Month: January 2023

Peterhead moved off the bottom of the cinch League One table with a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Clyde at Balmoor Stadium.

Kieran Shanks broke the deadlock six minutes into the second half when he backheeled the ball into the net following a corner for his first goal since arriving on loan from Arbroath.

Peterhead move a point ahead of the Bully Wee – who replace them at the foot of the table – but are still well adrift of safety.

In League Two, Annan kept up their promotion push with a 4-0 win over bottom club Bonnyrigg Rose at Galabank.

Aidan Smith put the hosts in front in the 24th minute and Tommy Goss doubled the lead early in the second half following a free-kick.

Defender Max Kilsby made it 3-0 with 15 minutes left before striker Goss slotted in another from the penalty spot to leave Annan in fourth place.

Stranraer pulled further clear of the bottom and closed up to within a point of the promotion places with a 3-1 win at East Fife.

Josh Walker put the visitors ahead from a 14th-minute penalty, with midfielder James Hilton doubling the lead just before half-time.

Defender Scott Mercer pulled a goal back for East Fife in the 64th minute, but teenager Aaron Brown – making his debut on loan from Kilmarnock – soon restored the Blues’ advantage with a neat finish to wrap up the points.

Second-placed Stirling saw their match against Forfar postponed because of a frozen pitch at Forthbank Stadium.

Plymouth maintained top spot in League One with a hard-fought 4-2 win over Cheltenham at a sold out Home Park.

Argyle took a grip on the game when they scored two goals within as many minutes midway through the first half.

Central defender Dan Scarr volleyed in Jordan Houghton’s cross after 26 minutes.

Two minutes later, Scottish striker Ryan Hardie latched on to Finn Azaz’s defence-splitting pass to fire home from outside the box.

Cheltenham responded with Will Ferry cutting the ball back for Taylor Perry to smash home five minutes before the break.

Town started the second half in the ascendancy but it was Argyle who scored next.

Azaz again proved provider putting Callum Wright in on goal to hammer home Argyle’s third goal after 64 minutes against one of his former loan clubs.

Alfie May picked out the bottom corner to reduce the deficit six minutes later, but – with Cheltenham looking to level – Jay Matete broke from defence.

Matete ran the length of the field, holding off former Argyle loan signing Ryan Broom, before teeing up striker Sam Cosgrove to make it 4-2.

Steven Gerrard believes Jude Bellingham should steer clear of continental Europe’s top clubs and come to Liverpool.

Former Reds midfielder Gerrard has offered to take Bellingham out for dinner and tell him about what he could achieve by moving to Anfield.

Bellingham has long been touted as a big-money target for the Reds, and Gerrard believes the 19-year-old would be more likely to flourish with Liverpool than with Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich.

The attraction of Liverpool may be diminishing, with Jurgen Klopp’s team looking highly unlikely to qualify for the Champions League through the Premier League route this season.

They may yet get there by winning the Champions League, but that looks a fantastical prospect given they face Real Madrid in the last-16 stage, and given Liverpool’s general form has been terribly patchy this season. A 0-0 draw at Anfield against Chelsea on Saturday left the Reds rooted in mid-table, a worrying distance behind the top four.

“All he needs to do is send his diary to me, when he’s got a free day,” Gerrard said, while working as a pundit on BT Sport. “I’ll fly to Dortmund personally, I’ll take him out for a nice dinner and we’ll talk about it.”

What is beyond dispute is that Bellingham’s skill set and dynamism would improve Liverpool’s midfield, with Klopp’s experienced campaigners Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara not the force they once were. Gerrard described that area as “a little bit stale”.

Gerrard said: “I’m sure Jude is bright enough to see there’s a stand going up here, this is going to be a 60,000-seat stadium, they’ve got one of the best five managers in the world, they’ve won the Premier League of late, they’ve been in Champions League finals of late, they pay very well here – that’s a fact.”

Bellingham plays at an 81,000-capacity ground with Dortmund so Anfield is small by comparison, but there are undoubtedly aspects of a move to Liverpool that might appeal.

Dortmund are struggling domestically this season, too, so Bellingham would not be giving up the prospect of likely league titles in Germany, particularly given Bayern have dominated there for the last decade.

But he might have transfer options where winning major trophies would appear more likely than if he were to move to Merseyside.

Even though Bellingham has been playing in Germany for three seasons, and flourishing in the Bundesliga, Gerrard feels the former Birmingham City player belongs in England.

“I think it’s important he stays in this country,” said former Liverpool captain Gerrard. “He’s 19 years of age.

“You talk about Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich; I know he’s doing it at Dortmund now, but them clubs are at a higher level than Dortmund and you can get swallowed up.

“There’s a lot of stars, and you can get swallowed up by making a move too soon.

“In my opinion, staying around England, staying around this country, getting developed, there’s still growth in him, and he can evolve, and I think staying in England until a certain age until he hits his peak years is very important for the boy now.”

Youssoufa Moukoko has signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal with Borussia Dortmund to end speculation regarding his future.

