Aston Villa's grudge match with Liverpool is a damp squib on all fronts

When a homemade banner hanging from the top tier of the Holte End is the most memorable part of an afternoon's entertainment, it does not say much for the quality on offer at a damp Villa Park.

'Rafa Benitez is just a fat Spanish waiter,' it read.

And Villa Park held its breath in anticipation.





The stage was set and the home crowd pumped up by the perceived injustice of Liverpool's summer-long pursuit of Gareth Barry, and the spat between Benitez and Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill.


Conditions were perfect for 90 minutes that should have been packed with incident following a summer of intrigue and back-biting.

Would the England international prove his £18million valuation? Could O'Neill exact his revenge for a summer of angst? Or would Benitez demonstrate just why it was that his club could still cherry-pick stars of a rival owned by an American billionaire prepared to spend now and never ask questions?

In the end, not one of the 41,647 who attended is any the clearer as to whether Villa can challenge the top four or if Liverpool can finally mount a title push.

If you were looking for controversy, there was little to chew over.

O'Neill and Benitez even shook hands before the start. It was a sign of things to come.

Barry was competent, but little more, as were most on view.

The commitment was present, certainly, but the heart-stopping moments were missing. Indeed, the important outcome was the extent of a hamstring injury that forced Fernando Torres' withdrawal before the half-hour.

Benitez said: 'I think it will be seven to 10 days, but we need a scan to make sure.'

In the absence of Steven Gerrard, Liverpool will hope to have Torres back to face Manchester United in two weeks' time.

As for the match, Benitez's tactics were spot on, a fact his opposite number was keen to acknowledge after the final whistle.






Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso sat in front of John Carew while Alvaro Arbeloa allowed Ashley Young little time to get going before he charged over to sniff out any danger.

Faced with such tactics, Villa were nullified.

With new signing James Milner likely to cause problems on the other flank in future, that will not always be the case, but they huffed and puffed to their first goalless draw in 16 months.

'I've just said to Ashley that Liverpool have paid him the biggest compliment so far,' said O'Neill.

'They sent their full back to get as close as possible to him and decided to stop the danger at source.

'The full back almost neglected his covering duties. It was as if the rest of the defence said: "Don't bother about us, just keep him in check".'

The one moment, a few minutes before the interval, when Young broke free of Arbeloa's shackles, Villa almost scored.

After Barry and Carew combined, the England international reached the by-line, pulled the ball back and Carew side-footed goalwards but Pepe Reina blocked with his feet.

Stiliyan Petrov fired wide and Milner struck a shot straight at the Liverpool goalkeeper but the hosts never truly looked like improving a wretched record against the visitors, having drawn four and lost six on their own patch since last beating the Anfield side.

Benitez will be the happier manager, although he was subjected to some abuse that was not particularly tasteful as the afternoon progressed.

The one real chance Liverpool created came 19 minutes from time.

Centre half Martin Laursen raced out of his slot and headed away, but the ball was swiftly chipped back over his head and Robbie Keane raced clear.

He dithered over his shot and Nigel Reo-Coker made up sufficient ground to throw himself into a tackle.

Though Keane was thrown to the ground, he had already fired off a weak effort which dribbled wide.

It was the one instant of possible controversy but referee Martin Atkinson, who must have been expecting a far more testing afternoon, ignored Keane's pleas for a penalty.

Benitez said: 'We were better in the second half and kept the ball well but we need to improve in the final third.

'The only positive news from the afternoon was the fact we have an international break. As far as Torres is concerned, we are hopeful it is not the worst for us but we will have to wait for the scan.'

Asked whether he was upset by the chanting, he replied: 'I saw a television programme the other day and they said the Birmingham accent is the most difficult to understand. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying.'

'Fair enough,' replied the Brummie enquirer, 'I'm just happy you understood the question.

Capello snubs Owen and brings Bullard into the England squad

Michael Owen's international future was plunged into serious doubt last night after Fabio Capello took the extraordinary decision to omit him from an England squad that includes Fulham's Jimmy Bullard.

The manager will no doubt point to the injury problems that have limited Owen to just one start so far this season.

But the decision looks like madness when it leaves England going into two crucial World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and, more importantly, Croatia with just Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey and Theo Walcott as strikers.

While Owen has scored 40 goals in his 89 internationals, many of them in critical games, the strikers Capello has chosen to take to Barcelona and Zagreb have managed a combined total of just 24 goals in 119 England appearances.

Although Owen is short of match fitness - against Arsenal on Saturday he played for 90 minutes but in an under-performing Newcastle United side looked tired towards the end - he proved in the two previous games that he had not lost his eye for goal.




And those two strikes in two matches as a substitute have persuaded Newcastle to offer him a new £120,000-a-week contract - and they should have been enough to secure him a place in Capello's squad.

Owen can only hope it is purely for fitness reasons that he has been left out, although he was understood to be stunned by the decision.

Capello declined the opportunity to explain his thinking last night although he is understood to have been unimpressed by comments Owen made after a frustrating performance against France last season.





Baffled by Capello's tactics, Owen said: 'In terms of what we were trying to do, you'd better ask the manager.'

Any England team should be capable of beating Andorra. Even one with Bullard.

But an encounter with the Croatia team who eliminated England from the European Championship is one Capello cannot afford to lose if he wants a smooth passage to the World Cup finals in South Africa.

Capello might have been stunned by an apparent lack of support from leading Premier League managers in the last few days but he now fails to help himself, so surprising is the absence of Owen.

The Italian could have used Andorra to help Owen regain his fitness and then unleash him against Croatia.

Not only would that boost an England team badly lacking in confidence, it would also worry a Croatia side who, because of injury, did not have to face England's finest goalscorer in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign. Just as surprising as Owen's omission is the inclusion of Bullard.

Capello is short of midfielders because of injuries to Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick but Fulham's likeable middle man probably never imagined he would receive a callup, even if he was excellent for Fulham in last week's win over Arsenal.

Bullard once described his move from Dartford to Gravesend as the most significant of his career, and Swindon v Peterborough his biggest game prior to the 2006 Carling Cup Final for Wigan against Manchester United.

Until last night, he probably thought he had more chance of representing England as an angler - he is an outstanding carp fisherman - than a footballer.

A glance through the squad and there are other surprises.

Joe Hart has been axed as the third goalkeeper and there is no place at centre half for Jonathan Woodgate, even though he was terrific for Tottenham against Chelsea yesterday.

Two goals by Defoe for Portsmouth at Everton on Saturday may suggest he is running into form.

However, in Capello's last game - the 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic at Wembley - the Pompey striker looked seriously out of his depth.

Owen's exclusion came at the end of a day when Newcastle heaped pressure on their captain to accept a new contract after unexpectedly announcing what the club claim is an improved three-year deal.

However, the move could yet backfire with the striker and his representatives upset with Newcastle's decision to make the offer public before approaching them.

England squad to play Andorra in Barcelona on September 6 and Croatia in Zagreb on September 10:

Robinson (Blackburn), James (Portsmouth), Green (West Ham); Lescott (Everton), Bridge (Chelsea), A Cole (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Brown (Manchester United), Ferdinand (Manchester United), Johnson (Portsmouth), Upson (West Ham); Barry (Aston Villa), J Cole (Chelsea), Lampard (Chelsea), Bullard (Fulham), Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), Downing (Middlesbrough), Bentley (Tottenham), Jenas (Tottenham); Walcott (Arsenal), Rooney (Manchester United), Defoe (Portsmouth), Heskey (Wigan).