Aston Villa 0-0 Liverpool

There was a flurry of activity today before the match at Villa Park. This summer's Gareth Barry to Liverpool transfer saga carried over into the stands, as the Villan faithful hurled purposeful insults at Liverpool and Rafa Benitez. Martin O'Neil and Rafa have traded barbs over Barry, and now that he's definitely still a Villan, they can shake hands and go about their business.

1st Half
While the crowd shook with fervor, the pitch offered little in the way of excitement in the first half. Skrtel was yellow carded early for taking down John Carew, and FernandoTorres hobbled off the pitch in the 27th minute, with what looked to be a minor injury. There were few chances in the first; a weak shot by Carew that Reina turned away, and Dirk Kuyt hit the side netting with a shot from a tough angle. The best chance came when Robbie Keane, looking more comfortable in a central role, dropped one over to the young Frenchman, David Ngog, who had replaced Torres, and his left foot sent the ball just inches over the bar.

2nd Half
The second half provided a little more excitement from both sides, if not a lot in the way of creativity and inspiration. Alonso sent a ball over the bar, and Villa pressured the Reds with a couple of corners. Friedal didn't have much to do, but he looked confident in goal all game, a good sign for Martin O'Neil, after the poor start to the season for the former Blackburn keeper.

James Milner came on to a rousing applause later on in the second half as the game settled in and both teams looked more focused on keeping the ball out of their goal. The closest call was a long ball that landed at the feet of Robbie Keane inside the Villa box. Keane was tracked closely by Nigel Reo-Coker, who got all leg and no ball after the Irishman's shot headed weakly towards Friedal. No call was made and the game ended with some small flurries, but nothing too worrisome for the managers.

Rafa
The Reds' manager continues to perplex with his lineup choices. He is obviously set on Arbeloa at right back, I don't know why, but I can live with it. But what about stacking five across the midfield and using Leiva, Mascherano, and Alonso all in withdrawn roles? They weren't playing Barcelona. So why forsake your own attack to shut down Aston Villa? Does he have that little confidence without Gerrard?

And Ryan Babel didn't see the field in a game in which David Ngog and Fabio Aurelio came on for forwards. If scoreless and one goal draws are what killed Liverpool's chances last season, why is Rafa aiming for draws with the likes of Aston Villa early on? Leaving Babel on the bench wasn't a message to him for going to the Olympics. It was merely one more in a never ending series of baffling Raffers.

The topper was putting Benayoun on for Keane in the 79th minute. Keane was finally having a decent game in a central striking role, and Rafa yanks him for Benayoun, which left Ngog alone up front. Five games so far this year, and the Reds haven't notched one goal before the 80th minute yet. That is pretty scary, but what is scarier is that Rafa probably thinks everything is going to plan.


Torres
It doesn't get much worse for us Liverpool supporters, when Gerrard is in surgery and Torres limps off the pitch with an injury. Rafa even conceded that this injury could take a couple of weeks. Let's hope its not more than that. If Benitez stacked the midfield against Villa, imagine the Man U game without Torres and Gerrard next week. Man U might as well set up tents in Liverpool end right now, because they will be spending the whole day their soon.

It looked like a hamstring injury, and you don't want that to hamper you all season, so as is the case with Gerrard, Torres should get it fully taken care of now.