GERRARD YOU BEAUTY!!!!

Aston Villa 1 - 2 Liverpool

What a cracking shot by the cap'n! Man of the match, without question, the skipper looked all too happy to be pushing the attack via his accustomed role in central midfield. Quite honestly, even while it was opening day, people will be hard-pressed to beat Gerrard's free-kick screamer for goal of the season. I know the match was this past Saturday, but I did watch it live and am only now coming down from the high (just two days before the Reds' next fixture against Toulouse in the Champions League).

Great start to the season. Our first opening-day victory in five seasons, if you can believe it -- obviously the first in Rafa's tenure, too. Thought new boys Torres and Babel (so unlucky not to have scored immediately upon coming on) did well for themselves. Kuyt with the exceptional work-rate as always, creating that first goal.

Thought our defense was a bit haphazard to say the least during the last 15 minutes. We made routine clearances an adventure and both Finnan and Arbeloa seemed to have a little bit of difficulty keeping up with Villa's pace. However, despite all that, we were never truly threatened and, again, some of our slack on the back line really made Villa's efforts look more potent than they truly were. Carra was unlucky to get caught by that fluke hand-ball. We still had far more scoring opportunities in the second half than they did.

My one bit of concern from the match might seem negligable because Momo Sissoko only played about four minutes, but my goodness, that certainly didn't look like him out there. The Momo I know doesn't sleepwalk and readily give away possession when his mission is to shut the game down. Perhaps it's just rust.

All things considered, we got exactly what we wanted: a season-opening win ON THE ROAD. Even better? The next day, ManURe drop points at home to Reading.

Bring on Toulouse (and then Chelski on Saturday). Would expect to see the following lineup in France on Wednesday. Given the quick turnaround from last weekend and the big test ahead, this coming weekend, we'll see some fresh faces that highlight Liverpool's new-found depth this season:
-------------------Reina------------------
Finnan-------Carra-------Agger-------Riise
Benayoun-----SG-------Masch-----Kewell
----------Crouch-------Voronin-----------

SUBS: Torres, Sissoko, Hyypia, Alonso, Arbeloa, Itandje.

YNWA