The Reds finished 7th last season, and Carragher believes Liverpool’s best chance at silverware this season is in cup competitions, not the league.

“People have said ‘You’ve done this and that for Liverpool’ but we’ve not won a trophy for four years and that is annoying me a little bit,” said the 32-year-old.

“I certainly don’t want to go on another couple of years not winning one before I finish at Liverpool.

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t win a trophy this season or the next couple.

“The one I haven’t won is the league but I suppose that will be very difficult this season going from seventh last season.”

We now move into the international break and with Liverpool not taking to the field again until 12th September, when they travel to Birmingham City, I found myself stepping back from football, to a degree. I was tired. Tired of transfer rumours, tired of failure at business level by those that lead our club and tired of Tom Hicks’ “big summer” promise.

Skip 24 hours, and a few words from a film bring my thoughts back to Liverpool Football Club. Having, unlike me, successfully avoided a number of conversations about Tom Hicks and George Gillett on Twitter, I opted for some sofa time, to watch the film “A Knight’s Tale” and let my world slow down a little.

If you have seen the film, a reasonable one at that, which stars Heath Ledger; he goes in search of his dream to become a knight and “change the stars”. Dring the course of his journey to success, the plot of many a film are thrust open him – “you have been weighed, you have been measured and you have been found wanting”.

For me, Heath Ledger may as well have been sat upon his horse, wearing a Liverpool shirt and contemplating those words about our football club. Isn’t this exactly the place we, as Liverpool fans, find ourselves in now? Pondering a similar situation? ‘Standards Corrupted’ is more fitting than the Standard Chartered logo, as they say.

Perhaps Fernando Torres had popped in the same DVD at home as he sat realizing that no new striker would come in to join him just yet. His thoughts? They were loud and clear when he spoke to a radio station in Spain earlier this week.

”It’s fundamental new owners arrive who can make us a competitive side.”

It is fair to say that Liverpool’s summer transfer dealings are by no means a Titanic disaster, as some are making them out to be. We have, after all, seen the arrival of Joe Cole, Raul Meireles and Milan Jovanovic – who all have the ability to change and influence games. Along with the trio, we have experienced campaigners in Paul Konchesky and Christian Poulsen, alongside the youth of Jonjo Shelvey and Danny Wilson and the back-up in Brad Jones – all coming through the door.

But there are two sides to a coin, and if you do look at the underside, and what lies below, it is clear to all that we have a side that is desperate to get some striking powess to support Torres, but we ended up with adding nothing, but losing two more. It is also somewhat unusual that for a side that is lacking depth and requiring a bit of an overhaul, to walk away from a transfer window, with a profit of over £7million, and the wallet feeling heavier, rather than alot lighter. But wasn’t that always the plan, according to Hicks and Gillett?

We need not go into the depths of the many lies, broken promises, and failures of the duo. They are heading towards being as well known as the words of our famous song – You’ll Never Walk Alone. A song which our supporters, time and again, return to for faith, hope and unity.

“We have no intention of selling any of our top players and we have a substantial transfer budget in place. There’s so much misinformation about transfer spending. We will make a significant investment this summer.”

Hicks may as well have added that quote to his efforts to dominate the top ten lies in football. But did we, in all honesty, expect any less? It’s not the fact that we haven’t seen the arrival of some of the bigger names linked with us in Arda Turan, Mario Gomez or Ola Toivonen; it’s more the actions and time spent on signing the likes of Carlton Cole – who simply, isn’t good enough for a club like us – while the likes of Rafael van der Vaart are snapped up by Tottenham for a mere £8million, with only minutes to spare in the window. Our club is simply looking in completely the wrong direction when it matters.

To a degree, the same might be said of Roy Hodgson. Do I support the man and his efforts? I most certainly do. However, reserving judgement on him is also my right. It’s still very early days in the season and with the fitness still being found by the players and with them still getting to know Hodgson, the jury is still out. Apart from a good second half performance against Arsenal, the Liverpool report card is slapped with a big red stamp – average.

