes 2-0, with Torres and Benayoun on target, with both sides starting in shaky fashion. Jack McEvoy is backing the same scoreline as he feels Liverpool have the edge. Will he be right? We are about to find out![LNB] Peter Robinson, and ex-pat Villan in Chicago, is not confident and sees a 2-0 win for the hosts. Lee Emerson is hoping Liverpool lose, to reach Rafa a lesson, while Daz Rudge is going 2-1 to Martin O'Neill's men.[LNB] Shaun Samra is first in with a prediction and is tipping a classic! He is expecting plenty of goals tonight, with the Reds edging it 3-2. Here's hoping we get a game half as exciting as that![LNB] No surprises from either manager as they stick with tried and tested starting XIs. Rafa Benitez does have plenty of attacking options on the bench should things not go to plan for the Reds, while Emile Heskey will be hoping to get a run-out at some point for Villa against his former club.[LNB]Aston Villa team: Friedel, Beye, Davies, Cuellar, Shorey, Milner, Sidwell, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Ashley Young, Agbonlahor. Subs: Guzan, Albrighton, Delfouneso, Delph, Heskey, Gardner, Lowry.[LNB]Liverpool team: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Gerrard, Benayoun, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Voronin, Riera, Babel, Kelly, Dossena, Ayala.[LNB]Sky Bet's Helen Jacob said: "Victory for Liverpool with Torres scoring tonight would cap off a terrible weekend of football results. The 20/1 for all four players to score was the best in the industry so it's little wonder that it was popular. The only slight consolation is that we didn't offer the special on them all to score first as the potential payout could have been millions."[LNB] Sticking with the betting theme, the boys and girls at Sky Bet will be hoping that Fernando Torres is not among the goals tonight. Should the Spaniard find the target, skybet are set for an expensive night - having offered 20/1 prior to the weekend on Torres, Wayne Rooney, Emmanuel Adebayor and Didier Drogba all getting their name on the scoresheet.[LNB] You can also bet inplay at skybet.com, with the hosts starting proceedings as 4/11 strong favourites. Villa are available at 8/1.[LNB] You can air your opinion on anything you like by contacting me direct at Chris.Burton@bskyb.com.[LNB] Both sides will, therefore, be hoping to kick-start their seasons on Monday evening. How do you see the game going? Can Liverpool claim three more points in front of The Kop or will Villa spring a surprise? Who will be the star of the show - Gerrard, Torres, Agbonlahor, Ashley Young?[LNB] The Reds have endured a mixed start to the campaign, having lost at Spurs and triumphed at home against Stoke. Villa have only had one outing in the league this season, slipping to an opening day defeat at home to Wigan.[LNB]Welcome to Anfield for coverage of tonight's Premier League encounter between Liverpool and Aston Villa.[LNB]
