Playoff time in Major League Baseball is also that annual time of year where the “powers that be” inevitably start congratulating themselves. “Parity is alive and well,” and “the game has never been stronger” are the clichés they trot out like old horses every fall. Only this year they haven’t.

It’s not hard to understand why.

In 2009, there hasn’t been any parity. Six of baseball’s top eight spenders are in line for playoff spots. There are no pennant races to speak of. Of the eight teams headed to the playoffs, six have been locks since at least mid August (the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Cardinals, Dodgers and Phillies), one has been a virtual lock (the Rockies), while the one genuine “race” consists of a big-spending team’s (the Tigers) inability to salt away a club playing without a perennial MVP candidate (the Twins and Justin Morneau).

Of these eight, only the Cardinals and Rockies are not in the top eight in the league in money spent.

Predictably, Bud Selig has already called this season “an aberration.” In his mind, he likely clings to the fact that the lowly Rays defeated the mighty Yanks and Red Sox last season, howls about the Astros and White Sox facing off for the title in 2005, and shouts at no one in particular that the A’s, Twins and Marlins have all been perennial playoff contenders this decade.

“We have revenue sharing for goodness sakes,” he surely finishes off his diatribe with.

This is true. The Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs (and the pre-Madoff Mets) of the world are forced to give some of their pocket change to the gutter monkeys of the game, such as Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

But time has run out on this idea. No longer is a few million here, and a compensatory draft pick there, enough to ensure competitive balance (if it ever was).

Obviously, America is a free country, free market and all of that. Blah blah blah blah blah.

But at what point does so few having so much become counter-intuitive to the game? If only four or five teams can be truly financially competitive, why bother having 30 clubs? Heck, why even bother with having 16? Only about 7 or 8 can even keep up, let alone spend what it takes to be competitive year in and year out.

With the big spending clubs, the problem isn’t even necessarily the money they give out, it’s the precedents they establish. Now every pitcher with numbers similar to CC Sabathia (admittedly not many, but still a handful) thinks they should get paid $160 million.

Guess who can afford to pay that? Four, maybe five teams.

This offseason promises to provide the saddest examples of this in some time.

So far during the 2009 regular season, superstars Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder, Felix Hernandez and Joe Mauer have all been linked to the Yankees or Red Sox. None of them are free agents. But these players’ clubs, and the people who follow the game, know that eventually these will likely be the only two teams that can give these athletes their “market value.”

And what is their “market value” based on?

Whatever obscene amount New York or Boston gave the most recent players they extorted from the teams that drafted them.

So the consensus is that these poor teams might as well give their players away while they can still get something in return for them.

Truly, what is the point in having a league if a team (San Diego) cannot keep a player (Adrian Gonzalez) that is cheap ($20 million for the next two seasons), a prolific power hitter (106 home runs the past three seasons), young (27) and a San Diego native?

Functionally, the San Diegos, Floridas, Minnesotas and Seattles of the league are now a farm system for Boston, New York and Chicago.

Is this what anyone ever had in mind?

It’s pure madness that baseball is now at a point where its second most successful franchise, the St. Louis Cardinals and their ten world titles, feel as if they have no shot at keeping their big midseason acquisition (Matt Holliday). What if the NFL’s second most winningest franchises, the 49ers and Cowboys, literally had no chance at signing a high-priced free agent to be?

No one would stand for it, and the NFL doesn’t.

Yet, it’s there Major League Baseball stands. A bastion of capitalistic American “can-do spirit” that can’t say no to its wealthiest franchises. It may be a smart monetary strategy for ten, or maybe even 20 or 30 years. But at some point, when the Seattle Mariners can’t keep their Felix Hernandezs, and the San Diego Padres cant keep their hometown heroes, they won’t be keeping their fans, either.

If you can never bite the hand of the haves that feed you, will the have-nots even have anything left?

Baseball is about to find out.

–Patrick Daugherty, Red Editorial Staff

Growing up, Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley dreamed of horses and avidly read many of the popular horse novels of the time. Recently Smiley, who lives in Northern California, took a break from writing such best sellers as A Thousand Acres and The Age of Grief to pen The Georges and the Jewels (Knopf 2009, $16.99), the first in a trilogy aimed at middle school aged children about a girl named Abby and her horses.

