It's been a while...

It's been a while since I last wrote and a lot has happened including our first defeat of the season at the hands of Tottenham. So here is just a quick catch up of all things Livepool from the past few weeks.

Wedsnesday 29th October: Liverpool 1-0 Portsmouth (Premier League)
Following the win at Chelsea, we overcame the tough challenge of Portsmouth to maintain our undefeated record. Portsmouth were still getting over the shock of Harry Redknapp's departure to the struggling Tottenham but put up a good fight and were only beaten by a Steven Gerrard penalty late on after Papa Bouba Diop handled in the area.

Saturday 1st November: Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool (Premier League)
The next game saw us travel to the capital for the second weekend running for what would have been an easy three points had it been two weeks earlier. Under Juande Ramos, Tottenham had been lacklustre and unorganised with the pressure mounting from fans as they propped up the rest of the table with only six points. However, the reality for us was that Juande Ramos was gone and the reign of Harry Redknapp was well and truly underway. A win against Bolton in his first game was followed up by an impressive 4-4 draw at Arsenal in the North London derby on the Wedsnesday, and there could be doubt that both sides were motivated for the game. Liverpool dominated the game from the very first second which Dirk Kuyt made count when he opened the scoring on three minutes. For the next hour, we had numerous chances and should have been three or four up before Jamie Carragher was unlucky enough to see his header go past Reina for the equaliser. Despite the set back, we still could have won it but Tottenham's confidence grew after their bit of fortune. The winner then came in the 91st minute when Pavlyuchenko beat Agger to a cross which he clipped round Reina to take our undefeated record and give Tottenham fans their first glimpse of escape from the relagation zone.

Tuesday 4th November: Liverpool 1-1 Atletico Madrid (Champions League)
The next task was to forget about the dissapointment in the league and concentrate on qualification out of our group in the Champions League by beating Atletico Madrid at Anfield. Fernando Torres was still unable to play and had to watch the game against his former club from the stands. Although it wasn't a great performance from us, we managed to avoid defeat by coming from behind to draw 1-1 thanks to another Steven Gerrard penalty which like the Portsmouth match, also came late in the game. I must admit that the penalty should never have been given but the officials hadn't had a good game and had wrongly waved away claims for a penalty for Liverpool earlier after replays showed that the Madrid defender had clearly used his arm to control the ball. So it only made it fair in the end.

Saturday 8th November: Liverpool 3-0 West Brom (Premier League)
Liverpool got their title challenge back on track as Robbie Keane finally opened his domestic account with two goals before half time before Alvaro Arbeloa finished the game off with a well executed shot in the 90th minute. We remain level on points with Chelsea at the top of the League but sit in second due to Chelsea's superior goal difference.

Wednesday 12th November: Tottenham 4-2 Liverpool (Carling Cup)
Tottenham inflicted our second defeat at White Hart Lane in the space of 11 days after a 4-2 win saw them through to the quarter-finals. In the opposite to our league match, Spurs were by far the better side and took a 3-0 lead at half time with a goal from Pavlyuchenko quickly followed by two from on loan Man Utd striker Fraizer Campbell. Damien Plessis pulled one back soon after the restart before Pavlyuchenko restored the three goal lead. By this time the game was beyond reach and Sami Hyypia's header was nothing more than a consolation. There was one positive to come from the game however, as Fernando Torres made it through 56 minutes in his first game back from injury.

Well Done Rafa
Rafa Benitez was named Manager of the Month for October thanks to Liverpool's four consecutive league victories, two at Anfield and two on the road.
The month started with the thrilling comeback at Manchester City which saw us come from 2-0 down at half time to win 3-2 and was followed by another 3-2 comeback at home to Wigan after being 2-1 down at half time. The notable victory from the month came at Stamford Bridge as we ended Chelsea's unbeaten home record with a 1-0 win before rounding off the month with the 1-0 result at home to Portsmouth.