Football: Why Benitez Is so Desperate to Strike Early ; Last Season's Poor Start Is Perfect Warning Barclays Premier League: Aston Villa V Liverpool Villa Park, Tomorrow, Kick-Off 5.15pm (Live On Setanta)

Summary

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PINPOINTING where last year's Premiership campaign started to go wrong for Liverpool isn't difficult. The first day of the season.

A turgid 1-1 draw against a miserable Sheffield United team at Bramall Lane set the tone, and in the weeks which followed Rafa Benitez's side struggled for momentum.

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Extract

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Football: Why Benitez Is so Desperate to Strike Early ; Last Season's Poor Start Is Perfect Warning Barclays Premier League: Aston Villa V Liverpool Villa Park, Tomorrow, Kick-Off 5.15pm (Live On Setanta)

Neil Warnock's recent outburst about weakened teams costing his club relegation neglected to mention the side Ben-itez picked a year ago, when a forthcoming Champions League tie was uppermost in his thought...

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