Yossi Benayoun has taken a significant step towards leaving Liverpool for Chelsea by agreeing in principle a four-year contract with the Barclays Premier League champions.

TO THE Boston Tea Party and Belo Horizonte, the Royal Bafokeng stadium can almost be added. Here was parity that felt a lot like purgatory for Englishmen. England have never begun a World Cup better, scoring brilliantly through their captain, Steven Gerrard, in just four minutes and yet they have seldom ended an opening game at a tournament feeling worse....

A DREADFUL goalkeeping error from Robert Green cost England a winning start to their World Cup campaign, having made the perfect start against the United States through Steven Gerrard’s fourth-minute goal.

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have been warned that they must put their egos to one side if England are to enjoy a successful World Cup.

“No regrets, Stevie.” Those are the words Steven Gerrard recalls uttering as the England team’s flight touched down in Germany before the 2006 World Cup, a tournament he recalls with all the fondness of appendicitis.

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Liverpool will continue their pursuit of Roy Hodgson despite having been made aware of Kenny Dalglish’s willingness to take over as manager.

To read Gabriele Marcotti's group-by-group guide to the World Cup, plus features and analysis from our writers, click here

To read Gabriele Marcotti's group-by-group guide to the World Cup, plus features and analysis from our writers, click here

Fulham will resist any attempt from Liverpool to appoint Roy Hodgson as a successor to Rafael Benítez, who left Anfield by mutual consent on Thursday. The West London club claim that no formal approach has been made to speak to Hodgson, who has turned around the fortunes of the club in his 2½ years in charge.

Steven Gerrard was the first England player to receive the captain’s armband from Fabio Capello, the manager. Few expected him to get it back. The Italian was said to have been surprised by Gerrard’s lack of presence, which bordered on timidity, before and during that 2-1 victory over Switzerland more than two years ago.

Liverpool fans burnt American flags and called for the head of Christian Purslow, the managing director, as shock over Rafael Benítez’s departure turned to anger at the way the club are being run.

Kenny Dalglish emerged as the kingmaker in Liverpool’s search for a successor to Rafael Benítez yesterday, with Roy Hodgson and Martin O’Neill featuring prominently on the shortlist to replace the Spaniard.

Great players have the knack of being in the right place at the right time. Kenny Dalglish had that uncanny ability. Now, with Liverpool in turmoil, he is in the perfect place.

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Martin Broughton, the Liverpool chairman, is reported to have said that it might be better for Fernando Torres to leave because it could take up to three years to sort the club out.

The impotent hand-wringing of David Moores — a decent man who sold his beloved Liverpool to Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr because, after mature but sadly superficial reflection, he deemed it best for the club and himself — offers an all too accurate depiction of what the entity once known as “English football” has become.

Steven Gerrard will play a full part in England training today despite limping out of yesterday’s session with a calf problem.

England’s World Cup hopes were given a significant jolt yesterday when Steven Gerrard limped out of training at the camp in the Austrian Alps.

Jamie Carragher thanked England fans yesterday for giving him a warm reception on his international comeback against Mexico on Monday night, but risked offending the more hard line among their number by insisting that he had not missed representing his country.

A difficult summer looms for Liverpool. A fractious end to the season was replaced by a period of quiet while all sides drew breath after the club appeared to be heading for open civil war earlier in the month.

The deep level of disillusionment with Rafael Benítez among Liverpool fans is laid bare today by an exclusive survey for The Times, which suggests that more than half of supporters at Anfield have lost faith in the manager.

Tom Hicks has rejected calls for him to sell Liverpool swiftly and at a reasonable price. The Texan said that it could be up to 18 months before a sale is complete and reiterated that he values the club at up to £800 million.

A Liverpool supporters’ group has welcomed David Moores’s call for the club’s American owners to “stand aside”.

In his covering note, Moores expresses the hope that his words “will do some good and make a difference”. Then he outlines why he wrote the letter

Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr are holding out for an offer of at least £600 million for Liverpool, but have yet to find a serious buyer more than a month after putting the club on the market.

The man who sold Liverpool to George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks broke his silence last night to call for the club’s American owners to “stand aside” and not “punish the supporters any more”.

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For more pictures, opinion and the very best in-depth analysis, go to our new website

Steven Gerrard believes Adam Johnson has a “fantastic chance” of being involved in England’s 23-man World Cup squad.

Richard Scudamore, the chief executive of the Premier League, will meet representatives from the Spirit Of Shankly (SOS) today as the Liverpool supporters’ group attempts to raise awareness of the plight of the club, who last week posted record annual losses, for the year ending July 2009, totalling £55 million.