This is Smiley’s first children’s book and she says the idea of writing it grew after her editor at Knopf mentioned that no one in America was writing books for girls about horses. Smiley, who owns five and a half horses (one is a race horse she co-owns), took time from writing and riding five times or more a week to chat with Red about writing and her new book.

Why a book about horses?

In 7th and 8th grade I was very horse crazy.  I didn’t get to work my butt off like Abby and the people on the family farm in my book. But when I was young, I would have liked to–though someone asked me recently if Abby was living the life I would have liked to have had and I answered that no, she had the life I wanted my friend to have.

But you really did want to have a horse when you were growing up, right?

I wanted a horse so much that I thought I’d go get a unicorn instead. I knew I was a virgin and I knew that I could attract it; I just didn’t know where to go to find one.

You read many of the popular horse books that were aimed at girls like Black Beauty and My Friend Flicka when you were young, are there differences now that you took into consideration when writing your books?

Horseback riding and the way people think about horses has changed in the last 30 years and I wanted to write about that.  I remember being really upset when I was young when I saw a chart on animal intelligence and pigs were at the top and horses were at the bottom. There are all these new studies about the intelligence on animals and the elephant in the room is actually the horse.  My experience with my own horses is that they are very perceptive, very intelligent, they have their own ideas, they have a world view that they coordinate with new experiences.  And why wouldn’t they, they’re mammals.  They have emotional lives and they learn and they have childhoods and are sometimes damaged by their childhood. They have attachments.

Is it hard to switch from writing books for adults to writing children’s books?

The main character is 12 and then she is 13, so she’s not different in kind, she’s just different in degree, her world is a little bit smaller but she has similar anxieties.  However you were at 12 or 13 that’s kind of who you are, you’re kind of formed.  Then there’s that horrible crucible of 7th or 8th grade that we all go through.  For me it was eighth grade.  And you have to deal with that in your writing.

After graduating from college, author Jane Smiley spent a year traveling through Europe where she worked on an archaeological dig before attending graduate school at the University of Iowa where she earned both her MFA and Ph.D. 

She taught at Iowa State University in Ames until 1996 and now writes full time and rides and trains horses.  It’s her love of horses that led her to write a children’s book about a young girl who seeks refuge from a tumultuous home life and problems at school in raising and caring for horses.

It sounds like you had fun writing a children’s book.

It was, I really enjoyed it.

Is writing always fun?

I have had every kind of authorial experience, sometimes it’s fun and easy and sometimes it’s very difficult.  Sometimes I’ve known what I was doing and sometimes I haven’t.  I don’t know what it’s like to be blocked but I do know what it’s like to stall.

Do you see differences in children’s books now from when you were a child?

Most of the protagonists in children’s books now are male with all the Harry Potter books and books like that. That was certainly true when my son was looking around for books to read, there were certainly books about boys, not that he read them.

So we need more children’s books for girls, don’t we?

Lucy Silag, my daughter, has written books for children and they concern 16 year olds.

Is working with horses in any way like writing?

Working with horses is much harder because I’m not coordinated and it requires so much concentration. Natural-born horsemen have great balance, coordination and a quiet attentiveness. I had to learn all of those things instead of having them come by instinct. I’m not a natural athlete, but I can learn.

When you write, do you plot out your books or do they just flow.

Depends upon the book.  When I wrote a murder mystery called Duplicate Keys, which was about my third book, I spent a lot of time plotting out how it was all done.  I discovered that reading Hound of the Baskerville four times doesn’t teach you how to write a mystery.

I read an interview with Agatha Christie and she said that she enjoyed the plotting of her mysteries more than writing them because she liked creating puzzles.  But it’s hard to do, isn’t it?

Yes, I noticed that Charles Darwin happened to die while he was writing The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  I wasn’t quite sure when reading it how he was going to sustain it as a mystery and I thought maybe he died because it was too hard.

–Interview by Jane Ammeson, Red Editorial Staff

All together now: It’s time to stop the noise about Brett Favre’s look-at-me summer. That pass to finish off the Niners on Sunday is one of those indelible plays. You will always remember it if you saw it–whether live, start over, SportsCenter, YouTube, phone screen.

There was something satisfying in watching ol’ Brett get knocked to the ground so hard that he was straining to look up and down field while flat on his stomach, then could barely lift his arms to celebrate the winning TD. His lineman, especially Steve Hutchinson, were there to bear-hug their New Leader Who No One Cares One Iota Anymore That He Missed Two-a-Days.

