Babel Wants To Ignite Liverpool Career

The Dutch player arrived at Anfield for around L11 million from Ajax but has failed to really improve in the three years since as was originally planned. 

A return of only 11 goals in 82 appearances since 2007 has failed to set the Premier League alight and there have been rumours of his departure from Liverpool in each of the last few transfer windows. The Premier League betting odds make him a massive outsider to be top scorer this season.

The 23-year-old has seen Roy Hodgson replace Rafa Benitez at Anfield during the summer and now wants to be used as a striker by his new manager, as the Spaniard used to deploy Babel as a winger.

Babel has told the official Liverpool website that under the new manager his "chances are equal again with others" and he is going to work hard to show Hodgson he can offer a lot this season.

After the disappointments of last season, this is a big campaign for Liverpool and all eyes will be on Hodgson to take the side back into the Premier League top four and next season's Champions League, and Babel wants to help when he can.

"I hope this is a chance for me to establish myself, but the first test for me is to work hard in every training session and try to show what I can do. In the end, it is the manager's decision if he uses me or not," the Dutchman said.

"Hopefully it is just a matter of time before I can get some confidence back to finally show everybody what I can do."

Hodgson has been hard at work since taking over at Anfield to build a competitive squad at Liverpool, and he has signed the likes of Joe Cole, Raul Meireles and Christian Poulsen and their arrival has helped boost the side's standings in the football betting.

The manager has said he is now satisfied he has build a balanced squad at Liverpool which is capable of a Premier League top four finish.