Neil

So apart from Enrique's quest for global domination, what are people getting on this weekend?

Everton have had a horrendous start injury wise, and the supporters should be content knowing they are still contending for their goals at this point. Treading water, before snapping at the jugular vein that is the European places. As for Rafa, we should remember that rising expectations lead to revolution. The bar has been set, and he is falling short. The people want change. Change shall come about. Rafa's days are numbered. Indeed. It should be remembered the contexts of the 2 clubs are different. When Moyes came, we were a mediocre PL side fighting relegation most years, and he's transformed us into a squad with plenty of talent, and 3 top 6 finishes in the past 3 years to boot. Most fans I know, like myself, aren't too panicky at the moment, because we know we can turn it around when we get players back, get a good win under our belts, and so on. Where has the fat Spanish waiter taken Liverpool? Sideways as far as I can see, and has made some seemingly horrendous calls (buying Keane and not giving him a sniff, selling Alonso, being 2 recent ones), which has culminated in them being a 2 man team. And what happens when they're out? The last 3 weeks happen. That said, it should be noted that there was massive room for improvement when Moyes came to Everton (i.e. most of the PL to climb). Benitez had the clear task of winning the Premier League. As such, he has failed. Regarding the Europa League, we were awful last night. But, we got a stroke of luck in Greece with the 2-2 draw (sorry Chris), meaning qualification is very much in our own hands. Without boring you with various permutations, we basically need to beat BATE at Goodison, because I can hardly see us going over to Athens and winning, at the current time. And regarding the rest of the league campaign, well, things aren't going to get better any time soon. After West Ham on Sunday, we go through a period of 3 months where we play the big 4 twice. But, I still retain hope that we can pick up enough points during the upcoming games to keep us around mid-table, slowly improve, and then make a charge in our last 10 games. And if anyone checks them out, you can see why I think we have a good chance of a European spot, even if we're in a similar position come February. May as well be optimistic, anyway.

I wish I came across some 'safe' doubles!

Still Hamburg 0-0 Celtic and Roma 0-1 Fulham, but Nevland has been sent off.

Are Yobo and Yakubu looking fit at all? Both in the squad and likely to start, as far as I can see. Saha's a doubt though. Probably: Howard, Hibbert, Distin, Yobo, Baines, Fellaini, Rodwell, Bilyaletdinov, Cahill, Jo, Yakubu.

Not a clue how tonight will pan out at Goodison. That said, Benfica aren't as good as people say they are.

Andy Townsend and Peter Brackeley are having a fight to the death.

Really? I don't see any 'shocks'. Sevilla (sigh) probably should have won like. More draws of course make it harder, yes.

Actually, fuck it, gonna dip into the Europa League tomorrow. Can feel a decent win coming. (Better to be optimistic.... )

an absolute rocket Very similar, only instead of going left and with the left foot, going inside and on his right (weaker foot I think?)

QFT x100000000

Few thoughts about the CL: Lyon were disappointing aye, but I didn't think it was domination like their fans ITV were trying to make out. Simply put, if Gerrard was there (and indeed played in recent games), they wouldnt be in this predicament. What a group Barca's group is turning out to be. Crunch game at Camp Nou coming up. Also, yes, I hate Sevilla. It's worth repeating.

So close to fucking 110 quid off a quid, arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. And nah, leaving Europa......... I think. The only consolation is (since it was a quid I guess I can say this), I'm getting more accurate.. but still, argh.

I hate you Sevilla. I fucking hate you.

Only a wee bit of biased commentary. SEVILLA YOU FUCKERS

Hmmmm.

Argh. Got all the results right in the 7.45 kick offs atm.... apart from Inter, fucking idiots.

Howay Fiorentina and Inter.

...............where does he play? He plays in midfield....... Pi-e Pi-e Pi-e-naar Pi-e-naar Pi-e-naar Pi-e Pi-e Pi-e-naar Steven Pi-e-naar. Etc.

Gone purely with instinct on this occasion: Maccabi Haifa v Juventus APOEL Nicosia v Porto Standard Liege v Olympiakos E2.50 returns about £38.

Pretty difficult comparison considering they play in different positions?

Is this the same Nicky Butt who chipped Tim Howard from 25 yards in that 3-2 game 2/3 seasons ago?

Just got back from the pub and was quietly impressed. Mainly because that's another game that appeared to be fairly even, that you've got 3 points from. Ratings (probably got some inaccuracies in here, oh well): Harper 7.5 - Did what he needed to do. That late save was good but I'd hardly call it top-drawer. The header was near enough straight at him, and I'd expect most keepers to save that. But yeah, solid performance. Simpson 6 - Made some baffling decisions at times and looked increasingly nervy as the game went on. Kadar 7 - impressive from someone who hasn't played much. Colo 7 - on the whole, fairly solid. Was tempted to upgrade it to a 9 purely for that first half surge forward. Enrique 8 - whilst he didn't do a lot that was amazing, his performance showed once more he's ahead of this league. Butt 6 - didn't do too much damage apart from a decent attempt at a through ball to a Sheff Utd striker in the first half. Smith 6 - same, was fairly anonymous. Jonas 5 - pretty shite. Nolan 6.5 - played decent enough, sometimes some good play, holding up the play and keeping possession, other times gifted possession. Carroll 8 - tireless shift and enough to merit my MoM award - kept harassing their defenders. Only criticism was he started tiring, unsurprisingly, towards the end (like most of the team). Ranger 6.5 - did what he could in the time available. Harewood 6 - same. I could see the logic behind Hughton sticking 2 strikers on in order to try and push the play further up the field, and to give some added aerial cover for defending set pieces. In the 20 or so minutes where you took the time to consider the passes you were making, and kept it simple, you were on top. Otherwise it was periods of Sheff Utd going forward divided by periods of crap.

2-1.