No need to condemn Riise, he'll come good

Just when Aurelio started stringing together some good performances, he goes and picks up a nasty groin injury (will miss what's left of the season). The injury paved the way for out of form Riise to come into the side.
Of course it was a terrible own goal to give away. Rather than condemning him, I think it would be better to let him walk straight back in to the side. He'll be the hungriest player on the pitch and we all know he can score a goal or two.
It's highly likely that Riise will be leaving LFC soon, and it would be a shame if people were to remember him because of this own goal (which they will if we don't make the final). He has been a fantastic servant for us over the years and fingers crossed he'll produce one of his trademark goals at Stamford Bridge [for us].

No more floating bones for Agger

Agger finally went under the knife and the surgeon discovered the source of Aggers discomfort for the last several months. To think that all this time it's been a floating bone which has been keeping him out of action, nasty !
While they're not ruling out the possibility of a return by the end of the season, it's probably better if they wait until next season so he heals fully. Then we can bear witness to a world class partnership of Agger & Skrtel ;-)

Injury prone Agger out for rest of season

Beautiful, just f**king beautiful. It's just been confirmed that Agger will have to undergo surgery and as a result will miss the rest of the season. I can't help but wonder if Aggers career is always going to be dogged by injury considering how often he's been injured.
Fortunately Skrtel has settled into the side much quicker than I initially imagined he would so that should help alleviate Aggers absence. Hopefully the surgery will resolve Aggers metatarsal once and for all as I'd love to see how good Agger & Skrtel can be together, there really is the potential for them to surpass Lawrenson & Hansen as our best ever central defensive partnership.

Mascherano is back but Finnan still out

Thankfully Mascherano has recovered from the groin strain he received last week and will be fit to face Inter Milan tomorrow night. Hopefully this will allow Rafa to continue with a 4-2-3-1 formation which has been used so effectively in recent weeks (it might have been a bit much to expect Lucas to make the jump for such an important game).
Unfortunately Finnan is still out with a hamstring injury which means we'll most likely have Arbeloa on the right and the ever so ineffectual Riise on the left :-(

Agger & Skrtel are on their way back

Carragher is suspended for tomorrows game with Middlesbrough, which makes you wonder who can partner Hyypia, fortunately things have been progressing very nicely for Agger & Skrtel.
The one player I feel we've missed the most this season is Agger, who has been having recurring problems with his metatarsal injury. According to The Guardian Agger went to see a specialist in Norway yesterday who gave him the green light to start playing again, but given the length of his layoff I'd be surprised if Rafa rushes him back in to play this weekend.
Which leaves us with Skrtel (this guy has legend material written all over him) who was ruled out for 10 days with a calf injury, well those 10 days have passed uneventfully, so it's more likely we'll be seeing him in action this weekend.

Interesting developments on injury front

Skrtel picked up a calf injury in training, which leaves room for Mikel San Jose to make his debut for Liverpool. He looks a tidy defender (in reserves) but needs to bulk up a little, with Hyypia & Aurelio only just back training (Agger is still out) and Hobbs on loan, I don't see that we have any other options than San Jose for the game against Barnsley.
Thankfully Hyypia should be ready for the game against Inter Milan. Torres is also back in training (hope he's not risked against Barnsley) and having him up front again is vital for us as Rafa seems reluctant to pair Babel & Crouchie and Kuyt continues to fire blanks.

Hamstring injury for Torres could hurt us

As if we didn't have enough problems already, now it looks just that little bit worse. Torres lasted all of 23 minutes for Spain with what appears to be an injury to his right hamstring (damn I hate international friendlies).
If it gets confirmed tomorrow that thats the case then we could be in for some trying times. We've got a tough game with Chelsea at the weekend but of far more importance is our game with Inter Milan next week.
I fear this means we'll see Kuyt back, when what I'd much rather Rafa go with Crouch & Babel up front. We've got a real fight on our hands to finish 4th and the Champions League is something I don't want us getting knocked out of anytime soon. So fingers crossed Torres is ok or that Rafa will take a chance with a pairing of Crouchinho & Babel.

At least Finnan will get his game again

Good news is that we should get to see the much underused Finnan back in action now that Arbeloa is out for at least 3 weeks with an abdominal injury. Considering how good Finnan usually is, I've been very surprised at how often he has been excluded so far this season.
As for Voronin, he might have started the season very well with some excellent performances but those have long since disappeared so I'm not overly concerned that he'll be unavailble for a wee while due to a minor ankle injury.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Skrtel to the rescue

Agger may be the best defender we've had in many a year but sadly he's also injury prone as hell. He is just after suffering the second recurrence of his metatarsal injury which has kept him out for the last 4 months. In other words, realistically don't expect to see him back this season :-(
Looks like our new Teenage Mutant Ninja Skrtel is going to get his first team start a lot sooner than expected. Hopefully the Slovak in a half shell will unleash his Skrtel power and take the premiership by storm ;-)

The return of Agger has been called off

The return of Agger has been eagerly anticipated for a couple of weeks now since he started training again and I'm sure we'll get to see him soon enough (read: not soon enough). I've lost count of how many articles I've read today about the return of Agger in a reserve game tonight, having said that I can't help but chuckle now that the game has been postponed :-)

Triple coincidence is well timed ;-)

We've got 3 more players sidelined with 'injuries', apparently Gerrard & Arbeloa have calf injuries and Aurelio has a hamstring problem. However they're expected to be fit for the match against Middlesbrough next week.
With the pessimism surrounding LFC lately, most people would probably think that the FA Cup & Champions League are all we've got left to play for and might prefer Rafa fields our strongest side for this game.
Personally I think this match against Luton is a good opportunity to blood some of the youngsters such as Hobbs, Insua & Lucas. Should worst come to worst at least the media can't round on Rafa for rotation reasons ;-)

Agger not yet ready, but is Hobbs ?

