It could be Liverpool's year - Alan Hansen

LIVERPOOL legend Alan Hansen is starting to believe his former club are serious title contenders.

Ex-Anfield skipper Hansen said: "I have been tipping Chelsea for the championship all along, but the longer the season goes on the better chance I think Liverpool have got."

Liverpool looked in championship form as they beat Newcastle 5-1, while Chelsea 2-2 drew Fulham.

The Cottagers also took a point from Liverpool recently, as did West Ham and Hull, but Hansen reckons it is the ability to recover from such setbacks which shows Rafael Benitez's men have improved from previous seasons.

"Certainly Liverpool have a better chance of winning than they had least season," he said.

"They are more resilient than at the same time last season, they have more strength in depth and, crucially, they are able to create impetus and momentum.

"In the last month they have had three draws against lesser teams and it has not affected them.

"The most important thing is that they are not getting beaten. Mentally, the difference between drawing and losing is massive, even if the gap in points between winning and drawing is greater.

"As a title contender a defeat places unbelievable pressure on you, so it is when you lose two games in four or five that you find out what you are made of.

"This is where Manchester United and Chelsea have become brilliant; it is the aptitude test of a championship-winning side."

Liverpool's Greatest Player for 2007/2008 Season

Fernando Torres (Forward)The Reds' long search for a 20-goals-a-season striker apparently ended when they paid Club Atlético de Madrid €30m for the services of Torres in summer 2007. He wasted little time in repaying the fee, returning 24 goals in his maiden Premier League campaign and another six in the UEFA Champions League as he made the step up to European club football's biggest stage with minimal fuss. He scaled even higher at UEFA EURO 2008™, scoring the only goal of the final.

Steven Gerrard (Midfielder)

"Of course everybody knows I wanted Gerrard at Chelsea," José Mourinho said recently. "Why wouldn't I?" It summed up the Liverpool man. Marrying typical English passion with great technique and an inherent knack of coming to the fore when he is needed most, the 28-year-old is a manager's dream. In Liverpool's first game of the 2007/08 campaign he curled in an 87th-minute winner against Aston Villa FC, his first of 21 goals – including a run of scoring in seven successive games – during another productive season.

Pepe Reina (Goolkeeper)

Liverpool's recent European success has been based on defence but after a poor start to their campaign they went on the attack – and it was Reina who was left to hold the fort. In 12 games before their semi-final elimination they struck 29 goals, but Reina's penchant for making key saves at crucial moments was just as important. In February the Spanish international became the quickest goalkeeper in Liverpool history to keep 50 clean sheets.

Jammie Carrager (Defender)

A Super man-maker and tackler who has a long long ago dumped questions about his pace, Carrager stood tall in a Liverpool back line that struggled to find cohesion at times. Having long ago broken Ian Callaghan's record for UEFA Club competition appearances, the immovable 30 year-old became only the 12 player in Liverpool's history to make over 500 appearances.

Celebrity; Best and Worst of 2008

Best Hit-Maker: Rihanna

We're starting to think Rihanna can do no wrong. It seems like every song the Barbados-born babe releases burns up the charts. This year alone, Rihanna has blown our minds with smash hits like "Take A Bow" and "Disturbia," not to mention her sexy collaborations with T.I., Maroon 5 and Ne-Yo. A red-hot career, a gorgeous face and a cutie boyfriend in fellow chart-topper Chris Brown make this little lady a force to be reckoned with.

Worst Celeb Family: The Hogans

It's been a rough year for the Hogan Family. Son Nick Hogan spent a good portion of the last 12 months in jail for reckless driving, while Hulk and Linda's marriage began to fall apart. When rumors hit of the wrestler's affair with one of daughter Brooke's best friends, Linda took up with a 19-year-old surfer, and Brooke managed to fly under the radar. But, really, with a family this screwed up, the bad luck is all relative.

Best Baby Mama: Amy Poehler

You have to hand it to Amy Poehler. While most women are so done with being pregnant by their seventh month, this SNL funny lady didn't let a little thing like being days from giving birth stop her from rapping with Sarah Palin and dancing with her big baby belly. Amy not only kept her own sense of humor up, but managed to have us all still rolling in the aisles leading up to the birth of baby Archie in October.

Worst Celeb Boyfriend: Raffaello Follieri

Hollywood good girl Anne Hathaway had it all—graceful looks, a solid career and a devoted Italian businessman boyfriend. The looks and the career remain, but after four-and-a-half years together, Anne's seemingly nice guy, Raffaello Follieri, was unveiled as a shady businessman who was arrested—then sentenced to over four years in prison—for fraud and money laundering. Fortunately for Anne, she got out before the real dirtiness went down, but that doesn't mean her heart wasn't broken.