Now, average is an improvement to some of the games we played last season, there’s no denying that. The grades should start to rise now that the manager can concentrate on matters purely football. However, going 4-4-2 against Manchester City was an amateur mistake in my book. The result was too predictable and one can only imagine how different it could have been. Whether or not Dalglish should have been given the job, would he have played it differently on the pitch and with his purchases? We will never know, and we won’t know about that either about any of the other candidates interviewed.

Despite these moments of disappointment; optimism must continue to prevail. For now, they are just a couple of bad days in football, and certainly there will be better ones to come. These moments must be pushed to the back of the mind, but not completely forgotten as they represent caution and lessons should be learned – but they shouldn’t be held to the forefront either, gaining limelight that they do not deserve.

We are less than five weeks away from the RBS deadline of October 6th – the deadline that is hanging over the heads of Hicks and Gillett & the future of Liverpool Football Club. Our future would be decided by a bank if a suitable buyer does not present an offer, which is accepted, between now and then. Kenny Huang is set to search for another Premier League club, which suits his consortium, but Martin broughton and our board remain tight lipped on their own thoughts. Many would argue, a little too quiet. While the club remains held to ransom by the owners that have no interest, or have anytime for the fans that supports financially and passionately; RBS may yet face a decision that they really don’t want forced upon them.

This is where the fans’ thought proccess needs to be, along with supporting the team that wear the red shirt, week in, week out, with our unrelenting backing – regardless of a result we do not appreciate. All roads point back to our American owners and that road needs to be closed permanently.

As for messrs Hicks and Gillett, they will always continue to come up short and that is just not acceptable at Anfield, especially as a permanent state of affairs.

“You have been weighed, you have been measured and you have been found wanting” – they most certainly have. Times up.

Justin Heron for LFC Globe and Kop That.

“We have no intention of selling any of our top players and we have a substantial transfer budget in place. There’s so much misinformation about transfer spending. We will make a significant investment this summer,” this is what Hicks had to say in May.

Stories of Joe Cole, Roy Hodgson and Kenny Huang splashed across the back-pages of most national newspapers distracted supporters and media-men alike as Liverpool once again failed to properly invest and build up a thin-looking squad during what could prove to be a pivotal transfer window.

Whilst the overall picture should only worsen fears that we are going backwards and not forwards, there remain a few positives to take from the summer period.

Firstly, whilst I, along with many other supporters, was disappointed to see Rafa Benitez leave Liverpool, I believe that Roy Hodgson is an adequate replacement for the Spaniard.

The vastly experienced Hodgson has managed to steady the ship by ensuring that our star players, with the notable exception of Javier Mascherano, remained at the club.

Gerrard, Torres, Reina and Kuyt were all heavily linked with moves away from the Merseysiders, however new manager Hodgson has impressed the quartet enough for them to commit their long-term futures to the club, providing everyone connected with the club a clear and obvious lift.

Moreover, as an Englishman coaching one of the best teams in the country, Hodgson clearly has the backing of the media. Whilst this period of grace will eventually end if results deteriorate, the lack of media pressure is certainly a pleasant change to the hype that surrounded every fixture last season.

In fact, Liverpool have even received support from some sections of the media, which was unheard of under former manager Rafael Benitez.

In relation to specific purchases, I am incredibly impressed by the hard-working Milan Jovanovic, who could prove to be a valuable asset down the left hand side.

Also, despite a disappointing start, which included a sending off, a missed penalty and a driving ban, I am delighted at the signing of Joe Cole. He is a wonderful player, who can unlock tight defences and thrill the Kop with moments of magic to savour.

Promising youngsters Danny Wilson and Jonjo Shelvey have also arrived at Anfield over the summer, which has helped provide more real potential for the future, complementing the healthy amount of youngsters already at the club.

Raul Meireles is another quality player who I cannot wait to see in a Red shirt, and Christian Poulsen appears to be a steady presence in the midfield, however the failure to sign a top-quality back up for Fernando Torres could come back to haunt us yet again this season.

