Half-Term Report: Liverpool

With defeats by Fulham, Charlton and Sunderland, Liverpool have resembled an upmarket version of Leeds lately. The loss of confidence so evident in Sunday's derby draw was triggered by failure in the Champions' League. They must start another winning streak if another championship-free season is to be avoided. When his team led the Premiership in the autumn, Gérard Houllier must have felt things were falling into place. Yet they were never entirely convincing, being essentially a counter-attacking team and also a young one, prone to fluctuating form and over-reliant on Michael Owen. Bruno Cheyrou and El Hadji Diouf have not made the desired impact, Jerzy Dudek briefly turned into Gary Sprake and Stéphane Henchoz's absence showed how under-rated he is. Too soon for panic, but less player-rotation and more attacking width are priorities.