Yesterday saw the return of European giants Liverpool back in the Champions League, facing Hungarian Champions Ludogrets in the first round of group matches of the 2014/2015 Champions League.

Predicted to be a one-sided match, it was anything but, with Ludogrets showing a threat from counter-attacks and Liverpool seeming wasteful with possession, but coming away with a 2-1 victory. Mario Balotelli, the £16 million signing scored in the last 10 minutes to make it seem as if a 1-0 victory would be enough, but unsurprisingly Liverpool had a defensive lapse in the 91st minute and conceded. Luckily for them, Ludogrets had a defensive lapse in the 92nd minute and gave away a penalty, which Steven Gerrard slotted away to assure the victory.

As seen many times before, Liverpool don’t like doing things the easy way and it looks like nothing will be changing anytime soon.

Many people, including Liverpool fans, were left quite baffled with the signing of Rickie Lambert. This is mainly because he’s 32, and the last place Liverpool needed support last season was up front. Suarez and Sturridge scored more than 50 goals in the premier league last season, more than any other strike partnership, so it begs the question, where does Rickie Lambert fit in?

Well surely he’s just an adequate back up striker right? That could well be the case, and he offers something a little bit different to Suarez and Sturridge. He’s not exactly a target man but he’s good in the air and he can certainly stick away a penalty. Lambert is used to playing week in week out and that is not likely to be the case at Liverpool unless Sturridge or Suarez pick up an injury.

Lambert may well get some games in the Champions league though, and the fact is Liverpool need a bigger suad, so why not sign an International striker with a decent goal record. It could prove to be a decent bit of business, but that all depends on how many games Lambert plays.

A lot has been said recently about the new England kits for the world cup, and most of the criticism is not for the design, it’s for the prices. Even the PM David Cameron has asked the FA to put the price down, and it’s easy to understand why.

The England home shirt which benefits from ‘cooling technology’ is priced at £90, while the ‘stadium’ shirts are priced at £60. Children’s shirts for those aged between 8 and 15 are priced at £42. These are significantly higher than any other football shirt on the market and you could probably find old signed shirts for the same price or less.

It will be interesting to see how this story develops but surely it’s not fair to ask for £90 to show that you support your country, or even £60 for that matter. If prices are not reduced many people may opt to wear their older England shirts.

Recently, there has been a lot of controversy about Rugby League player Sam Burgess joining England for the RWC2015 in Rugby Union. Burgess is set to start playing Union for Bath  in October this year which will give him around 3 months to adapt to the new playing styles of the game which starts on the 6th February 2015. But will he be ready? He stated, “With 2015 being a Rugby World Cup, it was an opportunity I had to pursue,” Burgess said. “I can’t wait to get my head down and start learning the game.” Alongside Tuilagi in the centres you could suggest that they would be impossible to stop but perhaps it is a difficult transition to make in such a short space of time.

Huge names in the past of the rugby industry have switched between League to Union and made a success but can Sam Burgess join this list of players:

Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand) – began his career in league, switched to union to win 2011 World Cup then switched back and became runner-up in 2013 league World Cup.

Jason Robinson (England) – Won league World Club Challenge with Wigan Warriors before switching to be part of England World Cup-winning team of 2003.

Israel Folau (Australia) –  Was a league international before switching to Australian rules, he joined union in 2013 and made his Test debut against the British Lion.

Roy Hodgson certainly faces a team selection headache with the World Cup around the corner, and it’s difficult to ignore the goals Daniel Sturridge keeps scoring for Liverpool.

Sturridge has now scored 18 goals this season, while Wayne Rooney has scored 8 less, so would it make sense to play Rooney up front instead of Sturridge? It’s fair to say that Rooney has never hit top form for England, and Roy Hodgson may be thinking that time is about to change at this World Cup in Brazil, but Daniel Sturridge has shown he can score when he’s given the chance, and with Gerrard behind him in midfield that’s certainly possible.

We’d say that Sturridge should play up front with Rooney just behind. This is an attacking top 2 rather than a team looking to sit back, but it will all come down to Roy Hodgson and the team England are playing against.

By Tony Jimenez | Reuters – 

By Iain Rogers | Reuters – 

By Rex Gowar | Reuters – 

By Julien Pretot | Reuters – 

By Amlan Chakraborty | Reuters –