By the time Steven Gerrard scored, many fans were already in their cars driving home. Jakub Voracek Jersey . The Liverpool captain had netted in the 87th minute at Anfield in a match his team would lose 3-1 to lowly Aston Villa. It was their 17th match of the season and things were not going well for Brendan Rodgers with his team in 12th place on 22pts. Teams such as Stoke, West Ham and Norwich were all ahead of them. It was not a night for the new manager to turn on the local radio stations as he drove home. Liverpool were in a rut and Rodgers was seeing performances flirting between his own ideas and the bad habits the team had picked up under Kenny Dalglish. The game against Villa was the sixth time in nine attempts that Liverpool had failed to win a Premier League match at Anfield. Far too often games followed a similar pattern. The Reds would start well, fail to score, get beaten on the counter attack and only sometimes find their way back into the match. Rodgers knew his team had to score more goals. They had played 18 halves of Premier League football and scored in eight of them (44%). Under Dalglish, the previous season, they had played 38 halves of Premier League football at Anfield and scored in just 18 of them (50%). Only four times, from their 19 home matches, had they scored in both halves in the same game. After the Villa game, Rodgers highlighted the areas for improvement: “We need to be more crisp, and less careless around the box. We create opportunities but its that final ball really and if we can become more clinical, get the goals, its a different game. Well recover well, we are back here next week and we have to make sure we dont make the same mistakes.” Liverpool listened to their manager. The next week they battered Fulham 4-0. In January at home they beat Sunderland 3-0 and Norwich 5-0. In February they welcomed Swansea with a 5-0 hammering and in March defeated Tottenham at home 3-2. After scoring in just 44% of their halves at Anfield for the first nine games, Liverpool found the net in 12 of their 20 home halves for the last 10 matches, raising it to 60%. On Saturday they were once again at home for their 17th league match of the season and this time they were on the right end of a 3-1 score, defeating Cardiff City thanks to three first half goals. Oh, what a difference a year makes. When they failed to score in the second half it was just their fifth half of home Premier League football this season in which they had failed to find the back of the net, scoring in 13 of 18 home halves, a huge difference to what they were doing this time last season (44% to 72%). The win took them to 36pts (an improvement of 14 from last season at this stage) and to the top of the table, stark contrast to the midtable mediocrity that led to many angry phone calls that night in Merseyside a year ago. The win against Cardiff came less than 24 hours after star striker Luis Suarez put pen to a new four-and-a-half year contract. "I am delighted to have agreed to a new deal with Liverpool and have my future secured for the long term," said Suarez. "I believe I can achieve the ambitions of winning trophies and playing at the very highest level with Liverpool. My aim is to help get us there as quickly as possible." While Liverpool fans breathed a sigh of relief, the rest of the world shook their head. This, in their minds, was a deal securing the Reds much more money when Suarez is inevitably sold in the summer. It was one of the least cared about contract extensions in football history. To most, it meant absolutely nothing. To Liverpool, however, it is a document that keeps one of the worlds finest players at their club in his prime years. A document they should frame and put on the walls of the home dressing room to bring motivation to their team. If they can prove they can indeed play ‘at the highest level, as Suarez says, they feel the Uruguayan will stay. So just how good are Liverpool? It is a question Suarez may be asking every single week between now and the World Cup. Before the Arsenal-Chelsea game on Monday evening, the Reds are top of the table. Suarez said he wants to play ‘at the very highest level. This is the Champions League. And who can blame him? When next seasons Champions League starts, the striker will be close to 28-years-old and if he isnt in the tournament then people will have every right to suggest he does not belong amongst the greatest players in the game. Liverpool will be fully aware of this. If we believe anything Suarez said last week, perhaps it can be how he spoke about his love for the club, the city and his team-mates. This, along with the huge pay rise, could be enough to keep him from going to another big club next summer, providing Liverpool make the Champions League. Although they sit at the top of the league, whether or not they can make the top four remains a legitimate question. To