In case anyone is still having trouble finding the Champions League match they want to see they are now being broadcast on Sky One. Not to be confused with Sky Sports One (which, funnily enough, doesn’t show Champions League - it’s on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Extra), Sky One is the Sky equivalent of RTÉ’s channels.

So you can now catch the match of your choice on RTÉ Two, ITV’s various channels, Setanta Sports, Sky Sports and Sky One.

Enjoy!

I predicted what the talk would be if either Liverpool or Chelsea won this weekend but forgot to consider the draw. Of course, if there’s a draw then the man in black has been stealing the headlines. In amongst all the controversy there have been whispers of a three-horse-race (more if you listen to the Man City hype - but I choose to ignore that for now! :D) but I can’t help but think that the reffing controversy has served to hide Liverpool’s problems.

What Rob Styles did was unforgivable and the fact he has come out and apologised doesn’t make it any easier to take. The fact is Liverpool were the better team and deserved to win. They would have won had Styles not completely lost the plot and gifted Chelsea a way back into the game. Of course they should have won it anyway.

The facts are these, Mourinho got his tactics wrong and Liverpool out played Chelsea in the first half. Out of 5 attempts on goal Liverpool hit the target 3 times and Torres showed some of why Liverpool paid so much money for him. Chelsea had failed to hit the target at all. At half time it was Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea and nobody could argue with the score. The second half started with a re-arranged Chelsea and they caused Liverpool some problems although still failing to hit the target. Liverpool had just began to get back on top in the game when Styles decided he wanted some of the limlight and awarded one of the strangest penalties we’ll see all season. When the pass was played Drogba was in an offside position. Malouda jumped into Finnan making no attempt to play the ball and stopping Finnan from interceting the pass. The ball reached Drogba making him active and the ref blew his whistle. Penalty of course! Not a free out for the offside, not a free out for the foul on Finnan but a penalty for em…because Chelsea wouldn’t be able to hit the target otherwise!

Considering how the game had been going I still felt that Liverpool would be able to get another goal and win the game if they continued as they were. Benitez had other ideas. He brought on Babel. Not a bad decision, Babel was very good off the bench against Villa and decent against Toulouse. Torres had begun to tire up front and Kuyt had been less than effective himself, although had done alot of support work for Torres. Surely Babel would play up front as Riise and Pennant were causing Chelsea’s full backs no end of problems. No, no it was Babel for Pennant.

I felt this killed Liverpool’s rhythm. Babel was off the pace of the game for some time after he came on. The other players looked to attack down the right as they had with Pennant and Babel would miss passes or play wayward ones. Then Benitez decided to mix it up again. Crouch for Riise! Babel went left and Kuyt went right! That was the end of any right-wing option. Babel settled a bit more when he went out left and was unlucky not to win the game himself. Having Babel and Kuyt on the wings didn’t help Crouch get into the game either!

Strange substitutions and team selections like this have blighted Liverpool throughout Benitez’s reign. All the talk is about Styles. His phantom penalty and his torrets yellow cards. I say that Liverpool were good enough to beat Chelsea yesterday and they were good enough to beat Styles too! Benitez did very well to set out his team as he did but for some reason he wasn’t so good when it came to the subs. Having watched Man United loose to Man City and then the Liverpool Chelsea game I am convinced that Liverpool are good enough to win the title this season. The only thing that can stop them now are the crazy subs.

It’s Liverpool Vs. Chelsea again. Yes that’s right, the season is only entering it’s second week and we are already facing one of the games that will decide the title. If Chelsea win Andy Gray will be explaining to us why Liverpool’s season is over and Sky will spend the next week crowning the champions. If Liverpool win the next week will be filled with talk of a three horse race. It’s sensationalist, but in reality, it’s not that far from the truth.

Whichever manager drops points will tell us that it’s too early in the season for it to be a factor, but the truth is Liverpool need to show they are serious about the league this season and Chelsea need to make Man United pay for their poor start to the season. With United playing Man City in the early kick-off it’s a very big day in the football calender.

Once again I urge even those who aren’t football fans to tune in for these two games as, one way or another, they are going to provide a lot of entertainment. A repeat of last season would do me nicely.

For the first time since Rafa Benitez took charge at Liverpool I get the feeling that he believes he now has a squad that can win the league. When Rafa puts his mind to something he usually gets it. Did you know he promised his wife he’d win the Champion’s League during a conversation in 2004? Then he took over at Liverpool and went and did it in 2005. His focus was on the FA Cup after Liverpool got knocked out of the Champion’s League in 2006 and his focus was again on the Champion’s League in 2007 when Liverpool made it all the way to the final.

If Liverpool beat Chelsea tomorrow then maybe, just maybe this could be the year all Liverpool fans have been waiting for.

Liverpool have signed 25 year old goalkeeper Charles Itandje from Lens. This one seems to have happened rather quickly. Scott Carson decided he wasn’t happy playing second fiddle to Pepe Reina meaning Liverpool needed another keeper. So who is he?

Vital football tell us;

He has been capped at U21 for France. Wikipedia notes that he became known for his dance to destabilize opponents during the penalty shootout. Looking like another great penalty stopper at the club along with Pen King Pepe Reina.

I’m happy enough with this deal. Carson has never looked convincing to me in a Liverpool jearsey. Maybe it was because he knew he was always going to be dropped in favour of Reina, but he never looked comfortable. I did expect Carson to have to sit on the bench this season because he does have a contract with Liverpool after all. I don’t see a time when Carson will ever oust Reina so if Liverpool intend to loan him out rather than keep him as an excellent understudy then I don’t see why they don’t just sell him? Maybe they’re hoping his value will soar?

I hope Itandje is good enough to fill in when needed. Would have been nice to sort this deal out earlier but Reina is the clear number one anyway and having just recieved his second Golden Glove award in as many years and saving a penalty in the last pre-season game he should be full of confidence.

I guess the real question is will Rafa shave the goatee?

Ryan Babel today agreed personal terms and passed his medical but unusually the two clubs are yet to agree on a fee. Liverpool have offered £10m and Ajax want £13m. I guess he’ll sign for £11.5m!

I’ve been holding off on posting because of the strangeness about the fee. The picture to the right convinced me it’s a done deal though.

Ryan Babel is a Dutch U-21 player who Van Basten said was the “next Henry.” I don’t like it when people call someone the next anything but I can see the similarities. At Liverpool he will be used mostly as a left-winger but there’s no reason why he can’t emulate Henry who started his Arsenal career on the left wing too.

It looks like Babel’s signature means the end of the attacking purchases for Liverpool this summer. I’m refusing to give up on Quaresma until the transfer window closes but it’s highly unlikely that there will be anything other than some defensive cover brought in between now and then.

Whether Babel is the answer, only time will tell. I would have preffered to see a more experienced out-and-out winger brought in but I trust that Rafa knows what suits his plans best. Ryan Babel is a good player and I’m glad to see him arriving. He might just turn out to be the biggest signing of the summer!

This signing continues a trend of goalscorers joining Liverpool this summer. Goals from all over the pitch was another problem last season. Rafa has addressed nearly all the problems from last season now.

Roll on August and Villa away…