25% of the Premiership in the Champions League?

Uefa have bowed down to "pressure" and bent the rules to allow defenders Liverpool the chance of defending the trophy, by entering the qualifying stages of the CL. They don't mention which team they kicked out of the fixture line-up to let the Mickeys in though.

Not that it matters a whole lot. Round 1 qualifying means you end up playing 6 matches pre-season just to get into the start of the competition. As with the Inter-Two-Bob Cup entrants, that's Liverpool's season finished at Christmas then...erm...no change there from last season.