Aston Villa 2 - 2 Liverpool - 21 August 1985

Kenny Dalglish left himself out of this game and was replaced by Paul Walsh.

Liverpool certainly didn't have things their own way and Villa actually led this game on two occasions. Villa may have lacked experience with their youthful side, but they more than made up for this with raw enthusiasm.

Villa scored after only 7 minutes through Gary Shaw and it took until the 38th minute for Liverpool to equalise, from a superb Ian Rush header. Rush's goal was his 11th in 9 meetings between these two clubs, but the hero was to turn villain near the end of the game. Villa restored their lead in the 77th minute through Mark Walters and despite a siege on the Villa goal, it took Liverpool until the 84th minute to equalise, through Jan Molby. This exciting game ended in dramatic fashion, when Ian Rush's header hit the bar. The referee however awarded a penalty, as Rush had been pushed in the back. The dependable Phil Neal was not allowed to take this penalty and it was Rush who got there ahead of him. However, his tamely hit shot was easily claimed by Nigel Spink, in the Villa goal.

Liverpool definitely felt that they had dropped two points in this game.

Liverpool Team - Grobbelaar, Neal, Kennedy, Lawrenson, Whelan, Hansen, Walsh, Nicol, Rush, Molby, Beglin. Sub: Johnston.

Aston Villa Team - Spink, Williams, Dorigo, Glover, Ormsby, McMahon, Birch, Shaw, Gray, Walker, Walters. Sub: Daley.

Half Time: 1-1

Attendance: 20,197

Liverpool 2 - 0 Arsenal - 17 August 1985 Anfield

This game looked likely to be a tough one. Managed by Don Howe, Arsenal were very defensively able and they were a tough well-organised nut to crack.

However, Kenny Dalglish produced another master-class performance and was highly influential, as Liverpool wore Arsenal down.

Ronnie Whelan and Steve Nicol were Liverpool's goal scorers and the one-dimensional Arsenal never really threatened the Liverpool goal.

Liverpool Team - Grobbelaar, Neal, Kennedy, Lawrenson, Whelan, Hansen, Dalglish, Nicol, Rush, Molby, Beglin. Sub: Johnson.

Arsenal Team - Lukic, Anderson, Sansom, Williams, O'Leary, Caton, Allinson, Robson, Nicholas, Woodcock, Rix. Sub: Davis.

Half Time: 1-0

Attendance: 38,261

Welcome to the Liverpool FC 1986 Double Blog

Despite their many years of success, Liverpool FC had never achieved the English 'Double' of FA Cup and League Championship.

This was to be one of Liverpool's most historic seasons, when early in the season, it looked likely that they would not win anything.

They were banned from Europe, following the 1985 Heysel Disaster (as were all English clubs), so domestic honours were the only option.

Liverpool had a new Player-Manager, in the form of Kenny Dalglish, since Joe Fagan had retired following the events at Heysel the previous year.

With Everton FC pushing them all the way, the run-in toward the end of this season was one of the most exciting for many years.

Liverpool and Everton were undoubtedly the two best teams in England and probably Europe for that matter.

Here is a step-by-step account of EVERY match from that season.