Roy Hodgson fielded a strong side including England's World Cup captain Steven Gerrard as well as Jamie Carragher and Glen Johnson while Fabio Aurelio was named on the bench after re-signing for the club yesterday.

Monchengladbach had arranged the match as part of their 110th anniversary celebrations at Borussia Park and the hosts made an early breakthrough through Karim Matmour in the eighth minute.

The Algerian took advantage of some poor play by Daniel Ayala inside the area and the defender was duly punished as Matmour produced a powerful finish.

Matmour was proving a real irritant for the Anfield club and came close to doubling his side's lead with Liverpool having to wait until the 56th minute for their first real chance when Cole's low drive was parried, with the former Chelsea player withdrawn nine minutes later.

The hosts continued to threaten and, although David Amoo headed narrowly wide, Monchengladbach fully deserved their victory.

A goal eight minutes from time by Ian Harte gave Carlisle victory over Hibernian in a low-key game at Brunton Park.

Harte headed home a James Berrett corner after losing his marker to earn a deserved win for the League One side, who also came close through Craig Curran.

Hibs had a goal disallowed for an apparent offside in the first half but they produced little in attack after the break bar an attempt by Anthony Stokes which goalkeeper Adam Collin saved with his leg.

A late goal by Liam Davis earned Northampton a 2-2 draw with a Birmingham XI at Sixfields.

The Barclays Premier League side fielded a strong line-up including James McFadden, Cameron Jerome and Lee Bowyer.

However, it was the Cobblers who went ahead when Billy McKay held off Liam Ridgewell to poke the ball past keeper Maik Taylor.

Blues levelled five minutes after half-time before McFadden put Alex McLeish's side ahead with a little over 20 minutes remaining.

Davis, though, had the last word, scoring an equaliser with five minutes left.

Chester had an emphatic win as they beat a Wigan XI 4-0 at the Deva Stadium.

A poor opening goal handed Eintracht Frankfurt a head start as Premier League champions Chelsea went down 2-1 in Germany.

With Patrick Ochs bearing down on goal, John Terry sent a misjudged backpass to Hilario who tried to beat the 26-year-old but instead allowed him to nip in and dispossess the Portuguese goalkeeper at the edge of the area. The German then traded passes with a team-mate before lobbing the ball into the net midway through the first half.

Chelsea fielded a strong starting line-up including Terry, Ashley Cole, Florent Malouda and Nicolas Anelka as well as Yossi Benayoun, who was making his debut following his arrival from Liverpool.

With Petr Cech ruled out with a calf injury that will see him miss the start of the season, Hilario started in goal.

Chelsea drew level after 65 minutes when Frank Lampard burst through but the hosts scored the winning goal through Halil Altintop's penalty with seven minutes remaining, awarded for a shirt pull by Branislav Ivanovic.

A late goal by Matt Lowton saw Sheffield United claim a 1-0 win over South American champions Estudiantes at Bramall Lane.

Lowton guided the ball home from eight yards with five minutes remaining as the npower Championship side overcame the 2009 Copa Libertadores winners.

The game started cagily and there were few clear-cut chances with the South American champions coming closest through Diego Auzqui's free kick.

The midfielder sent the ball over the Blades wall only to see it hit the right-hand post with goalkeeper Steve Simonsen completely beaten.

Guido Marcello Carrillo and Leonardo Jara came close for the Argentinians with the Blades threatening through Jamie Ward, Stephen Quinn and Mark Yeates before Lowton's decisive intervention.

The Argentinian side are currently managed by Alejandro Sabella, who spent two seasons at Bramall Lane from 1978 before moving on to Leeds.

Sabella, however, was not in South Yorkshire this afternoon as he is on the brink of replacing Diego Maradona as Argentina coach.