‘Liverpool’s Andy Carroll reminds me of Alan Shearer’ – Arsenal's Robin van Persie

The Dutchman is a big fan of the £35m England international and is expecting a tough game against the Reds, who he considers title challengers, as Tomas Rosicky calls for results

Robin van Persie has warned his Arsenal team-mates about Liverpool counterpart Andy Carroll, comparing him to Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer.

Carroll, another former Newcastle player, scored the winning goal at the Emirates last season for the Magpies, but has since moved on to Liverpool for £35 million.

The England international has had a mixed time of things since going to Merseyside, but Van Persie said the Gunners will have to be alert to deal with the threat he poses.

“He’s very strong and reminds me of Alan Shearer in style - holding the ball well, heading it strongly, moving nicely and looking lively in the box," Van Persie is quoted as saying in Arsenal’s matchday programme.

“We’ve seen what Carroll can do before - he scored the winner here for Newcastle last season. We’ll need to be on our guard against him."

Liverpool have strengthened their squad in the summer, signing, amongst others, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing.

The Reds had a great second half of last season to get themselves into sixth place in the Premier League, and Van Persie expects them to be challenging even higher than that this year.

“I rate them as title contenders every year, and they look strong this time around,” he said.

“You can only look forward to games like these.

“I’m excited to be playing against them. Our last encounter, in April, was certainly dramatic and started in the 90th minute really! Hopefully we can give the fans a nice experience on Saturday.

“I’ve seen highlights of their match against Sunderland last week, and they seemed unlucky not to win - although I have to say Sunderland looked decent too.”

His team-mate Tomas Rosicky, who will be unavailable for the match, told his Gunners team-mates that they need to start passing the ball quicker at home if they are to avoid slipping up on as many occasions as they did last year.

"It’s time to show that we’re serious with our home results," he said.

"At times we played better football away from home last season. I think that’s because you automatically play quicker in away games, when you’re under more pressure from the opposing crowd and their team.

"It’s important that we pass the ball equally quickly at home - when you take too many touches you give the opponent time to regroup, to get their shape back. Teams drop off us and you need to move their defensive block around at speed.

"That’s what we lacked in a few games last season - we played a bit too slowly and held the ball too much.

"Passing the ball quickly is a basic strength of ours and if we start doing it consistently I’m sure we will have a very good winning streak at home again."

Liverpool will not stand in the way of Christian Poulsen leaving, agent confirms

The midfielder has struggled since arriving from Juventus last summer and has been told that he will not find regular football at Anfield this season as clubs monitor situation

The agent of Liverpool midfielder Christian Poulsen has said he is looking to find a new club.

Poulsen had a difficult debut season in the Premier League after joining from Juventus last year in a deal worth €5 million.

He failed to impress at Anfield and made only 21 appearances last season for the Reds.

His situation was made harder by new manager Kenny Dalglish signing midfielders Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing this summer, pushing the Dane further down the pecking order.

And after talks with the club’s management, the agent of the former Sevilla and Schalke player, Jorn Bonnesen, said he has been allowed to try and find a new place to ply his trade.

"I've talked with Liverpool now. They have said that they are not confident that they can meet Christian's desire for playing time, and they understand that we are trying to find a new club for Christian," Bonnesen told bold.dk.

"We are looking around and exploring the options.

"There are clubs interested, but I can not tell more about the possibilities."

Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard to begin light training

A comeback is on the cards for the captain as Kenny Dalglish confirms that the midfielder will be stepping up his recovery in the next week in a bid to return to action

 

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has confirmed that club captain Steven Gerrard is close to a return to training and will be stepping up his fitness regime over the next week.

The midfielder has been out of action since March with a groin injury and his proposed return in August was postponed due to an infection caused as a result of an operation, meaning Gerrard was left hospitalised until just two weeks ago.

Dalglish was quoted as saying by The Guardian: "Stevie will be stepping up his recovery this week."

Despite the news of a return to training for Gerrard, the club are yet to revise his scheduled return to first-team action, which is said to be mid-September, meaning that the England international would inevitably miss international fixtures against Bulgaria and Wales at the start of next month.

Meanwhile, the club have confirmed that centre-back Martin Skrtel will also be stepping up his return to fitness from a calf injury.

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Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish admits debutants were nervous in draw against Sunderland

The Reds boss believes the "ordeal" of making an Anfield debut played a part in his side's 1-1 draw against the Black Cats and feels Richardson should have seen red early on.

LIVERPOOL - Kenny Dalglish believes that nerves may have affected Liverpool's new signings in their 1-1 draw with Sunderland on the opening day of the season.

Four summer signings - Jose Enrique, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing - made their Liverpool debuts at Anfield on Saturday.

"The four boys who came in would have had nerves. It's a big ordeal coming out to play your first game at Anfield, especially for Jose Enrique who only signed yesterday," Dalglish said. "I thought they all did something in the game that you will remember them for. We are happy with them and they will improve."

Liverpool took the lead in the 12th minute through Luis Suarez's glancing header but was pegged back by a fierce volley from Sebastian Larsson 12 minutes after the restart. The Liverpool players appeared to tire in the second half.