find the answer you need to look closer at this team and find out just how much better they are this season than last. This cannot be done by simply looking at their league positions on the same date because different opponents come at different times. This season Liverpool have played nine home games. Their eight home wins against Stoke City, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, West Brom, Fulham, Norwich, West Ham and Cardiff, and their loss to Southampton, represent a +7 difference in points against the same opposition as last season (replacing the relegated teams with promoted teams). This season Liverpool have played eight away games. Their away wins at Aston Villa, Sunderland and Tottenham give a +4 difference from last season, their away draws at Swansea, Newcastle and Everton are a -2 difference from last season against those teams and their away losses at Arsenal and Hull are a -2 difference from last season, giving them the exact same points away from home against similar opponents as last season, through eight away games. Liverpools 11 away games to come this season, including trips to Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea, come against opposing teams they got 17 points against on their travels last season. If they continue their trend as a (0+) team on the road those 17 points, added to their 36 points through 17 matches gives them 53. Last season they finished seventh on 61 points. That leaves their remaining 10 home games to make the difference. It is important to note that only half of these games come against teams they played after December of last season, when a noticeable change of form was shown. In those 10 games last season Liverpool got 16 points (five points in five games up to December and 11 points in five games from January on). Those 16 points added to the 53 points would leave them on 69 points, borderline for a spot in the top four. In the last five seasons, when Liverpool have failed to reach the top four, the points total for the team finishing fourth has been between 68 and 73 - 73, 69, 68, 70, 72. It is the early seventies (at least) that Liverpool need to reach if they want to keep Suarez. Last season Tottenham became the first team in Premier League history to get 72 points and not get into the top four. They lost Gareth Bale. Liverpool have already shown they are a side considerably better at home (+7 through 8 games) than last season, because of their slow start at home that ended with that loss to Aston Villa. With five opponents at home still to play, that came in that run, it is a real possibility that they could improve on the 16 points they achieved at home last season against the 10 opponents they are still to face. It is clear Liverpool are now much more like the team that played games 18-38 last season than the ones who played in the first 17. Having already gained 24 points from a possible 27 at home, including a +7 ratio on last season, they will look to achieve something similar at home for the second half of the season. If they can get a +7 ratio again this would take them to around 76 points, providing they play similar to the way they played away from home last season. This is a much more realistic target than those asking if they can win the league. Liverpool have made significant strides since this time last year and if they can stay at that level between now and May the highest level and Suarez may both be in their immediate future. Bobby Clarke Jersey . Although taking two of three from the Baltimore Orioles wasnt nearly as uplifting as winning the World Series, it still felt pretty darn good. Felix Doubront and four relievers combined kept Baltimores potent lineup in check, and David Ortiz had three of Bostons 12 hits off Wei-Yin Chen in a 4-3 victory Thursday night. Valtteri Filppula Jersey . - Wesley Matthews got a chance to practice his bow-and-arrow 3-point celebration on Sunday night. http://www.flyersauthority.com/authentic-matt-read-flyers-jersey/ .Brady threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter, and New England beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 for its eighth win in nine games. NEW YORK -- If Martin St. Louis wasnt a fan favourite during his first two months with the New York Rangers, he certainly became one during a very emotional weekend. St. Louis came to New York in March in a deal in which popular team captain Ryan Callahan was shipped to Tampa Bay. When he didnt light up the scoreboard right away, the Madison Square Garden crowd was slow to warm to him. That all changed Sunday night. Three days after the sudden death of his mother, St. Louis scored 3:34 in, and the Rangers avoided elimination for the second straight game by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1. Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series is Tuesday in Pittsburgh. New York advanced in the first round with a Game 7 win over Philadelphia. St. Louis rejoined his teammates for Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Friday, after a quick trip to Montreal to be with his family. That dedication inspired his teammates during a 5-1 win and carried over to Sunday. "Its probably one of the cooler things Ive been a part of in my professional career," said Derek Stepan, who earned the first assist on St. Louis goal. "The emotion on that goal is something that I will never forget." Fans were already chanting "Mar-ty, Mar-ty" on his first shift. The cheers got louder after he scored. St. Louis, the first star of the game, patted his heart when he came out to an ovation from the crowd. "Mothers Day, my dad is here, my sister is here," St. Louis said. "Its been a tough time for my whole family. To be able to get the lead in the first period, it was a good one." But not the prettiest of goals. St. Louis got in good position in front of the net. Stepan swiped at the puck in traffic and knocked it off St. Louis right leg and into the net. "I got a pretty good bounce," St. Louis said. "I know (my mother) helped me through this. Its a great win by the guys." Carl Hagelin pushed the Rangers lead to 2-0 just 2:51 later, and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 36 shots to keep Pittsburgh at bay. Derick Brassard made it 3-1 in the second period. Brandon Sutter scored the lone goal for the Penguins, who got 26 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury. The Penguins, who led the series 3-1, failed in their first attempt to advance to the Eastern Conference finals with a 5-1 home loss on Friday. Now the pressure has shifted to them, and frustration is showing. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby took a penalty at the end of the second period that gave the Rangers a power play to start the third. Several scrums also broke out -- including one after the final buzzer. "With a minute left in the game, emotions run high," Crosby said. "I dont think thats why we lost. We put ourselves in a bad position eearly. Robert Hagg Jersey. We fought hard and tried to get back, but you cant continue to do that in the playoffs. You cant start like that." The team that has scored first has won every game. Under coach Dan Bylsma, the Penguins are 1-7 at home when having a chance to clinch a series. Overall, the Penguins are 2-6 in Game 7s in Pittsburgh. On the flip side, the Rangers are 9-2 in their past 11 games when facing elimination, dating to Game 6 of the first round in 2012 at Ottawa. New York has never won a series it trailed 3-1 and has never beaten the Penguins in the playoffs. Buoyed by another early lead, the Rangers pressed for more, and got it on Hagelins unassisted goal at 6:25. Hagelins initial shot attempt from the left-wing boards was blocked by defenceman Rob Scuderi. Hagelin got to the loose puck in the centre of the left circle and sent a hard backhand sailing past Fleury for his fourth of the post-season. Bylsma burned his lone timeout to try to calm his team that was being outshot 7-2. Pittsburgh reversed that trend and cut its deficit in half before the end of the first. The Penguins started to gain momentum after they killed a roughing penalty against Jussi Jokinen and then received their first power play after Chris Kreider knocked down Jokinen at the edge of the crease with 8:40 left in the period. New York had built its shots edge to 12-3, but then helped the Penguins make the score 2-1. Sutter flung the puck toward the net, and it appeared to hit Rangers defenceman John Moore and then bounce in off the foot of defenceman Kevin Klein near the left post with 3:04 left. Lundqvist was clearly agitated by the late goal by Pittsburgh, which led 15-14 in shots in the first period. The teams both had chances in the middle period, and neither could connect on a pair of power plays. Pittsburgh twice challenged Lundqvist with short-handed breakaways, and the Rangers had a goal waved off at 5:55 when Kreider was called for goalie interference after he was shoved from behind into Fleury by Kris Letang. The Rangers made it 3-1 with 4:30 remaining in the period -- 25 seconds after Mats Zuccarello finished serving a tripping penalty. Brassard lunged, knocked the puck out of the air, and scored his third goal in two games and fourth in the series. Benoit Pouliot earned an assist, giving the line of Pouliot, Brassard, and Zuccarello 12 goals and 15 assists in 10 games -- regular season and playoffs -- against Pittsburgh. NOTES: The Penguins dropped to 9-3 at the Garden in the playoffs and 15-15 overall in Game 6s. ... Lundqvist made his 79th consecutive playoff start, tying Fleury for third place on the NHL list among goalies with one team. ... The Rangers were 0 for 6 on the power play. Pittsburgh was 0 for 4. 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