Premier League
This is our best match, says Liverpool’s Klopp
Liverpool’s 6-1 mauling of Leeds United at Elland Road on Monday was their best performance of the Premier League season, according to manager Jurgen Klopp, who has not ruled out a push for a Champions League place in the final weeks of the campaign.
The victory was the Reds’ first in six games in all competitions since they beat Manchester United 7-0 in early March, as they inflicted a record home league defeat on Leeds who are battling against relegation.
“I think it’s the best game we’ve played this season from all different perspectives,” Klopp said.
“We forced a lot of errors, sensational goals and counter-pressing, the best game for long time.
“There were a couple of tough moments, we conceded an unnecessary goal. Apart from that we were in control.”
Liverpool have also beaten Bournemouth 9-0 in the Premier League and Rangers 7-1 in the Champions League this season, but Klopp also said that he will always judge his players on performance rather than the number of goals they score.
“I’m not bothered about scoring six, it’s about the performance. This was a winning performance,” he added.
“We can be super offensive orientated if we react in the right moment. I can’t explain why our counter-pressing didn’t work (earlier this season) but tonight it clicked.
“I’m not sure how many goals we scored after we won the ball back – that makes all the difference.”
The visitors took the lead when Cody Gakpo’s goal was allowed to stand despite the ball striking Trent Alexander-Arnold’s arm in the build-up.
It was reported that the VAR (video assistant referee) official did not check the incident because it happened too far back in the move.
Mohamed Salah rubbed salt into the home side’s wounds when he increased Liverpool’s lead four minutes later before Luis Sinisterra got one back for the struggling hosts.
Diogo Jota’s double, another Salah strike and Darwin Nunez’s late effort ensured the Reds sealed all three points.
After coming within a whisker of winning a quadruple last season, Klopp’s men have been reduced to scrambling to reach next season’s Europa League or Europa Conference League, with the Champions League seemingly out of reach.
Eight-placed Liverpool are nine points behind Newcastle who are in fourth and Klopp said all they can do is keep winning in their eight remaining matches and hope the teams above them slip up.
“They can win all their games and we win all our games and there is no chance to change anything,” he said.
“We have to play really good football. If we do, we will get results and then we see where we end up on the table.”
– Reuters/AFP
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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