Mascherano a doubt for Burnley clash

Javier Mascherano is a major doubt for Liverpool's Premier League clash with Burnley at Anfield tomorrow, after picking up a knock in Argentina's 1-0 defeat to Paraguay on Wednesday night.

The 25-year-old midfielder is having treatment, but he is unlikely to be risked after playing two full matches for Argentina in the past week.

Lucas Leiva who has completed a 6,000 mile trip from South America was due back at Melwood today and is expected to play, having not featured in either of Brazil's World Cup qualifiers.

Red's skipper Steven Gerrard is expected to drop into a central midfield role alongside Lucas if Mascherano is not passed fit.

Lucas will fill the void

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez believes Lucas Leiva has what it takes to fill the void left by the departing Xabi Alonso and the 4-8 week wait for new signing Alberto Aquilani to recover from injury. Lucas was not a favourite last term, however the young Brazilian has shown consistently solid performances throughout the pre season games and Benitez feels it may be time for midfielder to step up to the plate and grasp the opportunity with both hands.

"Lucas has been best the player in pre-season. He showed why again against Atletico. He is really focused, working hard and is showing quality," said Benitez in the Independent.

"He knows Aquilani will need time. When we decided to bring in Aquilani we knew he would be out for one month or so, so we analysed the squad and we think that with Javier Mascherano, Lucas, Steven Gerrard and Damien Plessis we have enough (strength in depth)," added the Liverpool manager.

Lucas may be turning the nay sayer's with his series of impressive displays including a rave review from our very own contributor: 'The Main (Stand) Man'. Yesterday he began his series of positives to take into the new season with his assessment of the 22-year-old Brazilian which can be read here.

Lucas himself appears ready to take his great run into the new season: "I am always ready and now Xabi is gone I hope there will be more opportunities for me," he said.

"I am just working hard in training to try to earn a position in the team."

"I have played a lot of minutes in pre-season and that has given me more confidence. I am feeling better and hopefully it will be a good season for me."

Lucas added: "I want to play every week but I know Liverpool have a strong squad. I just have to wait and respect whatever decisions 'Rafa' makes."

He added: "Everyone was really sad to see Xabi go because he had been here a long time."

"Last season he was one of the club's best players but he has a plan for himself and his career. We have to respect that."

"We will continue to support him because he is a friend of ours. I hope he does well at Real and I am sure he hopes we continue to do well here."

"We will miss him of course but I think we can cope without him. We did not play all the games last season with Xabi, and still finished runners-up."

"He is a really good player but we also have a lot of other quality players here."

Lucas adds in the Echo: “Of course I was happy to score against Atletico, although I would rather the team have won the game instead of me getting the goal.”

“But it was good for me to start and end the pre-season well. I am doing extra work to put some weight and strength on and now I am just focussed on the season."

“Sometimes I hear things said about me, but to be honest I don't care too much. I only care about the team and the squad.

“Now I have to focus on the forthcoming season and continue to work hard and improve."

“I will try to prove I have the quality to be in the team and hopefully help Liverpool win the title.”

“We still have to improve a lot, but we can feel our fitness is getting better,” he said.

“Now, some players will go to play internationals, while the others will keep training at Melwood, but we will be ready for the beginning of the season."

“We will be looking to win at Tottenham. We know the first game is very important and we have to start the season well because our title rivals will not make it easy for us.”

The Main (Stand) Man Speaks!

Regular contributor 'The Main (Stand) Man' has delivered his Pre Season match reports, now he turns his attention (& vast Kop knowledge) towards the positives of pre season...




On paper, it would seem as though the pre-season has been almost devoid of positives for Liverpool, with a string of unconvincing results punctuated only by a large win against Singapore and injury worries to some key players particularly in defence. However, if we delve a little deeper, we can find some reasons to be cheerful in advance of the new season. I'll be running my top 5 every day this week and the first one is:

1) The form of Lucas Leiva: the Brazilian has been one of the most impressive performers throughout most of the fixtures to date. His form had shown signs of improving towards the end of last season, with good performances against the likes of Manchester United at Old Trafford and Chelsea in the Champions League Semi Final second leg at Stamford Bridge. Whilst he has still not won over most fans completely (and yes I include myself within that), he should be commended for his courage in coming through some of the criticism he has faced in the last 18 months. It seems that he is now playing the kind of game that won him the captaincy of the Brazil Under 21 side, playing the easy ball instead of looking for the perfect pass too often. This is a style of play that suits him better than an all-action outlook, a role which can be filled by Mascherano. Whilst it is unlikely that Lucas will ever be a direct replacement for Xabi Alonso, Liverpool fans can at least expect to see him provide some positive contributions to the side.

Transfer Speculation: Lucas Leiva, Nicky Butt

Todays transfer gossip brings delight and misery in equal measure.

Lucas Leiva

The Liverpool midfielder is the subject of frustration with most Liverpool fans, who's displays have not exactly excited the hearts and minds of Kopites. The player has occasionally shown the skills which merits manager Rafa Benitez's faith in him, and has exhibited good displays in the pre season fixtures. However there are rumbles in the press indicating that the Brazilian under 21 captain wants to move away from the Anfield club back to his homeland. This story has been given the typical spin and is being reported as: 'another midfield departure that will give Benitez further headaches' type of story. However it shows how little the press understand. Most Liverpoodlians would actually cheer the departure of the young midfielder who speaking recently said:

"You have to see what Benitez has planned but the president of Corinthians already knows I am interested and what I want," Lucas said in the Telegraph.

Nicky Butt
The ex Manchester United player, know playing for relegated Newcastle United, is apparently on Rafa's summer shopping list. It's hard to see an ounce of truth in this story, as a young child would see the short comings of such a purchase, however the Guardian presumably thinking its readers have lost their mind's, chips in with: "Barcelona poised to finally land Javier Mascherano, Anfield's supremo only wants to replace him with Nicky Butt!" No other quote is attributed to the ludicrous claim by the newspaper.

This story would of course contradict Javier Mascherano's own words spoken today, where he proclaims he will be ready to face Tottenham when the season starts. The red midfield enforcer speaking to the official site said:

"Maybe I need a little bit more work because I arrived back when my teammates had already been back 10 days, but I will be in a good position by the start of the new season,"

"We didn't do well against Espanyol so it was important to win. It's pre-season but we knew we had to improve because in 10 days we start the Premier League," he continued.

"There are a lot of positive things to take from this game, like a clean sheet. We know we still have to improve but we are happy and now we have one more game to improve even more.

"After Saturday's game against Atletico we'll have seven days to get in top condition for the Premier League."

...Hardly the words of a player departing for Barcelona