The pressure on Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the Liverpool owners, has intensified after one of the club’s most senior players called on them to sell up.

Maybe we have all been “merk’d”. Maybe Fabio Capello’s series of deviations from type over the past few days — calling Jamie Carragher out of international retirement, summoning Owen Hargreaves off the treatment table and now scoring what appears a remarkable PR own goal with the launch of something called the Capello Index — are merely the sequel to Rio...

The extent of the financial malaise affecting Liverpool has been disclosed after the publication of annual company accounts for their parent company, Kop Football Holdings, which revealed record losses of £54.9 million.

Jamie Carragher is set to make an extraordinary England comeback at the World Cup finals after telling Fabio Capello he is ready to return from self-imposed international exile.

Rafael Benítez emerged from crisis talks over his future as Liverpool manager last night with the club admitting that they had been unable to resolve some “issues of concern”.

Tom Hicks has intimated that it could take anything up to two years for his tenure as Liverpool co-owner to be brought to an end, an admission that will give further credence to suggestions that there will be no quick sale of the club.

Roberto Mancini has thrown down the gauntlet to Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and other potential signings by warning them not to make a “big mistake” by shunning Manchester City if the club are unable to offer them Champions League football next season.

The extent of the fractures in the relationship between Rafael Benítez and the Liverpool hierarchy was revealed yesterday by reports that the manager has twice cancelled meetings with Martin Broughton, the club’s new chairman.

Rafael Benitez intends to continue as Liverpool manager as long he is given a cast-iron guarantee on the club's plans for investment this summer, according to his agent.

Rafael Benítez will tell Liverpool that only a cast-iron commitment allowing him to invest all of the proceeds from player sales this summer will tempt him to remain at Anfield.

Sir Alex Ferguson believes that Manchester United are “clutching at straws” after Chelsea beat Liverpool at Anfield yesterday to remain in pole position before the final weekend of the Barclays Premier League.

RAFAEL BENITEZ has prepared the way for an exit to Juventus by telling Liverpool fans why he feels he can no longer work at Anfield. He suggests that broken promises over the budget and alterations to the club’s power structure have made his job impossible.

Carlo Ancelotti has never been to Anfield. Not as a manager, not as a player, not on a social or scouting trip. "This will be the first time and for this I am excited because everyone has spoken about this stadium and this atmosphere. I heard them sing You'll Never Walk Alone and every time there is a fantastic emotion,...

Sir Alex Ferguson has every confidence that Liverpool will not “throw away their history” and roll over for Chelsea at Anfield tomorrow.

Rafael Benítez could bid an emotional farewell to Anfield tomorrow after a breakdown of trust between the Liverpool manager and the board.

Fulham’s fairytale season will climax with an appearance in the Europa League final after Roy Hodgson’s side scored two late goals to beat Hamburg 2-1 on aggregate.

Darren Fletcher has every confidence that Liverpool will do Manchester United an unlikely favour in the title race by beating Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday.

This season has been a form of slow torture for Liverpool and Rafael Benítez and, of the thousand cuts incurred, many by their own hand, few will cause more anguish than that administered in extra time last night by Diego Forlán, the former Manchester United forward.

Rafael Benítez once famously said that Liverpool deserved their progress to a European final because his Anfield secretary told him so. Tonight, he will hope that a prediction made by the club’s laundry man will help them to qualify for another one.

Rafael Benítez claimed last night that no one at Liverpool has attempted to talk him into remaining at Anfield in spite of mounting interest from Juventus.

Dirk Kuyt and David Ngog, the Liverpool forwards, are major doubts for the Europa League semi-final, second leg against Atletico Madrid tomorrow night.

Liverpool have signed Jonjo Shelvey of Charlton Athletic for an initial fee of £1.7m, the club confirmed this morning.

Liverpool secured a projected £3 million deal to sign Jonjo Shelvey, the Charlton Athletic and England Under-18 midfield player, last night as their long-term planning continued despite continuing uncertainty over the future of Rafael Benítez.

Wayne Rooney has called on Liverpool to do Manchester United an unlikely favour in the title race run-in.

We do not know if Rafael Benítez has voted yet in the Liverpool fans’ poll that asks, with a straight face, “should we field a weakened team on Sunday?” But we can be sure that Sir Alex Ferguson will regard it as the most outrageous supporter survey since the Manchester Evening News asked its readers “should Fergie be sacked?” shortly...

Steven Gerrard admits that Liverpool’s poor form away from home this season has done the greatest damage to their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

Burnley’s relegation to the Championship has been confirmed after Liverpool beat them 4-0.