"It was a challenge for him. He deserved that."

By the time Steven Gerrard scored, many fans were already in their cars driving home. The Liverpool captain had netted in the 87th minute at Anfield in a match his team would lose 3-1 to lowly Aston Villa. It was their 17th match of the season and things were not going well for Brendan Rodgers with his team in 12th place on 22pts. Teams such as Stoke, West Ham and Norwich were all ahead of them. It was not a night for the new manager to turn on the local radio stations as he drove home. Liverpool were in a rut and Rodgers was seeing performances flirting between his own ideas and the bad habits the team had picked up under Kenny Dalglish. The game against Villa was the sixth time in nine attempts that Liverpool had failed to win a Premier League match at Anfield. Far too often games followed a similar pattern. The Reds would start well, fail to score, get beaten on the counter attack and only sometimes find their way back into the match. Rodgers knew his team had to score more goals. They had played 18 halves of Premier League football and scored in eight of them (44%). Under Dalglish, the previous season, they had played 38 halves of Premier League football at Anfield and scored in just 18 of them (50%). Only four times, from their 19 home matches, had they scored in both halves in the same game. After the Villa game, Rodgers highlighted the areas for improvement: “We need to be more crisp, and less careless around the box. We create opportunities but its that final ball really and if we can become more clinical, get the goals, its a different game. Well recover well, we are back here next week and we have to make sure we dont make the same mistakes.” Liverpool listened to their manager. The next week they battered Fulham 4-0. In January at home they beat Sunderland 3-0 and Norwich 5-0. In February they welcomed Swansea with a 5-0 hammering and in March defeated Tottenham at home 3-2. After scoring in just 44% of their halves at Anfield for the first nine games, Liverpool found the net in 12 of their 20 home halves for the last 10 matches, raising it to 60%. On Saturday they were once again at home for their 17th league match of the season and this time they were on the right end of a 3-1 score, defeating Cardiff City thanks to three first half goals. Oh, what a difference a year makes. When they failed to score in the second half it was just their fifth half of home Premier League football this season in which they had failed to find the back of the net, scoring in 13 of 18 home halves, a huge difference to what they were doing this time last season (44% to 72%). The win took them to 36pts (an improvement of 14 from last season at this stage) and to the top of the table, stark contrast to the midtable mediocrity that led to many angry phone calls that night in Merseyside a year ago. The win against Cardiff came less than 24 hours after star striker Luis Suarez put pen to a new four-and-a-half year contract. "I am delighted to have agreed to a new deal with Liverpool and have my future secured for the long term," said Suarez. "I believe I can achieve the ambitions of winning trophies and playing at the very highest level with Liverpool. My aim is to help get us there as quickly as possible." While Liverpool fans breathed a sigh of relief, the rest of the world shook their head. This, in their minds, was a deal securing the Reds much more money when Suarez is inevitably sold in the summer. It was one of the least cared about contract extensions in football history. To most, it meant absolutely nothing. To Liverpool, however, it is a document that keeps one of the worlds finest players at their club in his prime years. A document they should frame and put on the walls of the home dressing room to bring motivation to their team. If they can prove they can indeed play ‘at the highest level, as Suarez says, they feel the Uruguayan will stay. So just how good are Liverpool? It is a question Suarez may be asking every single week between now and the World Cup. Before the Arsenal-Chelsea game on Monday evening, the Reds are top of the table. Suarez said he wants to play ‘at the very highest level. This is the Champions League. And who can blame him? When next seasons Champions League starts, the striker will be close to 28-years-old and if he isnt in the tournament then people will have every right to suggest he does not belong amongst the greatest players in the game. Liverpool will be fully aware of this. If we believe anything Suarez said last week, perhaps it can be how he spoke about his love for the club, the city and his team-mates. This, along with the huge pay rise, could be enough to keep him from going to another big club next summer, providing Liverpool make the Champions League. Although they sit at the top of the league, whether or not they can make the top four remains a legitimate question. To find the answer you need to look closer at this team and find out just how much better they are this season than last. This cannot be done by simply looking at their league positions on the same date because different opponents come at different times. This season Liverpool have played nine home games. Their eight home wins against Stoke City, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, West Brom, Fulham, Norwich, West Ham and Cardiff, and their loss to Southampton, represent a +7 difference in points against the same opposition as last season (replacing the relegated teams with promoted teams). This season Liverpool have played eight away games. Their away wins at Aston Villa, Sunderland and Tottenham give a +4 difference from last season, their away draws at Swansea, Newcastle and Everton are a -2 difference from last season against those teams and their away losses at Arsenal and Hull are a -2 difference from last season, giving them the exact same points away from home against similar opponents as last season, through eight away games. Liverpools 11 away games to come this season, including trips to Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea, come against opposing teams they got 17 points against on their travels last season. If they continue their trend as a (0+) team on the road those 17 points, added to their 36 points through 17 matches gives them 53. Last season they finished seventh on 61 points. That leaves their remaining 10 home games to make the difference. It is important to note that only half of these games come against teams they played after December of last season, when a noticeable change of form was shown. In those 10 games last season Liverpool got 16 