Worst Blabbermouth: Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson never seems to learn her lesson. After her very public breakups from Nick Lachey and John Mayer, you would think the gone-country singer would want to keep her relationships on the down low. But Jessica has been gushing more than ever about how current boyfriend, Dallas Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo has "saved her." We're not saying we're not happy for her—we just don't want to hear about it anymore.

Best Olympian: Michael Phelps

Americans everywhere were thrilled to celebrate Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, who won a record-breaking 8 out of 8 gold medals at this year's summer games in Beijing. The 23-year-old Maryland native—and one of Barbara Walters' most fascinating people of 2008—captured our hearts and fueled our spirit as he swam his way into the history books.

Best Comeback: Britney Spears

At the end of 2007, Britney Spears was a plain old mess—she lost custody of her kids, was getting into one driving fiasco after another, was keeping some very questionable company (yes, Adnan Ghalib, we mean you!) and had—literally —lost all control over her life. Just one year later, Brit is back and is just about ready to take over the world again. With regular visits with her boys, a brand new album, a slew of new awards on her mantle and the fab body we remember her for, Britney is poised to take back rightful ownership of the pop charts. Welcome back, Brit!

Best Turnaround: Nicole Richie

What a turnaround The Simple Life's Nicole Richie has made. Just two years ago, Nic was serving time for a DUI that had her driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Fast forward to 2008, and Paris Hilton's BFF has straightened out big time. With Good Charlotte's Joel Madden by her side, Nicole became mommy to a baby girl, Harlow, in January, and has since become a new woman.

Shanghai still a city full of surprises

Lounging on a ruby nightclub sofa scattered with pillows, smoking apple-scented tobacco through a hookah, watching the girls with glossy black hair bewitching their Chinese boys; this is the perfect position to ponder the baffling metropolis of Shanghai.

In the warm midnight air of a bar called Barbarossa, the conversation is getting louder as exorbitant cocktails slide down jewelled throats. At the bar, a Belgian man with his forearm in plaster is talking about when the Armani boutique opened: "You should have seen all the rich Chinese with their pretty girlfriends buying leather jackets - but it's sad," he says, "Shanghai never used to be this hip, so hip it's starting to get annoying, you know what I mean?"

This is post-colonial, post-Mao Shanghai, elegant and filthy, open all hours, the baffling metropolis, contradictory and thrilling....more

We're flying but Fergie's nous can swing it, says Liverpool legend Whelan

Liverpool legend Ronnie Whelan has urged Rafa Benitez's table-topping team not to get carried away by their title dream because Manchester United are still favourites to retain their championship trophy.

Anfield is buzzing with the thought of winning the title and ending 19 years in the wilderness as Liverpool celebrate New Year by going into the second half of the campaign with a three point lead over second placed Chelsea.

But Whelan, a member of the 1990 side crowned English champions for a record 18th time, warns that, despite their cushion at the top and the quality at Benitez’s disposal, Old Trafford’s iron grip will be difficult to break.

Click here to read over the articles.

Half Term Report; Liverpool

Perhaps it is the cynicism which comes with a long wait for the impossible dream, but Liverpool appear to be the least convincing New Year Premier League leaders for many a year.

No sooner have the Reds gone three points clear at the top of the table thanks to a resounding 5-1 thumping of Newcastle United at St.James' Park along with Chelsea's failure to beat Fulham, than the Anfield club are facing negative headlines. At the time of writing club captain and all around saviour Steven Gerrard is answering police questions about an alleged incident at a Southport nightspot, a situation which has rather pushed Liverpool's good form to the back of the news agenda.

Articles by Stephen Orford

Stevie is the new LFC #14

Steven Gerrard moved up to #14 in the list of the club's all-time top goalscorers after his brace at Newcastle United on Sunday, which took him to 109 strikes for the club to date. His nearest challenger among the current squad is Fernando Torres, who has grabbed 38 reds goals so far.

His 109 goals include 63 in the League, a club record thirty in Europe, eight in the FA Cup, seven in the League Cup and one in the FIFA Club World Championship. These goals have come in 464 outings, meaning he has netted a goal once every 4.3 games, although his ratio since the arrival of Rafael Benítez is considerably more impressive even than that, as he has bagged 81 goals in 224 appearances since the summer of 2004, equivalent to a goal every 2.8 matches.

