We’re badly missing Torres, and the space he creates around him, and our profligacy in earlier games seems to have eroded our confidence in and around the penalty area. Why is confidence so low? When we’re top of the league?

Only a few weeks ago we were being told the players had the spirit of champions, coming back from the dead more times than Bruce Forsyth.

The movement up front is stilted, and no-one from midfield appears willing to take the risk of running past the forwards. Have we wasted £20m on Robbie Keane? Will Ryan Babel ever make it? Has Riera been sussed by Premier League defenders? Has David Ngog any clue at all? Oh dear, if only we hadn’t drawn those two games…

The spirit of Christmas is clearly alive and well at Anfield. Following the Chancellor’s generous reduction in VAT, Liverpool announce that they are following Everton’s lead and reducing the price of tickets by £1.

This is more than the reduction in VAT, Rick Parry tells us, because the club wanted to ‘go further’ at this difficult time for fans squeezed by the credit crunch.

A quick tap of the calculator keys reveals that this magnificent gesture is worth…17p. That’ll get the economy moving again.

I think I’ll put it towards my half-time Kit Kat, which at £1 at the Red Bar retails at over double the price in the shops. You’re all heart Rick.