With Hyypia limping off in the second half against Derby, it remains to be seen just how serious his twisted ankle turns out. Realistically he'll probably miss the game against Manchester City.
With Agger only having recently returned to training and apparently using 'special' boots to make it easier on his foot, I wonder if Rafa should consider rushing him back in to the fold given his lack of fitness.
Like I've said before, I like Hobbs and think he's one for the future but I do have some concerns over whether he'd be up for such a big match as the City one. But the only way we're going to see another Carragher emerge from the youth set up is to give them games. Still I'll not try second guess Rafas line up for the game, but I hope whatever option he chooses turns out to be the right one.

Missing Agger more than Alonso

Life isn't the same when your best players are out injured, Agger is still sidelined but at least tonight should see the return of Xabi Alonso to the side after Gerrard picked up a stomach bug yesterday.
I'm looking forward to seeing Alonso back in action but with the quality midfield cover we possess it's Aggers absence which hurts the side most. Alonso may be our best passer, but in the absence of Agger he has to play further down the pitch and has less influence on the game as a result.
Aggers pace allows the defence to play further up the field, but he also has excellent ball control and passing ability. Despite our excellent defensive record, it's in the attacking stakes that Agger gives us what the other defenders don't.

Please don't bring Xabi Alonso back

Some slightly disturbing news on the official LFC site that Xabi Alonso might play against ManUre this weekend. I think Alonso is an amazing player but he's going to be severely lacking in match sharpness, he hasn't even played any reserve games since his metatarsal injury.
If it's a case of Mascherano being unavailable due to the knock he took against Marseille, I'd much rather see the highly impressive Lucas Leiva take the centre stage. Lucas is sheer class and I'd trust him over a grumpy Sissoko any day of the week and twice on Sunday (especially this Sunday).

Reds lack of defensive depth exposed

With Carragher having to come off against Bolton our lack of depth at the back was exposed. I like Jack Hobbs, think he's one for the future but didn't fancy having to face Marseille & Manchester United with him at the back.
With Aggers return still up in the air it's fortunate Carragher only bruised his ribs and is expected back next weekend. We're well placed to mount a very serious title challenge, but if having to rely on rookie defenders for any prolonged period, that challenge could fall off the rails.
Fortunately this all makes it easier for Rafa to convince the Yanks of our need for experienced defensive cover and obtaining the services of Kaladze in the January transfer window could go a long way to ensuring the Premiership trophy ends up in Liverpool at the end of the season ;-)

Aggers eagerness aggravates him

It's certainly great to hear that Agger has been very eager to get back in to the swing of things as soon as possible, sadly he managed to aggravate the same metatarsal injury yesterday in training.
Fortunately for Benayoun he has recovered from his abductor problem and should be back in the squad soon enough.
Despite how well the lads have been playing recently we seriously lack quality defensive cover, if only Rafa would ask the Yanks if we could make a transfer move for Kahka Kaladze, oh no wait he already has ;-)

Injuries are hurting our width

Lovely stuff (not), our treatment table continues to get bigger with the news that Benayoun tore his abductor muscle during the boring game with Fulham (thank god Torres made the trip to Anfield bearable).
With an expected 3 week layoff, we won't have him available for the Newcastle & Bolton games but perhaps more crucially he'll be missing for the must win Porto game. Which will only serve to ensure we lack a certain amount of width, both Babel & Gerrard tend to drift inside far too often, which leaves Kewell as the only recognisable winger (Leto isn't ready) available.

If only all injuries had quick returns

Well some good news on our injury front after that triple injury scare against Arsenal. Mascherano is back training already. Agger & Torres could both be back in 2 weeks time. Injury plagued Kewell could be set for a start tonight after impressing in a reserve game last week.
As for Alonso he saw a specialist yesterday but the outcome of that is as yet unknown, while he will probably be out for a couple of months, having Mascherano back already hopefully means he won't be missed too much.

Ouch ! That's a triple injury blow for us

Both Alonso and Torres looked well off the pace throughout the game, biggest surprise was Alonso not being subbed sooner. Torres didn't even look like trying against Arsenal, hope he won't be out for too long after aggravating his thigh injury. While Alonso looked a bit better in the second half, sure enough we end up losing him again probably for another several weeks :-(
When Agger is back fit(ish) I hope he gets some reserve team action before being reintroduced to the fold so he can be back to his best before a first team run out. While the extent of Mascheranos toe injury is not yet known he could prove the bigger loss unless Sissoko gets his confidence back.

Great news for Benayoun

But not so great news for Pennant who has suffered an acute exacerbation of the stress fracture to his right tibia and will have to undergo surgery which will keep him out for 10 weeks.
Which of course opens the door for Benayoun to get a prolonged run of games under his belt, he's such a clever little player, his skill and vision allows him to carve teams open. Having Benayouns creativity on the pitch can only be a good thing for Liverpool :-)