Liverpool were linked with almost every forward this side of the moon, and yet the window slammed shut with no new striker arriving. Carlton Cole was the most likely to be signed, however I am glad that he hasn’t as Cole clearly doesn’t have the ability needed to survive, let alone thrive at a top club.

Ryan Babel hasn’t exactly impressed during his time at Anfield either, but I would much prefer to have the relatively young Dutchman at the club with time to develop in his favourite position then England’s sixth choice 26-year-old frontman.

While we may have dodged a bullet by avoiding the purchase of Carlton Cole, the failure to sign another recognised striker really leaves us short up front. Babel and Ngog are both good players on their day, however they are not able to fill Torres’ admittedly considerable boots on a regular basis.

Hodgson has not only spent his summer attempting to buy quality “home-grown” players. He has also successfully offloaded several players who had no future at Anfield. Albert Riera, Philip Degen and Diego Cavalieri all departed this summer, removing some of the deadwood, however talented players like Javier Mascherano, Yossi Benayoun, Emiliano Insua and Alberto Aquilani were also allowed to leave.

Both Insua and Aquilani have only left on loan, however it is clear that they have little to no chance of featuring in the new boss’ plans at any point in the future.

This is disappointing as Insua has bags full of potential, despite him having a nightmare campaign last season, where he was over-worked and suffering from the enormous pressure that comes from playing in a struggling Liverpool side.

The signing of Fabio Aurelio and Paul Konchesky compensates for the loss of Insua in the short term, however neither player has the same amount of potential as the young Argentine full-back.

Aquilani also deserved an extra year to prove himself after an injury-ravaged season last time out, however, with the arrival of both Christian Poulsen and Raul Meireles, we have more than enough cover in the central midfield positions.

The sale of Yossi Benayoun also disappointed me at the time, however we now have sufficient cover on the wings in the shape of Milan Jovanovic and Joe Cole. If Yossi wants to sit on the bench for ridiculous money at Stamford Bridge then so be it.

He clearly didn’t have the heart to play for Liverpool any longer.

Liverpool fans protest against co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett

The same applies to South American mercenary Mascherano, who somewhat strangely left for Barcelona in order to be “closer to home” for his wife and kids. Mascherano is a brilliant footballer but I am glad to see the back of him. No individual is bigger than the club, and we will cope without the discontented Argentine dampening the mood in the dressing room.

This summer could be seen as a period of progress. Although some top players have left, other relatively inexpensive quality performers have arrived. We have also managed to get rid of some of the deadwood that was reducing the overall quality of the squad.

However, this worrying fact remains. Liverpool have made a profit for the fourth successive transfer window. Yes, the country’s most successful football side has made money on transfer dealings once again and the reality is that you cannot compete in the Premier League unless you have buckets of cash to spend.

Look at Chelsea, Tottenham and City. None of them were even considered to be title contenders until they spent unreal amounts of money. Unfortunately, neither will Liverpool until the parasites ruining our club have left.

Perhaps more frighteningly, we have failed to fill all 25 places in our Premier League squad for this season. Whilst Manchester City fret about which world class player to leave in the stands for a season, we are left four players short of a complete squad.

The root cause of this mess that we are in are the liars in the boardroom. We should not be surprised at another “small” transfer period at Liverpool. We should not be surprised at the lack of world-class players in our team, and we should not be surprised at our paper-thin squad.

Nothing’s going to change until we run the liars out of the boardroom, and we start being run like the fantastic football club that we are, not the under-achieving sports “franchise” that the Yanks have made us.

Oliver Smith for LFC Globe and Red and Proud.

For the 2010-11 season, Premier League clubs have to register a squad of up to 25 players for league games. The list must include at least eight home grown players and a maximum of 17 non home grown players.

A player can be home grown, regardless of what his age of nationality. However, he must be affiliated to the FA or Welsh FA for three season (or 36 months) before they turn 21.

Along with the 21 players, Liverpool can supplement their squad with an unlimited amount of youngsters (below 21).

Hodgson will be able to to select Peter Gulacsi, Martin Kelly, Danny Wilson, Jonjo Shelvey, Daniel Pacheco, Nathan Eccleston and David Ngog for Barclays Premier League games if need be.

