Recently by John Aldridge

I'VE got to admit that Lucas is answering his critics, myself included, in the best possible fashion.

The Brazilian midfielder had a good game against Aston Villa on Monday night.

Lucas has still got a lot to prove but credit where credit is due. He's certainly playing a lot better under Roy Hodgson than he did under Rafa Benitez.

IT is difficult to remember a time in all my years following Lverpool that I have felt more deflated than now.

Just look at the club. Negativity everywhere, no light at the end of the tunnel under an ownership that is beyond a joke.

Nobody knows when or if the club will be sold, nobody knows which players are staying or going and the financial figures make for horrific reading.

LIVERPOOL are now officially up for sale and the sooner we get rid of the American owners the better.

We can't move forward while Tom Hicks and George Gillett are still in charge and hopefully the appointment of Martin Broughton as chairman will speed up their departure.

Broughton is clearly highly regarded in the business world and we need him to find decent people who want to own the club for the right reasons.

THE stage is set for an absolute cracker in the second leg of our Europa League tie against Benfica at Anfield next Thursday.

I'd say we have a slight edge after the first leg thanks to that away goal but it's very well balanced.

We have the edge with the away goal but they are a good side with some quality players and won't sit back. They will come to Anfield and try to score because that's the way they play.

LIVERPOOL'S home form is good enough to guarantee a place in the Champions League - but will results on the road be able to back them up?

For whatever reason, we find ourselves in a desperate fight to get into the top four and the only way the Reds will salvage the situation is by picking up results at Birmingham City, Burnley and Hull.

Last week at Old Trafford was indicative of the way things have gone on our travels; we started brightly, managed to nick a goal - our first in the Premier League away from Anfield since Sotirios Kyrgiakos bundled in at Stoke - but ultimately came up short.