Meanwhile, on the receiving end, Greg Lewis was there on cue to trip the synapses in Favre’s brain to throw to an open space only Hall of Fame QBs and maybe Superman (hey, Brett is old-school too) can throw to. Then Lewis got his left foot down after making the catch and dragged his right toes. Not bad for a guy who was in the game because Percy Harvin had run up and down the field so many times in the last flurry of plays that somebody, anybody, had to run a long pattern beside the rookie playmaker.

It is starting to become unfair that Harvin and Adrian Peterson are on the same team.

Overlooked up on Minny Ha-Ha is another stellar performance by the San Francisco Singletarys. They were one perfectly executed miracle pass away from a 3-0 start. You know Coach Wide-Open Eyes is telling his squad they can do better but in his quiet time must be thinking, “This is good.”

Have to like how the Bears have responded from losing up in Green Bay the first weekend. Winning at Seattle is never easy, even the Seahawks are missing 10 starters and had to wear a lot of lime green on their jerseys last weekend. Bears fans have to feel good about Jay Cutler, as much the entertainment value of the season ahead, as for the two straight victories. Only those who remember, say, Rudy Bukich, Virgil Carter, Bob Avellini and Bobby Douglass (always Bobby Douglass) know just how rare an entertaining QB can be in Chicago.

Don’t look now, but New York is undefeated. The Giants are rolling on D, and so are the Jets. The Yankees clinched the division Sunday, too, by sweeping the Red Sox. “Even the Mets won,” said the Coffee Truck Guy at 46th and Sixth Ave. Monday morning. “Good day, all New York.” Mark Sanchez is no Eli Manning, but he doesn’t have to be under Rex Ryan’s system.

Get used to it, the Jets are going to the playoffs.

Go Lions, uh-huh, go Lions, uh-huh, oh yeah, go Lions. Just had to say that.

– Bob Condor, NFL RedHouse

There’s no easy route to glory in the Europa League.

The group stage comprises a massive 48 teams, including such strong sides as Valencia, Sporting Lisbon, Roma, Benfica, and UEFA Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk

The British representatives–Celtic, Everton and Fulham–experienced mixed results on matchday one.

While Celtic foundered at Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Everton thrashed AEK Athens at Goodison Park and Fulham gained a respectable draw at CSKA Sofia.

October’s fixtures will provide further stern tests for the British teams.

Celtic entertain Group C leaders Rapid Vienna on Thursday, followed by the visit of Hamburg three weeks later.

David Moyes will fancy Everton’s chances of beating BATE in Belarus, but will know that the trip to Benfica will be fraught with danger.

Good home results will likely be the key to progress, so Fulham must target victories against FC Basel and Roma.

But Roy Hodgson’s men will need to be at their very best, since Basel beat Roma in their opener and Roma are one of the strongest teams in the competition.

Just in case fans of Celtic, Everton and Fulham aren’t aware of the danger men lying in wait, Red has chosen five to watch.

Carlitos, FC Basel
The 27-year-old Portuguese winger produced a wonderful strike to set Basel on their way to a surprise defeat of Roma.

As the home side, Fulham must attack. But they should beware the likes of Carlitos on the counter.

Nikica Jelavić, Rapid Vienna
Promising Croatian forward who has already made his mark in Europe this term by scoring 16 seconds into Rapid’s qualifier against Aston Villa.

The 22 year-old was also on target as Hamburg were humbled on matchday one.

Marcus Berg, Hamburg
Swedish hotshot who struck 33 times in 56 games for Dutch side FC Groningen before moving to the Bundesliga.

The 23-year-old was leading marksman at the European Under-21 Championship, with seven, and bagged three goals in his first three games for Hamburg.

Daniele De Rossi, Roma
The Italian World Cup winner has usurped Francesco Totti as Roma’s linchpin, setting the tempo from central midfield and tenaciously shielding the back four.

When Real Madrid came calling in the summer, they were told De Rossi would never leave.

Nuno Gomes, Benfica
The Portugal striker may be a veteran at 33, but the touch that has brought 29 international goals has not deserted him.

Gomes showed his usual coolness in scoring the first and creating the second as Benfica overcame BATE.