This squad list applies to Barclays Premier League games only.

Liverpool submitted the following squad today:

Home grown players:

Jamie Carragher
Joe Cole
Stephen Darby
Steven Gerrard
Glen Johnson
Brad Jones
Paul Konchesky
Jay Spearing

Non home grown players:

Daniel Agger
Fabio Aurelio
Ryan Babel
Milan Jovanovic
Dirk Kuyt
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Lucas Leiva
Raul Meireles
Christian Poulsen
Pepe Reina
Maxi Rodriguez
Martin Skrtel
Fernando Torres

Liverpool secured the signatures of Fabio Aurelio, Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic for free, and spent a combined fee of £3.7million for youngsters Jonjo Shelvey and Danny Wilson.

Brad Jones, who replaced Diego Cavalieri, was bought in for £2.3million from Middlesbrough while Christian Poulsen, who replaced Barcelona bound Javier Mascherano – was signed from Juventus for £3.5million.

Roy Hodgson then looked to his former club, Fulham, in search of a left-back to fill the gap left by Emiliano Insua’s departure to Galatasaray on loan.

Paul Konchesky was signed for £4million, to compete with Fabio Aurelio and Martin Kelly for the left-back spot.

Raul Meireles was then shipped in to replace Alberto Aquilani, who joined Juventus on a season long loan deal, and cost Liverpool a fee of £11.5million from FC Porto.

The window saw Liverpool let go of some of their most promising youngsters in Krisztián Németh, Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kacaniklic.

A total of 21 players were either sold, released or loaned out, while only 9 players came in to replace them.

The window closed on the 31st of August – and we would like to know how you feel about Liverpool’s summer dealings. A full list of ins and outs are available below.

Comment or submit your vote below:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Liverpool - Summer transfer window ins (2010/11)

Liverpool - Summer transfer window outs (2010/11)

If you believe any of the data or figures mentioned in the above article are incorrect – report them by commenting below.

Konchesky signed from Fulham on deadline day on a four-year contract for a fee believed to be in the region of £4million.

“I’m very excited to be here. I can’t wait to get started and I’m really looking forward to the challenge,” he said.

“I know what the manager is about and he knows what I am about. I had a great time with him at Fulham for two-and-a-half years. He did really well for Fulham and hopefully we can have great success at Liverpool and we can achieve bigger and better things.

“I want to win silverware. I believe this club is capable of doing that and hopefully we can start this year.”

When asked whether it was a hard decision to come to Anfield, he said: “No, not when a club like Liverpool comes in for you,” he said.

“You look at the background and history they have got and they are one of the most famous names in football.

“It also helped me with the manager being here who I know well. When Liverpool came in for me it was an easy choice.

“I know they have had some fantastic players over the years like Kenny Dalglish and John Barnes.

“I played with John at Charlton when I was a kid so I know a lot about the club from him. He used to talk about Liverpool and he spoke to the young players at Charlton about the history and background of the club. He has a lot of respect for this club and he was a big player here.

“I have played against Liverpool at Anfield and the crowd are always fantastic towards their team and give them great support. I am looking forward to playing in front of them for Liverpool.”

A Liverpool XI take on an Everton XI in Jamie Carragher’s testimonial this weekend, and Konchesky admitted he may feature.

“I am looking forward to playing in Jamie’s testimonial and it will be a great day for him,” he stated.

“It will be nice to play in front of the Kop as a Liverpool player for the first time and it will help me get used to it and I can just go out and enjoy it.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Jamie and what he’s achieved at this club.

“He has been at Liverpool for a long while. For someone to do that, especially at this great club, you’ve got to have something about you.

“He’s a great character and he is also someone you can look up to.

“If ever you need someone to look to and get advice then you should look up to Jamie. He’s a great professional and he does everything how it should be done.”

The Morrocan international completed a medical and agreed personal terms with the Greek side late on Tuesday night.

Paperwork was submitted earlier in the day and has now been given the deal has been given the go ahead.

