With their lead atop the Soccer Betting Premier League standings gone, Liverpool is starting to feel the heat. Fans are upset, players are upset and manager Rafa Benitez is under fire. It didn’t help Benitez that he criticized the league over the favored treatment of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson or that he took out his two best players, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Wigan. “It is not driving me crazy. I’m OK,” said Benitez, “The game (against Wigan) was crazy. We will see if the game on Sunday will be crazy, too. I am calm because I cannot control this craziness. Maybe it has to be crazy for years. I was talking to the players about how to stop the craziness but I do not know if we can.”

Liverpool had a 1-0 lead against Wigan but took a late penalty and ended up with a draw. Benitez took out Torres and Gerrard and sent in striker Robbie Keane who is not known for his defense. “I am disappointed with a number of things,” Benitez said. “It has happened in the last three games (including two 1-1 draws with Everton). They have something in common I don’t like. I know why but I cannot say anything.”

The game against Chelsea on Sunday is now a critical one for Benitez and for Liverpool. “When you are top of the table you know that every single game is really important so when you lose two points you have to be disappointed [...]

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The expectations are starting to build for Liverpool under manager Rafael Benitez. The team is now all alone at the top of the Soccer Betting Premier League standings and fans are starting to get excited. Benitez is urging caution though as his team faces a tough week. “It is a crucial week for us. We are at the top for the first time and everybody is waiting for our reaction, to see whether we can we handle it.” Benitez said, “So we must concentrate even more now. We must not slip up or lose our focus. We are in a fantastic position and we will try to stay there as long as we can. The key for me is that the team is working together, all of them helping and motivating their team-mates. That is a massive difference.”

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It has been 18 years since Liverpool won the title and fans are definitely excited about the prospects this season. “Keeping a lid on expectation is difficult. The fans want to see the team at the top and they badly want the title, so it is difficult to keep our people calm.” Benitez said, “We know we have the responsibility to give the same message to everyone, the fans in particular.”

Liverpool hosts Portsmouth on Wednesday and that will not be easy considering there could be a letdown for Liverpool after their 1-0 win on Sunday at Chelsea. “We played particularly well at Chelsea in the second half, we had more confidence and more options on the counter attack. They also were nervous, they had been unbeaten at home in the league for a long time and they were trying to go forward too quickly, and they made mistakes.”

Soccer Betting News: Liverpool at the Top of the Premier League

The top two teams in the Soccer Betting Premier League, Chelsea and Liverpool, resume play in the Champions League this week. This is a key week for both clubs as they meet for the first time in Premier League play on Sunday but first they have Champions League work to do on Wednesday. Liverpool faces Atletico while Chelsea plays AS Roma.

Chelsea has the easier game since they are at home while Liverpool goes on the road to face Atletico Madrid and they will not have striker Fernando Torres. The winner of Wednesday’s match would vault into the lead halfway through Group D play. It is likely that both Liverpool and Atletico will advance regardless, since PSV Eindhoven and Marseille have done very little. The match means a lot more to Atletico because reports have it that a loss on Wednesday to Liverpool would cost Atletico head coach Javier Aguirre his job.

Liverpool is expected to have Steven Gerrard, Robbie Keane and Yossi Benayoun in the lineup on Wednesday. Dirk Kuyt will take the striking role with Torres out of the lineup. “This is the big one in our group, to win would be a very strong statement. We know Atletico are a very strong, tough side but it is another challenge and one we will rise to,” Kuyt said. Atletico’s top striker Sergio Aguero may not play due to muscle problems. Atletico will also be without defender Tomas Ujfalusi due to injury.

Soccer Betting News: Champions League Action Resumes this Week

The Soccer Betting Premier League has been dominated by Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in recent seasons. Liverpool wants to join those three teams and so far in the 2008 season, they have. Liverpool star Dirk Kuyt believes his team can stay at the top. Every three games we have a big game. We had Everton and PSV last week, and our target is just to win every game and try to be there by the end of the season. But it was vital to keep pace with Chelsea before the internationals. We can leave with a good feeling. We’ve already had one international break and we came back in our first game after it and beat Manchester United, so I wouldn’t say it comes at a bad time. Anyway, we don’t need any excuses. We’ll just keep on going and see how we do against Wigan in our next game.

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One problem for Liverpool is that they will be without defender Martin Skrtel for months after he suffered damage to his posterior cruciate ligament of his right knee.

Read more on Soccer Bettin Preview: Liverpool and Chelsea Lead Premier League

Reports are that Kevin Keegan is out as manager of Newcastle United following a meeting with the club’s directors on Tuesday. Keegan was reportedly unhappy ownership was not willing to do much in the transfer market and wanted out. Last week James Milner was sold to Aston Villa even though Keegan wanted him to stay.

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The transfer issue really came to a head a few weeks ago when Dennis Wise took over as Executive Director at Newcastle. Since that time the team has been unable to sign any big names and Keegan was upset at the lack of action. Keegan was welcomed back at Newcastle with open arms in January after Sam Allardyce was fired. Keegan first coached Newcastle in 1992 and did quite well at the helm. He resigned in 1997 and went on to manage Fulham, England and Manchester City.

Read more on Premier League Soccer News: Kevin Keegan Out at Newcastle

Liverpool nearly suffered a humiliating loss in the Soccer Betting Champions League qualifying but they got an extra time goal to defeat Standard Liege 1-0 and move into the group stage. Dirk Kuyt scored the only goal between the two teams in the 28th minute of added time. That was just two minutes before the game would have gone to penalties. It was the only goal scored between the two teams since the first leg was a scoreless draw.