–Rob Wightman, Red U.K. Senior Sports Writer

Much like how grunge-rock dominated the airwaves and Lewinski-gate dominated the American political landscape, the baseball world of the 1990s belonged to the Atlanta Braves.

From 1991 to 2005 the Braves won their division an unprecedented 14 consecutive times (if you factor out the 1994 strike-shortened season), made the World Series five times and won it all in 1995 over the Cleveland Indians.

Since then the Braves have fallen on hard times, with third-place finishes in 2006 and 2007 and fourth in 2008 with a dismal 72-90 record; their worst since finishing last in the NL West back in 1990.

But with their 86-70 record leaving them just four games behind the first-place Phillies in the NL East and just two games behind Colorado in the Wild Card race, someone should cue up “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” because it could be the ’90’s all over again in Atlanta.

The Braves are riding a seven-game win streak to a remarkable 17-8 record thus far this month and have been steadily gaining ground on the Phils and the Rox.  The current seven-game streak is their second such streak this month alone.

And much like the Braves of the ’90s, these Braves are getting it done on the mound. In the days of Slick Willie the Braves featured a terrific trio of starters in Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux. Today they have Jair Jurrjens with a 14-10 record and 2.61 ERA and Tommy Hanson who has gone 11-4 with a 2.98 ERA since his June 3 call-up.

Add in veterans Javier Vazquez, who has thrown two complete games this September to improve his record to 15-9 and lowered his ERA to 2.83–sixth-best in the NL–Derek Lowe, who also sports a 15-9 record, and Tim Hudson who rejoined the team this month after shoulder surgery and you have a rotation with the league’s second-best ERA at 3.59 and one that kinda makes me want to tie an old flannel shirt around my waist and write bad poetry. (At least that’s what I did in the ’90’s)

But don’t get too deep in your closet looking for your favorite pair of ripped jeans and those old ratty Chuck Taylors, because with just six games remaining in the season the time is running out on the post-season dreams of the Braves.

They do have a couple things on their side though. One: the Phillies have dropped off a little bit of late, losing six of their last 10 games, including last night’s home series opener loss to Houston. But with Philly finishing the year at home with the Astros and Marlins, the Braves making up four games is a bit of a stretch.

So on to the Wild Card where the Braves’ chances are much more realistic. After starting the month with a 10-1 record the Rockies have cooled off, losing three of the last six games. Colorado starts their last home series tonight against Milwaukee but wrap things up on the road with the Dodgers who have already locked up a playoff spot.

Here’s where the Braves need to make their move: with their last six games at home, two with Florida and four with the lowly Nationals, the Braves can leapfrog the Rockies and land smack in the middle of October . . . does anyone else hear Blind Melon?

–Aaron Whitebread, Red Editorial Staff

It’s hard to imagine a mess call bringing tears to your eyes, but I wasn’t the only one in the crowd getting a bit verklempt as we watched hundreds of West Point cadets marching into Washington Hall for a bite to eat.

The meal formation began innocently enough, when a lone drummer slowly began beating out a marching rhythm. A snare drummer added some pizzazz to the beat, and then two buglers lifted golden horns to their lips and began to play.

Once the buglers chimed in, and the smartly dressed cadets began marching into the mess hall, those of us watching choked up. Maybe they weren’t marching onto a battlefield, but there was still a moving, patriotic reverence to the event, which only faded as the buglers’ last, plaintive notes were carried away by the wind.

You don’t have to be a military nut to appreciate West Point, the Army’s oldest post. Strategically built in 1778 on a promontory overlooking a serpentine twist in New York’s Hudson River, West Point was initially charged with keeping the river safely in American hands.

In 1802, it also became home to the United States Military Academy, which trains Americans in national defense. Today its scenic location, stunning “military Gothic” stone buildings and historical significance make it one of New York’s leading tourist attractions.

Among its many treasures:

Protestant Cadet Chapel. This impressive, 1500-seat structure contains the world’s largest organ, featuring four keyboards and 20,142 pipes ranging in size from a No. 2 pencil to a 32-foot-long tube a person can lay inside. Look for the black Bibles and red hymnals, perfectly lined up in the pews to resemble cadets in formation.

Trophy Point. More than 200 cannons are scattered around this outdoor museum, all captured from various battles. Peek at the Hudson River from this spot, dubbed “the million-dollar view.”