A statement on FC PAOK’s website reads: “FC PAOK have announced the acquisition of Nabil El Zhar.

“The Moroccan international footballer will join the club on a one-year loan deal from Liverpool.

“PAOK FC have an option to sign the player on a three-year contract in July 2011.”

The Reds have lost several youngsters in the summer transfer window with Emiliano Insua, Damien Plessis, Lauri Dalla Valle, Alex Kacaniklic, Krisztian Nemeth, San José and Nikolay Mihaylov all leaving the club.

El Zhar made 32 apperances for Liverpool, having scored one goal against Cardiff.

Emiliano Insua - joins Galatasaray on loan

As we revealed in the early hours of Tuesday, Insua was heading to Istanbul to agree personal terms.

Earlier reports claimed Liverpool would receive a fee of £4.5million for the left-back, however the Argentine has now left on loan.

Insua will not return to Liverpool at the end of the season as his contract expires in June 2011 – however Galatasaray would have to buy the left-back from the Merseysiders if they want to sign Insua on a permanent deal at the end of the loan.

A statement from Galatasaray read: “Galatasaray and Liverpool have reached an agreement for Emiliano Insua.

“The Argentine defender will join on a one-year loan.

“Insua will wear the number 6 shirt at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium.”

Paul Konchesky - now a Liverpool player

Konchesky, who is favoured by Roy Hodgson, will replace Emiliano Insua, who has made the move to Galatasaray.

In turn, youngsters Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kacaniklic have joined the Cottagers.

A statement read: “Liverpool have today completed the signing of Paul Konchesky on a four-year contract.

The 29-year-old full-back moves to Anfield from Fulham after agreeing terms with the Reds and passing a medical.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool are confident of signing Carlton Cole from West Ham United, subject to a medical.

Liverpool’s medical team is currently outside Upton Park on standby. If the move does go through, a medical will take place in London, as there wouldn’t be enough time for Cole to travel to Merseyside.

Galatasaray agree fee for Liverpool defender Insua

The Merseysiders and the Turkish club have agreed a fee for out-of-favour left-back Insua, who was linked with moves to Fiorentina and Genoa earlier in the season.

Insua was close to making the switch to the Italy, however personal terms were not agreed with either of the sides.

Reports earlier in the week suggested Liverpool were making a move for Turkish winger Arda Turan and would include Insua as part of the move.

However, we now understand that Insua is close to making the switch to Galatasaray, after Liverpool and the Turkish side agreed a fee in the region of £4.5million for the Argentine.

Reports were soon confirmed after the 21-year-old wrote the following on his official Twitter profile: “Road to Istanbul in search of continuity, I hope everything goes well!”

Liverpool and Galatasaray will make the move official later today if personal terms are agreed.

Insua has made 62 first-team appearances for the Merseyside giants, with one goal to his name against Arsenal in the Carling Cup.

Update at 13:15: Reports are now claiming it is in fact a loan deal – not a permanent transfer for Insua.

Hodgson - in search of another striker

The window is set to shut on Tuesday, however Hodgson is still hopeful on bringing a striker in the mould of Fernando Torres to Anfield.

Liverpool confirmed the signing of Raul Meireles yesterday and are due to make Paul Konchesky’s move from Fulham official in the next few hours.

He said: “It takes more than two months to put your stamp on a club but it is nice to get players like Meireles and Konchesky hopefully in to bolster our squad having lost players of the class of (Javier) Mascherano and (Alberto) Aquilani.

“It was important that we found players to bring in of similar and good Premier League quality. I think those two will stand us in good stead and if we can add one more player before the end of the transfer window then I’ll be even happier.

“We’ve got Ryan Babel who has not had much of a chance so far, so we’re not desperately short, but if we are going to have a long season in the Europa League that’s going to add enormously to the number of games we play.

“It would be nice to have another striker of Fernando Torres’ type, we’re not going to get one of his quality of course.”

Liverpool struggled to break down the visitor’s defence for long periods of the match, however Torres popped up with a winner just past the hour mark to secure our first three points of the season.