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Liverpool can thank goalkeeper Pepe Reina or they would have suffered the loss. He stopped Dieumerci Mbokani in the seventh minute and stopped Marouane Fellaini later in the match. Liege goalkeeper Aragon Espinoza stopped Fabio Aurelio’s free kick and overall the Liege squad outplayed Liverpool. Newcomer Robbie Keane continually missed the goal as did Steven Gerrard. “We knew it was a difficult team to play against,” Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. “They played good on counterattack. It was difficult, but we were playing better than in the first leg.”

Read more on Soccer News: Liverpool Barely Advances in Champions League

The top of the Soccer Betting Premier League is expected to be a battle between Manchester United and Chelsea once again this season. The Blues are doing their part, starting the season with two wins while United has a win and a tie.

Manchester United was able to get a 1-0 win against Portsmouth even without a number of their key players including Cristiano Ronaldo. Also missing were Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves.

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Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp believes it is a two-team race in the Premier League once again. “They are still so strong that I can see them and Chelsea being the two slugging it out again for the title. They will probably meet again in a repeat of the Champions League final too, I shouldn’t wonder. Certainly, I think Arsenal and Liverpool have it all on to finish above them. Chelsea were very strong last week and United will be even stronger than they are now if they sign Dimitar Berbatov (from Tottenham), as I think they will, in the next few days.”

Read more on Soccer Betting Preview: Manchester United and Chelsea both get 1-0 Wins

FC Barcelona and Juventus both advanced into the group stage of the Soccer Betting Champions League based on their first leg wins last week. Barcelona routed Wisla Krakow 4-0 last week while Juventus won 4-0 against Artmedia. Tuesday’s second leg results were virtually meaningless as Barcelona lost 1-0 and Juventus played Artmedia to a 1-1 draw. Juventus and FC Barcelona both easily advanced on aggregate.

Greek side Panathinaikos advanced as well into the group stage of the Champions league with a 1-0 win over Sparta Prague. Panathinaikos had won 2-1 in the first leg last week.

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Juventus has not been to the group stage for two years because they were relegated to the second division because of the match-fixing scandal. They had no trouble in this qualifying matchup with Artmedia. Barcelona advanced even though they suffered a meaningless loss that gave new coach Pep Guardiola his first defeat. “I don’t think today we have taken a step backwards in our preparations,” Guardiola said. “Perhaps we weren’t so precise but we had an opponent which was also playing and we had five or six chances with only the goalkeeper to beat. We lost but we could have drawn or even won.” Since Barcelona really had things clinched with the 4-0 win in the first leg they rested Olympic champion Lionel Messi, who recently returned from Beijing after playing for Argentina.

Read more on Soccer Betting Preview: FC Barcelona and Juventus Advance in Champions League

Chelsea defeated Liverpool 3-2 in extra time on Wednesday in a thrilling game that sends the Blues into the Champions League Final against Manchester United. Chelsea advanced 4-3 on aggregate goals. The game was an emotional one for the Blues after they squandered a 1-0 lead in the second half but Frank Lampard scored the go-ahead goal in extra time. It was the first match for Lampard since his mother died last Thursday.

Frank Lampard scored the penalty spot in the 98th minute. Didier Drogba added his second goal of the match in the 105th minute. “What a character Lamps is to come in on Sunday and train and try and block out what has been a terrible week for him and his family and everyone close to Frank,” Chelsea captain John Terry said. “I’m sure Frank will dedicate the goal to his mum tonight.”

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Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel scored for Liverpool. “I thought we were very close. We played well in the second half, but the third goal killed it,” Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. “We had control of the game. We had two chances in extra time and we were in control and we were preventing them from creating.” Drogba scored the game’s first goal in the 33rd minute after nearly scoring a minute earlier. Torres scored the tying goal in the 64th minute for Liverpool.

Read more on Manchester United and Chelsea Advance to Champions League Final

On Tuesday Soccer Betting Premier League, Manchester United hosts Barcelona and a win will put them into the Champions League final. Chelsea is in even better position as they host Liverpool on Wednesday, as either a win or a draw will have them advancing. Manchester United is a half goal favorite with a total of 2.5 under at SBG Global against Barcelona. The three-way line has United at -105, Barcelona at +300 at the draw at +220.

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Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson rolled the dice and took a huge gamble on Saturday by resting stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez for Tuesday’s match. He had better hope that his team wins its next two Premier League games and that decision doesn’t come back to haunt him. He also better hope his team wins on Tuesday at home against Barcelona. United is facing injuries to striker Wayne Rooney (hip) and defender Nemanja Vidic (face). “We’ve got to pick ourselves up,” said winger Ryan Giggs, “There’s no bigger game than Barcelona. We want to win the league and we want to reach the Champions League final, and it’s still in our hands.” United is expected to take out Barcelona and advance to the final. Ronaldo was just recently named player of the year for the second straight season and he will be playing with a vengeance on Tuesday after missing a penalty kick in the first leg against Barcelona last week. “I look forward to Tuesday against Barcelona; it is the biggest game of the season in my opinion. If you win, you are in the final,” Ronaldo said, “It is a good motivation for me, for my colleagues, for my friends, everyone. I hope to win and the two league games are very important as well.”

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