‘Beat Navy’ Tunnel. The Army-Navy football rivalry dates to 1890. The walls of the ‘Beat Navy’ tunnel, a street underpass, contain little brown footballs denoting every year Army was victorious. (Army is behind in the rivalry.) When you emerge on the other end, look for the infamous bleachers etched with the words “ARMY BEAT NAVY.”

Don’t miss the 155-year-old West Point Museum, which sits just outside the post. The museum houses the oldest and largest public collection of military arms, flags, uniforms, accoutrements and paintings in the Western Hemisphere: Chinese battle axes, Confederate Bowie knives–even the silver-bound guestbook of prominent Nazi Herman Goering, which contains the signatures of Hitler, Mussolini and Aga Khan.

Civilians are allowed on post for guided tours and various public events such as concerts, sporting events and cadet reviews. Everyone 16 and older needs a valid photo ID to be admitted on post, and children must be accompanied by adults.

–Melanie Radzicki McManus, Red Editorial Staff
–Photo by Melanie Radzicki McManus

Paul Hart’s decision to sound out Gary McAllister for the assistant manager’s role at Portsmouth is a brave move.

Something had to change at Pompey after they lost all of their opening seven games to set an unwanted Premier League record.

Hart, who has been without a No.2 since Brian Kidd quit in the summer, has turned to McAllister to fill the vacancy.

Why is it a brave move?

Well, the fact that McAllister has previously been a manager suggests he could be viewed by some as a threat to Hart.

McAllister has managed Coventry City and Leeds United and appears keen to have another go at the job.

He was recently offered a chance to join the Scotland coaching set-up, but turned down George Burley’s approach because he wanted to return to club management.

If McAllister does join Pompey and their losing run continues in the short-term, the likelihood is that Hart will be sacked.

If that happens, McAllister will be in pole position to take over.

Hart will obviously be hoping that the addition of a new voice on the training ground provokes a position reaction from his players.

Pompey chiefs have shown admirable patience so far because it would have been easy to sack Hart following such a miserable run.

After so much turmoil at the club over the summer, leading to the departure of some key players, Hart will feel that he deserves to be given time to turn things round.

The truth is, however, that Pompey’s form needs to show signs of sharp improvement.

At the moment, it’s looking as though Portsmouth and Hull City are making strong claims for two of the three relegation places.

Next up for Pompey is a trip to Wolves on Saturday.

Hart must be praying for a point–or preferably three–at Molineux.

–Nick Johnson, Red U.K. Editorial Staff

After much deliberation, it has been decided that President Obama will hop his plane to Denmark and do something that Rod Blagojevich dreamed of doing before his impeachment:

Sell Chicago to the world.

Yes, the Prez is headed to Copenhagen this Thursday to personally throw Chicago’s hat in the ring for hosting the 2016 Olympics, something no president has ever done before.

And considering how loved Obama is by the rest of the world (the country he runs is the only one whose people draw Hitler moustaches on pictures of him) my gut is telling me that selling Chi-Town to the International Olympic Committee is going to be easier than selling Bibles to Glenn Beck fans.

In fact, if you read the situation correctly, it might already be a done deal.  Would Obama go all the way to Denmark and spend time pitching the Windy City if there were a risk of failure?

This kind of set up happens more often than you might think, actually.  I like to call it the competitive “Cheney Handicap”: if the president or vice president participates in any kind of contest or sport, you can be pretty sure it’s rigged like the WWE.  For example, if Cheney wants to hunt quail on a Sunday, there are people in place whose job it is to make sure Cheney doesn’t have to look very hard for a quail.  Otherwise someone gets shot in the face.

The fact that Obama is going to Denmark–for a short stay of around 10 hours, at that–tells me that he doesn’t really need to go to Denmark to make the Olympic bid stick to the IOC in the first place, but maybe it’s not a done deal.  Maybe it’s still close.  Maybe we’re neck and neck with one of the other cities in the running: Madrid, Tokyo or Rio de Janeiro.

So just in case you need some last minute talking points, Mr. President, allow me to supply you with a few sure-fire incentives you should bait the IOC with . . . just to be safe:

–Tell the IOC that we promise to put a muzzle on Ozzie Guillen.  Not that he has anything to do with the Olympics, but it’s probably just for the best.

–Tell the IOC that we impeached Blagojevich so he wouldn’t try to sell the gold medals, but if you need someone to hawk a bunch of Olympic tee shirts and official glow sticks, he’s your man.

