Aug. 27: The Gooch CL 2nd leg Liverpool vs Standaard Luik (R)

liverpool won the last two epl games. not really struggling.

 

They needed two goals in IIRC, the 86' and 90' to beat Middlesborogh - at Anfield. Liege is better than 'Boro and if Liverpool plays like they did on Saturday, I could easily see Liege march out of Anfield with a 1-0/2-1 victory.

 

even 1-1 will be enough for gooch and his mates to go thru.

 

No way Liege is better than Boro.

 

That certainly was a compelling argument. Would you like to expand on it?

 

I like Gooch's team and will be rooting for them tomorrow but I think a mid-table EPL side is still better, over the long run, than a Belgian champion.

More money (even if many EPL players earn more than they would in other countries) and more roster depth tilt things in favor of the richer teams / leagues.

Single elimination Cup competition is a different matter and allows the poorer teams a better chance at the upset.

 

I will.
Liege - League Champions
Boro - Not League Champions

I think this debate is settled.

 

doesnt work that way but i can see boro beating liege or other way around. Boro can bring Mido off the bench. that's how deep they're upfront.

 

Man U won bunch of games late last year and they were the champion. Didnt matter when you score the goals as long as you beat the team. Liverpool is not struggling. Gooch and Liege are going to mount tremendous amount of pressures from Liverpool. Love to see Liege get a draw but i doubt.

 

Sorry, I forgot to put a sarcastic smiley in there.

 

Trust me Liege aren't better than Boro, comes down to the money and the pulling power of the Premiership. Even a mid-table Premiership side can afford a better squad and can attarct better players than the Belgian Champions.

As a side note Liege is in French speaking Belgium so surely it should be Liverpool vs Standard de Liège

 

That missed penalty for Liege is really gonna haunt them. Unless they come up with a miraculous performance, it will be tough. Although they were the better side in the first leg at home.

 

Game 'preview' here ...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=566426&sec=uefachampionsleague&cc=5901

....

Boloni has taken over as Liege coach this season, the club fresh from their first domestic title in 25 years.

And he sees coaching a victory at Anfield comparable to anything he achieved as a player.

He said: ''Over three or four years at Steaua, I cannot say to anyone that we were the best, but we were beating the best.

''For Standard to win here would be comparable to anything I achieved as a player at Steaua.''

Liege will have American defender Oguchi Onyewu, who had a spell at Newcastle, back from suspension.

Injury doubts over Wilfried Dalmat have eased with the midfielder training tonight with the squad at Anfield.

And there could also be a place back in the squad for Serbian forward Milan Jovanovic. He was not risked in the first leg because of a potential sale to either PSV Eindhoven or Marseille.

Liege did not want to cup-tie him in Europe, but as the expected bids have not materialised, he is likely now to be involved in the second leg.

....

**********

Nice to see Gooch's claim to fame reduced to a spell at Newcastle.

 

Would it be better to say he scored against Mexico?

 

And this is based on what exactly? Their respective budgets? That would make most championship sides better than Liège.

 

http://www.noshortcorners.com/2008/08/standards-big-night.html



....

From what I {Greg Seltzer} understand, the visitors have no intention of backing down and will prove it by fielding two strikers.

The expected Standard line-up: Espinoza; Marcos, Onyewu, Sarr, Dante, Fellaini, Dalmat, Defour, Witsel, De Camargo, Mbokani

 

Is there any way to watch this? Is there a Matchtracker available?

 

Streams here and possibly elsewhere.

 

PBP=rep

 

Do these streams usually show anything prior to kickoff?

I'm at home trying it for the first time and getting nothing on one of the Chinese feeds, but it may be because it's 10 minutes prior to scheduled start. Any software necessary besides the Active X control?

There should be matchtrackers at Soccernet

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=252426&league=UEFA.CHAMPIONS&cc=5901

as well as this Belgian site:

http://www.sport.be/fr/football/champions/?Article_ID=306588

 

UEFA's tracker, I assume

http://www.uefa.com/live/competitions/ucl/matchcentrelight/matchday=-1/day=2/match=303835/index.html

 

The Cable Sports on Sopcast is a decent stream. It's English too.

 

http://www.justin.tv/widgets/jtv_live.r8713.swf?channel=iraqgoals

Nervous as hell. Carry on.

 

Torres, and Keane, and Gerrard, OH MY!