Liverpool dominates Rangers 4 - 0

So, this morning (9 a.m. CST)I woke up to one of the final preseason matches for Liverpool FC. With only a few remaining matches before their 3rd Round Champion's League Qualifier vs. Standard Leige of Belgium and the start of the Premier season, they are now starting to up the tempo and work out their team for the start of full matches.

Liverpool started a mostly starting side with Carragher, Skyrtle, Arbeloa, Dossena, Gerrard, Kuyt, Keanne, and Torres along with playmaker Benayoun who could see more time this season, Plessis who got a few late games last year and will probably get a bit more of a look this year, and Cavaleiri in goal who will proabably get mostly Carling Cup and FA Cup appearances.

The side started well hooking up time and again in the midfield with some nice one and two touch passes. Torres opened up the scoring in the 23rd minute after Plessis blasted a shot on goal that was deflected into the path of Torres who as able to just put the ball in before the keeper could get over.

Liverpool continued to dominate the play for the rest of the half, but seemed to just be a step away from ripping the game open. There were multiple quality passes that once the player become accustomed to each other would easily be goals.

The second half eventually saw an almost entirely new team as Liverpool made 10 substitutions bringing in Ngog, Agger, Hyypia, Alonso, Darby, Insua, Spearing, Nemeth, Reina, and Pennant.

Ngog opened his account at Liverpool in the 56th by creating just a bit of space on the left and driving a shot from an awkward angle just inside the post. It was a great peice of singular work which along with the rest of his performance today showed that he will probably be the number 3 striker ahead of Voronin.

As soon as Nemeth came in, he blasted a shot on goal that was just parried by the keeper in a similar action to the first goal, which led to an easy tap in for Benayoun to put the game out of reach at 3-0 in the 58th minute.

Alonso finished up the scoring in the 70th minute putting in a Penalty Kick awarded when Alonso found Nemeth in the box and he was promptly taken down for the obvious penalty. The keeper went the correct way, but Alonso's shot was perfect for the final score of 4-0.

Player Breakdown

GOALKEEPER:

Cavaliere - He looked decent in goal, making all the needed saves and although looking a bit shaky a couple of times, aways looked composed, he could be a good one for the future.

Reina - Barely had to move in his time in the game.

DEFENSE:

Carragher - Didn't have a whole lot to do, but did seem to hold down the defense from the back.

Skyrtle - Continues to impress. I assume he will be beside Carragher in the big games until further notice.

Arbeloa - Didn't seem to do very much, but didn't get beat either.

Dossena - Did well advancing upfield and overlapping to attack and made a couple of plays. He seemed confident on defense despite not really being worked and did well getting back to cover for his keeper when Cavaliere got caught out, sweeping a leg across the line on the slide to stop a point blank shot from going in.

Agger - Not much seen

Hyypia - Not much seen

Insua - Not much seen, but did well a couple of times overlapping.

Darby - Not much seen

MIDFIELD:

Kuyt - Didn't do much on attack, but kept up the pressure that that made him such an assett last season. He pushed Rangers when they were trying to clearn and even rotated into fullback, when Dossena was caught out on a turnover and Carragher went out wide to cover. He also had a touch inside the box that should have setup a goal, but nobody expected him to get to it, so the box was empty.

Gerrard - Did decent in the center of the field moving the ball around, but seemed to be playing at 3/4 speed and not really pressing too hard.

Plessis - Still a bit hesitant on his touch in the midfield, but seems to work well distributing the ball from side to side as a true central midfielder. His shot on goal that setup the Torres goal was very nice.

Benayoun - I still can't see how this guy dosen't break into the starting line up more often. I really think we should be running him for about 65 minutes and then bring in Babel for the final 25. He had some great moves and beat more defenders by himself than the rest of the team did combined on the game. He also came up timely with his put back of the Nemeth shot to continue to lead the team in goals tis preseason with 3 while no other player has more than 1.

Spearing - not much seen

Pennant - The worst player on the field for Liverpool today. Didn't seem to be working hard and had bad touches and crosses.

Alonso - Looked to be getting back to what he did well a couple of years ago. He had a great game with solid passes and held the young second team together.

STRIKER:

Torres - Like Gerrard seemed to be playing at 3/4 speed, but this seems normal for him as he seems to only kick in the next gear when he has to. However, he did beat a couple defenders for balls using his speed and strength and was in the right place to get his first preseason goal. More and more he is staring to remind me of a young Spanish Ruud van Nistelroy.

Keane - Linked up well with Torres and Gerrard which was nice to see and seemed to be constantly near the ball. He didn't really have any good chances, but showed good promise for this setup.

Ngog - Looked really good. He seemed much more poised on the ball than I expected and I still don't know how he worked the angle he did on his goal. He could get some time as a later sub for Torres this season.

Nemeth - For a string of about 15 minutes, he seemed to be the only person on the field as he put in strong shots and got on the end of passes from Alonso. I would not be surprised to see him with Ngog in our FA Cup and Carling Cup matches and actually have a chance of advancing through them this season.