Premier League
Fear of Rashford grips Klopp ahead of Liverpool’s Sunday clash with rejuvenated Manchester United
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford has a “mix of everything” and can score goals in numerous ways, Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said as he called on his side to work as a unit to contain the England forward in Sunday’s Premier League game at Anfield.
Rashford has been in red-hot form this season, scoring 25 goals in 39 matches in all competitions for Erik ten Hag’s side.
“It’s pretty much impossible to be happy about something positive at Manchester United when you are the Liverpool manager – but I am really happy for Rashford,” the German manager told reporters on Friday.
“He had a very difficult last year where he was not performing on the level that he is able to perform… Now he is playing incredible. His speed, his technique – it is a mix of everything. How calm he is in front of goal.
“He scores worldies, he scores the simple ones, he can put his head in. All these kinds of things. We have to defend against that collectively. He is not their only world-class player.”
Liverpool are sixth in the league on 39 points after 24 games, 10 points behind United, who are third.
The Merseyside club have struggled for consistency this season, with recent 2-0 league wins over Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers coming either side of a 5-2 home defeat to Real Madrid and a 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace.
United look a team reborn under Ten Hag, having won the League Cup last week to lift their first major trophy since 2017.
“They have turned into a results machine. They are squeezing results out with some really good performances. Top football, and if it is not going so well they still get results,” Klopp said.
“That’s why they are there. They are fully in a fight to win the league. That’s not really important for Sunday because we are there as well when we try to be at our best.
“It’s what I enjoy most (this type of game). Around these games we pull ourselves out of the sometimes not-so-nice reality, that is when football is the most important for those 95 or 98 minutes, I love that. The whole world will watch, it’s a big game.”
Klopp added that he will be able to call upon most of his squad for the game against United, except for Thiago Alcantara and Luis Diaz, who are both still sidelined following injuries.
-Reuters
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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