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Forget tradition, can we keep Chelsea?

If familiarity does, indeed, breed contempt then Anfield will be empty on Tuesday. This may well be the 15th time the two clubs have met since the semi-final, first leg in 2005, but tickets will still be as rare as Dirk Kuyt controlling a pass or Frank Lampard keeping his shirt on. No one wants to miss this game. The fans’ contempt will instead be reserved for their visiting fat cats from Uefa and for the way they have prostituted the purity of the Coupe des Clubs Champions Européen, giving us instead the bloated marketing opportunity that is the Uefa Champions League, the biggest misnomer since Hitler thought he could throw a Nazi Party.

Merseyside derby means more to Everton, but a good spanking wouldn't go amiss

The big clash at Anfield has everyone talking. It's a big matchup of rivals who were once part of the same team but are now increasing bitter antagonists. Yes, Hicks v Gillett is turning out to be a stormer.

Everton? That's just a bit of local difficulty.

Of course, beating Everton will be a nice way of erasing the memories of last week and the events at Old Trafford. And it'll serve as a nice warm-up for a big Champions League clash with Arsenal.

But biggest game of the season? Only in the crazy world of the Bitter Blue.

Relations between the two sets of fans have deteriorated in recent years. It's increasingly hard to have a rational conversation with an Evertonian.  The phrase, "If it wasn't for Heysel" has become a destructive mantra that has changed the nature of the relationship between the two sets of fans. For some, the shame of Brussels was that it stopped the 'People's Club' from claiming their rightful place as the best team in Europe. The 39 dead? Extras in Everton's "tragedy". It's deluded nonsense on so many levels but, for too many, it has come to be seen as the moment when Everton's destiny changed, when they were robbed of their chance to be a big club.

It has spawned a new ugliness in the city on derby day. Last year, there were Evertonians in the Anfield Road end making gestures mocking the Hillsborough dead and and holding up copies of The Sun to antagoinse the home fans. This was never quite "the friendly derby" of popular fiction but the younger elements on each side can't even remember a time when it felt cordial.

Which is a shame. Especially for those who remember the mid-80s. Then, for the FA Cup Final and Charity Shield games, thousands of Scousers arrived on the same trains at Euston, red and blue ski hats mixed up as we stated our collective identity with chants of "Merseyside".

The derby has become a much bigger game for Everton than us. And that galls them more than anything. Recalling the old days, I wish they weren't so resentful.

Looking forward, a good spanking at Anfield would put Everton in their place and make them even more bitter. I could live with that. All in the spirit of comradeship, of course...

TONY EVANS

Liverpool in crisis - a fan writes

Liverpool's disastrous FA Cup defeat to Barnsley has provoked an enormous response by disgruntled fans on the red side of the city. Our poll on TheGame blog, "Is Rafa still right man for Liverpool?", has 34 per cent of voters demanding Rafael Benitez leave the club now. It also led to one of our readers, Phil J Noonan, sending in the following excellent impassioned plea...

"It isn't easy being a Liverpool supporter these days.

Sure, we are still a "named" side that garners enough opinion from all football fans, despite current form, and many years of "top four status", but the respect is dwindling to a meagre trickle.

Respect. That is a huge word in sport.

Rafa must risk journalistic scorn

To get Liverpool's stuttering season back on track Rafa must do one of two things on Sunday guaranteed to get the press pack spluttering: either drop Steven Gerrard or play him "out of position" on the right. Of course this will necessitate that dreaded word rotation but the team should be above one individual or the sensibilities of journalists.

A book's troubled ending that is essential reading for any football fan

European week. Even in these days of overkill, when meeting the likes of Barcelona is no longer a rare, exotic treat but something that can be relied on to happen every few years, the thought of European nights sets the pulse racing for any fans whose team qualifies for continental competition. Especially if you are, like me, a Liverpool supporter.

Ps and Qs

A strange week all in with the two performances against Pompey and Porto leaving questions galore down Anfield way:

1) What's the point of the international break if it leaves all your best players knackered, jet-lagged or injured?

2) If the first half v Porto was the worst LFC European performance in years, how come it was only the second worst from a Merseyside club this week?

3) Is Rafa missing his right hand man Pako Ayesteran and will he appoint a slightly dishevelled Portuguese fitness instructor in his place?

4) Was Big Fat Sam Allardyce talking to Zoo or from his cage in the zoo?

Booooooooooooooo

Sorry about that, just pretending to be England fans.

Anyway must get off, there's only 15 minutes left in the game and we want to avoid the rush.

The Joy of Six

Liverpool fans are a bit nervous at the moment. Things are almost going too well. Goals are flying in, clean sheets galore, top of the league and qualified for the group stages of the Champions League. Rafa's still sporting his wonderful beard and the new players seem to have settled in well, unlike summer purchases in previous seasons  (yes I'm continuing to stalk you Diouf, Diao, Cheyrou et al).

When attacking midfielders go to Hell ...

... I reckon they play for eternity against Momo Sissoko and Javier Mascherano. Watching 2 weapons of mass destruction on the same field had me scanning the skies, worried Dick Cheney would soon be sending in the Tomcats.

Flagrant Injustice

Before I begin today’s rant, I’d like to make it clear that I am neither related to, friends with, a supporter of, or in any way influenced by the work of Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. I hold no great love for our cousins from Merseyside, but I certainly don’t think of them as hysterical self-obsessed grief monkeys. As Boris might have said.

Zen and the art of referee assessment

All football fans should take a default position towards referees: assume they're all incompetent. Once you've set that baseline standard nothing a referee does should ever irritate, anger or shock you again. They may even pleasantly surprise you with a decent performance once every ten games or so. As such Rob Styles was merely refereeing to his usual standard yesterday when he gave the mystifying penalty for Malouda's kangaroo jump into Finnan, and increasingly lost control doling out weak yellow cards to both sides. Similarly, Mike Riley awarding Gerrard a weak free-kick last week against Villa was an example of the standard of refereeing we all have to endure. Fulham fans feel free to chip in at this point.

La Trek Toulouse

So what do you learn from a game played in over 100 degrees heat on a bone dry pitch on a French Bank Holiday?

The ability to churn our professional away performances in Europe is still a part of the genetic make-up of all Anfield teams. Score an away goal, keep a clean sheet, get the first plane out of town.

Escaping The Thrill Of The Chase

A win on the opening day isn't something Liverpool fans have been used to in recent years. We've started on the backfoot and stayed that way throughout the season. Personally, I don't think you can overestimate the importance of a strong start. It's no coincidence that Chelsea have been up there in recent years when they've won their opening day fixture five years in a row.

It's not only a confidence thing, but it affects the mentality of the teams behind the early front runners. Most notable in this sense for me was the 2001/2 season, where we finished second. We went on a staggering run towards the end of the season, but so did Arsenal who were above us. While we were winning game after game we weren't closing the gap, and eventually the pressure told with defeat to Tottenham on the penultimate weekend of the season. From late January until that Spurs game we won ten games and drew one in the league, were in second place and yet it never ever felt like a title challenge because we were never close enough to Arsenal for one game to make a difference.