His most favoured opponent in terms of goalscoring is Aston Villa, against whom he has got on the scoresheet seven times, with Bolton Wanderers and now Newcastle United both having to pick the ball out of their nets on six occasions as a result of our influential skipper. Interestingly, only 36 of his goals have come before half time, with the remaining 73 coming after the break, while just fourteen of his goals have come from the penalty spot.

His strikes in the North East took him past John Barnes, who grabbed 108 goals in 407 games. It will only take another two goals before the 28-year old Huyton lad can move up another place in the club's all-time goalscorers list to sit alongside Jack Balmer, who struck trebles in three consecutive matches on our way to the League title in 1947, a remarkable feat that has yet to be matched in English top-flight football. Steven is in fact likely to move up several places in the scoring charts over the coming year or two. However, he still remains on less than a third of the goals bagged by our all-time leading scorer, Ian Rush.

Current Top 15 Goalscorers:

1. Ian Rush (346)
2. Roger Hunt (286)
3. Gordon Hodgson (241)
4. Billy Liddell (228)
5. Robbie Fowler (183)
6. Kenny Dalglish (172)
7. Michael Owen (158)
8. Harry Chambers (151)
9. Jack Parkinson (130)
10. Sam Raybould (128)
11. Dick Forshaw (124)
12. Ian St. John (118)
13. Jack Balmer (111)
14. Steven Gerrard (109)
15. John Barnes (108)

Life Museum - in Thailand

The January sales

At the stroke of midnight on January 1 the transfer window will open and football clubs' fax machines will be buzzing with requests for players.

And, just for the record, the FA have announced that the window will slam shut at 5pm on February 2.

Aside from the fact nobody other than football clubs seems to use faxes any more, who will do well in the new year sales and who will end up with the battered old items that have been left on the shelf? Or, will the credit crunch bite and Manchester City will be the only ones flashing the cash?

Here is Sportsmail's guide to the Barclays Premier League clubs' wish lists and realistic buys in January.

Hero of the week

Steven Gerrard. The inspirational Liverpool captain scored twice at Newcastle and is driving his side to the title.

Today Headlines

All the gossip from today's papers. Monday, 29 December 2008

THE SUN: Ricardo Fuller is set to be hit with a £20,000 fine today after being sent off for fighting with his own captain. Also: Steven Gerrard reckons Liverpool have the big-time players to large their way to the title.

DAILY STAR: Leaders Liverpool fired an awesome title warning to their Premier League rivals with a five-star romp at St James's Park. Also: Big Phil Scolari blew his top at his Chelsea team for throwing away two vital Championship points at Fulham.

DAILY MIRROR: Steven Gerrard yesterday hailed title-chasing Liverpool's squad as the best he's ever played in - and claimed he was disappointed they hit only five at Newcastle. Also: Ashes legend Michael Vaughan is standing by to resume his England career today - despite scoring only 43 runs in the last five months.

DAILY MAIL: Harry Redknapp is facing the prospect of an FA charge after a stinging attack on referee Steve Tanner, in which he accused him of being so poor it was 'scary'. Also: Manchester City have made West Ham a combined offer of £15million to try and prise Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker from Upton Park.

DAILY EXPRESS: Steven Gerrard is convinced that Liverpool can end their title drought stretching back to 1990 after their thumping 5-1 victory over outclassed Newcastle at St James' Park.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Michael Vaughan will not get his Christmas wish for a recall to England's Test squad for the West Indies when the tour party is announced today.

THE TIMES: Andy Murray will start the new year as the hottest property in tennis, with the promise of £100million from the management companies vying for his signature.

THE GUARDIAN: Chelsea wavered for an instant and their season swung drastically off course. Also: Arsene Wenger will move next month to bring Andrei Arshavin to Arsenal and he is cautiously optimistic about his chances of success.

THE INDEPENDENT: Jermain Defoe's Portsmouth future was in serious doubt last night after he was first left out of Tony Adams' squad and then reinstated to the substitutes' bench for the game against Arsenal.

Catchy atmosphere at Liyana, Mata-mata

GERRARD: We should have won by more

Liverpool set to sign Portsmouth's Glen Johnson

Glen Johnson will complete a sensational move to Liverpool this week.

People Sport understands the Portsmouth right-back was given a tour of the Merseysiders' Melwood training complex in the build-up to Christmas.

Reds' boss Rafa Benitez is keen to land him as soon as possible and Liverpool will pay cash-strapped Pompey £9million.

Click here

Liverpool crushed Newcastle 5-1

Two goal Gerrard is all smiles after making it 4-1 and helping Liverpool
3 point clear at the top of the Premier league

Steven Gerrard celebrates giving Liverpool the lead at Newcastle.