Torres, Gerrard, Jovanovic, Skrtel and Agger all returned to the starting line-up after missing Thursday’s Europa League trip to Turkey, as Hodgson decided to play his best side in an attempt to impress the capacity crowd and ensure that Liverpool entered the international break with confidence levels high.

New signing Raul Meireles was unveiled on the Anfield turf before the match and received a warm welcome from the Kop, whilst Fulham left back Paul Konchesky, who is expected to sign imminently, was also in the Main Stand watching his new side labour to a hard-fought victory over the Baggies.

Torres and Gerrard linked up early on, raising expectations that the pair could destroy the away side’s defence, however that was not the case as their back line remained firm for large spells.

Our Spanish striker exchanged passes with captain Steven Gerrard before attempting a shot from an audacious angle. He did well to get it on target, and former Liverpool keeper Scott Carson was forced to make a save to deny the World Cup winner an early goal.

Liverpool may have created the first opportunity of the match, however it was the visitors who dominated the early stages, controlling the pace of the match and restricting Hodgson’s side. On 23 minutes a low shot from the well-placed Fortune required a good stop from the alert Pepe Reina.

West Brom were looking comfortable in possession, however they failed to seriously test our goal despite their control of the match. The first real opening fell to Liverpool though, as Lucas’ deflected effort inadvertently put Kuyt through on goal, but the Dutchman got his feet tangled up and the best chance of the match was squandered.

Minutes before the break James Morrison shot wide on the half volley from range, meaning that the teams went in level at the break, and with the home side desperately needing a spark of inspiration from somewhere to break the deadlock and claim a win they were expected to comfortably obtain.

The start of the second half continued the pattern of slow, sluggish football that had permeated the first half, however Liverpool improved after Maxi replaced the ineffective Jovanovic on the left wing.

On the hour mark a goalmouth scramble ensued after a corner kick had been launched into the area. The scramble for the ball ended when Slovakian centre back Martin Skrtel shaved the cross bar with an acrobatic volley which went inches over the top left hand corner.

Liverpool were now finally starting to create chances, even though they still hadn’t hit anywhere near top gear. With 25 minutes still to play Liverpool counter-attacked down the left hand side after Reina twice denied Jara an opening goal and launched the ball out to Kuyt.

Kuyt and Torres exchanged passes before the Dutchman superbly clipped the ball back to the edge of the area, where Torres met the ball with a fantastic first time finish which left Carson with no chance.

Liverpool searched for a second, and it nearly arrived soon after as a sublime cross from Steven Gerrard by-passed the Albion defence to find Torres at the back post. Unfortunately Carson made an excellent save to deny Torres, and Liverpool, their second of the afternoon.

The Reds should have had a penalty with seven minutes left as Torres’ shot was blatantly blocked by the arm of Jara, however referee Lee Probert made an awful decision as he refused to award the spot kick.

That penalty would have made the last few minutes much more comfortable had it been converted, however James Morrison was sent off with two minutes remaining after a poor challenge on Fernando Torres had grounded the Spaniard.

Despite the red card the away side still applied pressure in the closing moments of the encounter, but the well-drilled Liverpool defence remained firm to close out a 1-0 victory.

Whilst the performance was nowhere near good enough, and must be improved if we are to pick up points at St Andrews and Old Trafford after the international break, the main positive to take from the game is that we managed to grind out a win when we probably would have been forced to settle for only a point in past seasons.

It is a mark of champions to win when you are not playing well, and whilst I still don’t think we have the squad to be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and United, a win and defeats for both Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur means that we can be happy with our weekend’s Premier League football.

- Oliver Smith for LFC Globe and Red and Proud.

Raul Meireles - Liverpool's new £11.5million man

FC Porto manager Andre Villas Boas “thanked him for what he did for the club” while confirming the move.

A statement on Liverpool’s official website reads: “Liverpool have completed the signing of Portuguese midfielder Raul Meireles on a four-year contract.

The Reds have paid 14 million euros for the services of the 27-year-old midfielder, who has won four titles with Porto and been capped 38 times by Portugal, including in all four of his country’s games in this summer’s World Cup.”

