Results tagged “pre-season” from Liverpool Banter - Join the debate with LFC fans, staff writers and club legends

EVEN if you're unlikely to see many of the faces on display here again this season, there was one facet of this un-recognisable Liverpool side that could yet become familiar.

This certainly wasn't the team that will end Liverpool's 18-year wait for the Premier League title, with only three members of Saturday's starting line-up likely to begin Liverpool's challenge at the Stadium of Light next month.

Was it, however, a glimpse of the future under Rafael Benitez, as the Spaniard trialled a 3-2-3-1-1 formation in the 1-0 win over Tranmere Rovers at Prenton Park?

Second-guessing Benitez on team matters - especially after just one pre-season clash - is a frivolous exercise, of course.

Story by Ben Thornley

DANIEL AGGER has vowed to fight for his first-team place after returning from his injury nightmare against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.

The Denmark international, who played for 75 minutes of the 1-0 victory at Prenton Park, has missed almost 10 months of football with metatarsal problems, with his previous appearance for Liverpool coming against Portsmouth last September.

Agger's absence has been offered up as a major factor in the Anfield outfit's failure to challenge for the title last season by his manager Rafael Benitez, who was left with just two senior centre-backs, Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher.

BEFORE embarking on a whistle-stop tour of five European nations in the space of three weeks, Liverpool start their 2008 pre-season programme just a Xabi Alonso long shot away from manager Rafael Benitez's house.

Well not quite, but Tranmere Rovers's Prenton Park ground is even closer to the Spaniard's home in Caldy than Anfield.

The visit of their Premier League neighbours from across the Mersey is expected to produce the biggest crowd of the season for the League One side and will no doubt provide a welcome cash boost for the hosts.