points (five points in five games up to December and 11 points in five games from January on). Those 16 points added to the 53 points would leave them on 69 points, borderline for a spot in the top four. In the last five seasons, when Liverpool have failed to reach the top four, the points total for the team finishing fourth has been between 68 and 73 - 73, 69, 68, 70, 72. It is the early seventies (at least) that Liverpool need to reach if they want to keep Suarez. Last season Tottenham became the first team in Premier League history to get 72 points and not get into the top four. They lost Gareth Bale. Liverpool have already shown they are a side considerably better at home (+7 through 8 games) than last season, because of their slow start at home that ended with that loss to Aston Villa. With five opponents at home still to play, that came in that run, it is a real possibility that they could improve on the 16 points they achieved at home last season against the 10 opponents they are still to face. It is clear Liverpool are now much more like the team that played games 18-38 last season than the ones who played in the first 17. Having already gained 24 points from a possible 27 at home, including a +7 ratio on last season, they will look to achieve something similar at home for the second half of the season. If they can get a +7 ratio again this would take them to around 76 points, providing they play similar to the way they played away from home last season. This is a much more realistic target than those asking if they can win the league. Liverpool have made significant strides since this time last year and if they can stay at that level between now and May the highest level and Suarez may both be in their immediate future. Bill Goldsworthy Jersey . But back-up Peter Budaj has put up two wins and an overtime loss while starting three games in four nights since Price went down with a suspected groin injury. Tyler Pitlick Jersey . Formula One Teams Association secretary general Oliver Weingarten says the organization collapsed over unpaid subscription fees and a failure to strike an agreement for 2014 with all 11 teams. http://www.cheapstarsjerseys.com/ . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks seven-game homestand. John Klingberg Jersey . -- What Anthony Jennings lacked in experience, LSU more than compensated for with a talented supporting cast in the Outback Bowl. Cheap Stars Jerseys . "He started putting me on the ice to strengthen them at the suggestion from a doctor," he said. Weight said it wasnt a pretty sight at the rink in St. Clair Shores, Mich. "I looked like Forrest Gump," he joked.BOSTON -- Jonathan Schoop had recorded the first three-hit game of his young career by the seventh inning Friday night. Two innings later, he added another hit to up the ante. The Baltimore third baseman -- getting playing time in the place of injured Manny Machado -- went 4 for 5 with two doubles and two RBIs, and the Orioles pounded Red Sox starter John Lackey in an 8-4 victory over Boston. "As intense as these games are at this level, you do step back and watch Jon," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of his rookie third baseman. "Its fun to watch. (Hes got) a great look on his face, just a real sincere, earnest look. Hes not giddy. Thats what I like about him." Schoops four-hit night extended his hitting streak to seven games. "It feels good, especially if you win and get a W," Schoop said. "It feels really, really good." After Schoops first hit in the third inning, an infield hit to deep short, he scored on Nick Markakis double to put the Orioles up 2-0. In the sixth, he flared a ball between short and centre field, and then closed with hard-hit doubles in each of the seventh and ninth innings. Every Orioles starter had at least one hit except for Chris Davis. The Orioles collected 10 of those hits off Lackey (2-2), who surrendered six earned runs over 5 1-3 innings. It was the second straight start in which Lackey gave up six runs and failed to make it out of the sixth inning. Orioles starter Chris Tillman (2-1) laboured through five innings, throwing 122 pitches and giving up three earned runs on seven hits and four walks. He struck out five. "These guys always fight until the very end," Tillman said. "Theyre fouling pitches off, theyre taking good pitches, taking tough pitches. When you make a mistake, they capitalize on it." Markakis led off the game with a double down the left-field line. Red Sox manager John Farrell challenged the call, but it was upheld and Markakis scored on Adam Jones first hit, a ball fielded by Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts on the outfielld grass.dddddddddddd. "It looked pretty foul to me," Lackey said. "On the replay it looked like it landed foul and kicked some dirt on the line." Nelson Cruz had two RBIs for the Orioles. Boston scored its first run on Brock Holts base hit in fourth and added two more in the fifth on RBI singles from Dustin Pedroia and A.J. Pierzynski, who snapped an 0-for-15 stretch with the hit. "We had lots of chances. Unfortunately, we didnt get that hit," Pierzynski said. " We got a couple of hits and we got him (Tillman) out of there early. (We) got in the bullpen and we had more chances. Unfortunately, every time we scored it seemed like they came back and scored. Just one of those nights where things didnt work out." Tillman struck out Jackie Bradley with runners on first and second to end the Red Sox threat in the fifth. "Tilly made a big pitch there on Bradley," Showalter said. "It was a challenge for him. He deserved that." Baltimore scored two runs in the fifth on singles by Matt Wieters and J.J. Hardy, and added a run in the seventh and another in the ninth on the doubles by Schoop. Darren ODay recorded the last four outs for his first save of the year. David Ortiz took a scheduled night off. Mike Carp took his place in the lineup and had two hits, as did Holt. Every Boston starter had at least one hit. The Red Sox were beneficiaries of a replay in the seventh, when it showed that Holt beat out a throw from Orioles second baseman Steve Lombardozzi for a base hit. The next three Red Sox were retired on ground balls, squandering the scoring opportunity. NOTES: Boston OF Shane Victorino will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday. Victorino has not played this season due to a strained right hamstring. ... Holt was recalled from Pawtucket earlier in the day. The Red Sox designated IF Ryan Roberts for assignment. ... RHP Bud Norris (0-1, 3.75) starts for the Orioles against LHP Felix Doubront (1-2, 6.75) on Saturday. ' ' '