One soccer, one not:

1. Liverpool drew 0-0 at Boro in a game they should have won. At this point, I'm getting worried they won't finish in top four.

2. Georges St. Pierre just demolished Matt Hughes at UFC 65. Before the fight, GSP looked intense, almost angry. Hughes' pre-fight attempts to get inside his head backfired. GSP came out aggresively striking, hitting Hughes with low kicks and jabs. Hughes' takedowns were stuffed, and at the end of round one, GSP nailed Hughes with a Superman punch that stunned Hughes; the follow-up punches knocked him down. The bell saved the champ. Round two was more GSP domination. The end came when GSP smashed Hughes down with a high kick, then followed up with punched and elbows to the prone Hughes until the ref correctly stopped it. There was no doubt about this fight: GSP intended to drill Hughes, and he did.

FF

Nov 18 is a fanastic sportsday: FSC is showing Man U then Liverpool; Michigan battles Ohio State; and Georges St. Pierre ("GSP") challenges Matt Hughes (for the second time) for the UFC welterweight title. If you don't follow UFC but want to start, watch GSP-Hughes II. These two guys are the best 170 pounders in the world, are freakishly strong, and have apparently limitless energy. The fight will be classic.

FF

1 Liverpool plays away at Boro this weekend. Boro's been nothing special this season except for their 2-1 defeat of Chelsea. Liverpool needs a win away from home. Now.

2. Perhaps a bit late to comment, but Barcelona's loss of Messi for three months is going to really hurt them. They've already lost their top goalscorer, Ronnie's decided to take this year off, and now they've lost their dynamo.

3. Real Madrid plays Lyon next week (Nov 21) in a battle of titans. Lyon won 2-nil to kick off this year's CL, a performance of which Real fans could not have been proud. But Real rebounded, pounding two lesser teams in the next two CL matches (as did Lyon), so it will be interesting to see which Real shows up next Tuesday.

FF

The obvious, to Liverpool fans, is now explicitly stated.

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Arsenal wins 3-0. Rafa better get Liverpool to win on the road. Not that they deserved to win this game; Arsenal was better. But the Scousers play like an entirely different team away from home. And not a particularly good team. No one even marked Gallas on the third goal. Criminy.

FF

Running thoughts in chronological order (Gunners up 1-nil at half):

• No Walcott.
• Van Persie, within two minutes, tried to cheat by punching the ball past Reina. Sorry, RVP, the ref spotted your cheating ways!
• After 10, the possession and direction favors Arsenal, but it's been cautious play.
• At 13, Liverpool showed some some flair, with a nicely developed goal (Crouch finish) that was nullfied because Crouch was offsides.
• The second ten minutes was a bit more even. Gerard's been quiet. Rafa, please play him the middle.
• The third and fourth ten minutes were also fairly even. This is a very measured match.
• ARSENAL GOAL!!! Precise buildup. In the 41st minute, Hleb dribbled into the center at the top of the box, passed to Fabregas, who nicely found Flamini, the finisher.

FF

LIVERPOOL-ARSENAL!