Meireles will be unable to play against West Brom tomorrow at Anfield – however, he will be in the stands watching his new teammates.

The 27-year-old midfielder is likely to feature against Birmingham City on the 12th of September.

Raul Meireles will make the switch from Portugal

Boas, who spoke at a press-conference today, said that only personal terms are to be finalized between Liverpool and Meireles.

“Raul is a good player who wants to move to a bigger club than FC Porto, and wants a new start at another club,” he told Abola.pt.

“An agreement was reached between Liverpool and Porto and now Liverpool are speaking to Meireles.

“We have lost an important player, but we have many options still available and a very competitive midfield.

“We will now have more solutions and options than what Raul offered us.

“I want to thank him for what he did for the club and he also thanks us for what we did for his career.”

When asked if FC Porto will sign anyone else, he said: “Anything can happen – something which nobody will expect. Which is what happened with Raul, a swift deal.

Liverpool are set to confirm the deal over the weekend.

Pepe Reina starts in goal for the 41st Premier League game running, with his understudy Brad Jones on the bench.

Glen Johnson, Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger will form the back four – Aurelio and Kelly both miss out on the left-back spot taken up by the Danish international.

Lucas Leiva and Christian Poulsen will feature in the middle of the park, following Javier Mascherano’s departure to Barcelona.

Dirk Kuyt gets another start on the right for the Reds, while Milan Jovanovic returns and is on the left wing.

Steven Gerrard also makes a return and will play just behind Fernando Torres, who was rested against Trabzonspor.

Brad Jones, Martin Kelly, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Ryan Babel, Dani Pacheco, Jay Spearing and Maxi Rodriguez are set to be on the bench.

Joe Cole is still suspended and will only return against Manchester United.

Stream links to watch the match live will be available at 1pm – two hours before kick-off at Anfield.

Starting: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger; Lucas, Poulsen; Kuyt, Gerrard, Jovanovic; Torres (4-2-3-1).
Subs: Jones, Kelly, Kyrgiakos, Babel, Pacheco, Spearing, Maxi (not yet confirmed).

The tie will take place at Anfield in the week commencing September 20. The time and date are yet to be confirmed.

Liverpool last faced Northampton in 1966, in a match which finished goalless at the County Ground.

The Cobblers’ last visited Anfied in November 1966 and headed back to Northampton having beind defeated 5-0 with Ian St John, Willie Stevenson, Roger Hunt, Ian Callaghan and Peter Thompson all scoring for the Reds.

Meanwhile, Arsenal will face main rivals Tottenham and Manchester United have an easy tie against Scunthorpe.

There are also a host of other Premier League teams facing each other with Aston Villa at home to Blackburn, Chelsea welcoming Newcastle to Stamford Bridge, Fulham and Stoke at Craven Cottage, West Brom facing Manchester City and Sunderland to meet West Ham.

The draw in full:
Brentford v Everton
Portsmouth v Leicester
Stoke v Fulham
Chelsea v Newcastle
Aston Villa v Blackburn
Tottenham v Arsenal
Millwall v Ipswich
Wolves v Notts County
Burnley v Bolton
Birmingham v MK Dons
Liverpool v Northampton
Scunthorpe v Man Utd
West Brom v Man City
Sunderland v West Ham
Peterborough v Swansea
Wigan v Preston

The above video does not necessarily represent our views. You can view and subscribe to Justin’s Youtube channel here.

Raul Meireles - Set for Liverpool medical

Meireles, who had an outstanding World Cup for Portugal, has reportedly already agreed personal terms with only a medical now required.

Porto had put Meireles on the transfer list, as he only has two years left on his contract at the Estádio do Dragão and they didn’t want to lose him on a free transfer in the future.

The former Boavista man has been linked with moves to both Chelsea and Manchester United in recent times, however Liverpool have succeeded in bringing him to England.

The transfer is set to be completed over the weekend, with Roy Hodgson hopeful that his new boy can make his debut against Birmingham City next week.