Ryan Babel celebrates after re-establishing Liverpool's two goal lead.

Xabi Alonso scores from the penalty spot to seal Liverpool's emphatic 5-1 victory

Sami Hyper celebrates with team mate Agger after scoring for Liverpool

Steven Gerrard of Liverpool scores the opening goal against Newcastle during their
Premier League match at St James Park on December 28, 2008 in Newcastle

Daniel Agger battles with Micheal Owen of Newcastle

Sami Hypia scores his team's second goal against Newcastle

Steven Gerrard bagged a brace as Liverpool laid down the Premier League title gauntlet with a ruthless 5-1 demolition of Newcastle on Sunday.

The England midfielder got the ball rolling with a 31st-minute opener and then after Sami Hyypia and Ryan Babel had struck either side of David Edgar's header, he completed the job with a 66th-minute second.

There was still time for substitute Xabi Alonso to convert a 76th-minute penalty after fellow newcomer David Ngog had been tripped by Edgar to complete a miserable afternoon for Joe Kinnear's injury-ravaged side, for whom goalkeeper Shay Given made seven remarkable saves.
The victory was all the sweeter for manager Rafa Benitez, coming two days after a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Bolton and while star striker Fernando Torres continues to recover from a hamstring injury. Full Story

Tutong on Sunday

visitors at the beach had the opportunity to try a range
of leisure activities offered for hire.

one of the stall offered local delicacy such as
keropok lekor and varieties of drinks

ayam bakar or barbecue chickens at one of the stalls

pancing udang or using hook and line is one of the popular
activity for the local here

prawn or udang galah found at the Tutong river

Newcastle v Liverpool

Andrew Carroll is likely to partner Michael Owen up front against Liverpool with Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear reeling from a string of injury worries.

Jose Enrique is out after damaging a calf in the warm-up against Wigan as is Mark Viduka who has a torn groin muscle.

Habib Beye was also a casualty at the JJB stadium while defender Sebastien Bassong is suspended.

Javier Mascherano is expected to return for Liverpool, but Alvaro Arbeloa (hamstring) is out.

Fernando Torres could return as a substitute.

Newcastle squad: Given, Coloccini, Gutierrez, Butt, Guthrie, N’Zogbia, Duff, Owen, Harper, Taylor, Geremi, Edgar, Xisco, Carroll, Ameobi, LuaLua, Gonzalez

Liverpool squad: Reina, Carragher, Agger, Hyypia, Insua, Alonso, Mascherano, Kuyt, Gerrard, Keane, Cavalieri, Darby, Babel, Benayoun, Lucas, Ngog, El Zhar, Torre.

For the rest of Priemier League team news click here

Liverpool eye £4m Heskey

LIVERPOOL are poised to make a £4m bid for Emile Heskey.

Rafa Benitez is ready to rival Aston Villa for the Wigan's England international when the transfer window reopens next week.

Heskey is said to be keen on an Anfield return having left Liverpool for Birmingham in 2004. He was also a Liverpool supporter as a child.

Chelsea have also been strongly linked with a move.

click here

Liverpool match preview

Liverpool vs Newcastle
Sunday, 28th December 2008.

Newcastle Utd. prepare to entertain Liverpool at St. James' Park at lunchtime on Sunday, and hold the advantage on previous meetings between the two. Of the 78 games played, Magpies have recorded 33 wins, and Liverpool have come away with 22 victories.

The most recent encounter between these two sides at St. James' Park was just last season, in November 2007, as the visitors ran out cosy 0-3 winners in a Premier League match.

For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here

Liverpool's festive message full of defiance

SAMMY LEE insisted it was in Liverpool's DNA always to believe in their ability to win the Premier League, but this was the first time this season that Anfield has chosen to announce it.

Given the response to the challenge laid down earlier by Manchester United and Chelsea, the vote of confidence in Rafael Benitez's leaders was as credible as it was audible.

Anxiety was again in the air among supporters who crave little else but Liverpool's first league title since 1990, although only in their reaction to news of Carlos Tevez's late winner for United at Stoke City. It seeped no further and, with maximum effort and a minimum of fuss, Liverpool contemptuously brushed off Bolton Wanderers to ensure they remain in pole position at the turn.

By the finale, with Benitez's players toying with demoralised opponents and 42 points secured at the halfway stage, the season's opening rendition of "Liverpool; top of the league" was a message of defiance and not a statement of the obvious.

Such was the comfort with which Liverpool consolidated top place, however, that expectations will rise. Especially with Fernando Torres edging ever closer to a return from hamstring trouble.