–Chicago is home to the world’s largest public library, the Harold Washington Library Center.  If the IOC gives Chicago the 2016 Olympics, everyone gets a library card.  Seriously.  Come on in and have the run of the place.  We’re Americans and have no use for books (we hate the public library option anyways; too socialist).

–Chicago is known as the “Candy Capital of the World,” which is great news for the children.  China’s gymnasts would have a blast.

–Chicago’s Oceanarium is the largest indoor marine mammal pavilion in the world, and Michael Phelps is totally cool with having a sleepover.

–If all else fails, bring some deep dish and tell them “There’s plenty more where that came from.”

–Joey Alfino, Red Editorial Staff

Jenson Button continues to make hard work of trying to win the F1 drivers championship.

After appearing invincible at the start of the season, winning six out of the first seven races, Button has disappointed of late.

Fortunately for the British driver, none of his rivals have been able to take advantage.

Button could only finish fifth in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, yet he still managed to extend his lead at the top by a point.

That was because his Brawn GP team-mate and closest challenger, Rubens Barrichello, finished in sixth place.

Button has been somewhat fortunate to have built up a healthy lead early on, otherwise he could have been overtaken by now.

As it stands, Button has a 15-point lead over Barrichello with just three races left.

Basically, it is now Button’s title to lose.

Lewis Hamilton, who won in Singapore, can tell his compatriot a thing or two about missing out at the death.

Hamilton was 17 points in front with two races remaining two years ago and ended up being edged out by Kimi Raikkonen in the final race.

You have been warned, Jenson.

Hamilton is of course the defending champion and he wished Button all the best going into the finale.

It is possible that Button could go on and clinch the title without winning another race.

You sense, however, that he wants to win it in style.

It’s the Japanese Grand Prix next week, followed by a trip to Brazil two weeks later.

Button will have hopefully wrapped up the title by then.

If not, it will all hinge on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 1 November.

The question is, does Button have the bottle to come through the biggest challenge of his career so far?

–Nick Johnson, Red U.K. Editorial Staff

The British teams made a fine start to the group phase of the Champions League.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United all won, while Rangers achieved a creditable draw at VfB Stuttgart.

But–except for Chelsea, who have nothing to fear at Cypriot champions APOEL FC–this week’s matches should present a tougher proposition.

So Red has picked five opponents likely to threaten our teams’ chances on matchday two.

Diogo (Olympiakos)
Yet another Brazilian set to take Europe by storm, the 22-year-old forward struck 17 times in his first 48 outings after arriving from Portuguesa last summer.

And there is more to come from a man who excels in the air and specialises in nipping into score ahead of the last defender.

Ironically, Arsène Wenger was once strongly linked with a move for the Brazilian forward.

Grafite (Wolfsburg)
The 30-year-old Brazilian striker’s career has flourished since he joined Wolfsburg in 2007.

His first 54 games yielded an astonishing 41 goals, and he hit a hat-trick in the German champions’ opening-day defeat of CSKA Moscow.

Grafite–full name Edinaldo Batista Líbano–hopes such spectacular form will earn him a place in Brazil’s World Cup squad.

Can he prove himself against Manchester United?

Luis Fabiano (Sevilla)
The Brazil striker is arguably the world’s most deadly finisher. In La Liga, he averages a goal every other game.

For Brazil, he has bagged a stunning 25 goals in 33 appearances, including a recent brace against Argentina.

With his pace, skill and guile, the 28-year-old is a menace to any defence.

He started the scoring in Sevilla’s opener against FC Unirea Urziceni. Rangers beware.

Frédéric Kanouté (Sevilla)
As if Fabiano wasn’t enough of a threat, Rangers must also handle his strike partner Kanouté.

The former West Ham and Spurs forward provides the perfect foil for the Brazilian, either coming deep to receive the ball or working right up alongside his partner.

Though not as prolific as Fabiano, Kanouté still struck 22 times last term.

Adrian Mutu (Fiorentina)
The much-travelled former Chelsea player may be best known here for his off-field problems.

But Liverpool’s defence will need to be watchful, as the Romania striker smashed 47 goals in his first 78 games for La Viola.

At 30, Mutu has lost some of the pace of his early years, yet has developed the subtlety of movement to undo even the most accomplished back four.

–Rob Wightman, Red U.K. Senior Sports Writer