The 18-year-old Germany international was due to be available as a free agent at the end of the season with his previous deal set to expire, attracting reported interest from Premier League duo Chelsea and Newcastle United.

However, the saga has been brought to a close after Dortmund announced the teenager penned a new deal running to June 2026.

While Moukoko was flattered by interest shown by other clubs, he expressed delight with his new contract.

“It’s no secret that I feel comfortable at BVB. I played in the youth teams, took my first steps in professional football here and now I’m ready to take the next step in my development together with the club,” he said.

“I feel the trust of the coaching staff and have an environment here in which I can develop perfectly.

“Of course, I was honoured by the interest of other clubs, but ultimately it is a decision of the heart. The fans have always supported me, and I want to give something back to them and the club.”

Moukoko was in Germany’s squad for the 2022 World Cup and has been involved in nine Bundesliga goals (six scored, three assisted) for Dortmund this season, at least three more than any of his team-mates.

Graham Potter said it was a “positive day” despite being denied a win as struggling giants Liverpool and Chelsea played out a 0-0 draw at Anfield.

The Chelsea head coach has seen his team win just two of their last 10 games (D2 L6) but was happy enough with the result, despite it seeing them remain in 10th place in the Premier League.

Kai Havertz was denied a goal in just the third minute after a VAR check found him to be offside in an otherwise fairly eventless game on Saturday.

“I thought the performance was good,” Potter told BT Sport after the stalemate. “I was happy with the team, the energy, what we tried to do. At Anfield, it is always tough. It’s a clean sheet and a point [and] we move forward.

“First half, we were decent, unlucky not to get the goal. It is what it is. They started the second half well, and we adjusted a couple of things and gained control, had a couple of chances. Overall, a positive day, apart from the fact we wanted three points.”

At his post-match press conference, Potter was asked about Mykhaylo Mudryk, who made his debut off the bench and went close to scoring a couple of times.

“He’s not played since November. He hasn’t had any game time. It would’ve been a risk. He’ll get better the more he is with us,” the former Brighton and Hove Albion head coach said as he explained why the big-money arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk did not start.

Potter added regarding Mudryk and another new arrival, on-loan Joao Felix, who was suspended following his debut red card at Fulham: “They’re top players. Sometimes people think us coaches turn top players into top players. But Mudryk, Joao, they understand the game. It’s just fine-turning it a bit.”

Chelsea are now without a win in their last six Premier League away games on the road (D3 L3), their longest run in the competition since September to December 2015 (D3 L4).

Mason Mount – who has been linked with a move to Liverpool at the end of the season – was also of the opinion that it was a good point for Chelsea.

“You know this is going to be a tough place to come,” he told BT Sport. “Overall, we controlled a lot of it. We could have taken our chances.

“It has been tough lately, we want to win games. I feel like it is getting better and we worked hard today.

“We’ll definitely take this today. The final passes weren’t there – if it was maybe we would have scored a few in the first half, but as I said, this is a tough place to come.

“They press you and force mistakes, like [they did in] the second half, and I think we came through that.”

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool “have to be ready for little steps” as he declared himself pleased with a Premier League goalless draw against Chelsea on Saturday.

Struggling heavyweights Liverpool and Chelsea played out a dismal contest at Anfield to leave themselves nine points off fourth-placed Newcastle United, who had a game coming up later in the day.

Liverpool had 15 shots, but just three were on target, with their expected goals (xG) return of 1.40 lower than that of Chelsea (1.59), who had a Kai Havertz goal ruled out.

The Reds did at least snap a two-game losing run in the Premier League with their first clean sheet in nine, all of which Klopp believes points to a positive day on the whole.

“We had good spells but couldn’t keep it up,” Klopp, who was taking charge of his 1,000th game in management, told BT Sport.

“We have to be ready for little steps, and this is a little step. We didn’t concede against Chelsea, which is good. We didn’t create an awful lot of chances, but we had them.

“We defended more with passion than clear organisation, so in the end I am okay with nil-nil. You have to accept it.”

Liverpool and Chelsea have now played out five successive draws, albeit with the Reds winning two of those games on penalties in last season’s EFL and FA Cup finals.

It is the first time ever the sides have drawn three successive league games.

Klopp’s side now turn focus to an FA Cup fourth-round tie with Brighton and Hove Albion, while they have a Champions League last-16 clash with Real Madrid coming up.

Echoing the thoughts of his manager, utility man James Milner believes Liverpool are showing small signs of improvement.

“When you’re in a tough period and a tough moment in the team, I think it’s important that you stick together and fight for those clean sheets and that’s where it starts,” Milner said.

“It’s not the best football matches that we are playing, but it’s small steps to get where we know we can be.

“We would have liked to win it, it’s pleasing that we had the chances. This is a small step in the right direction, but we have got a long way to go to where we want to be.

“We always want to win our home games, we know the situation we are in at the moment, things are not easy.

“We’ve got to stick together, keep working hard. We kept a clean sheet which was pleasing. We need to get that base. We had chances to win the game.”

Milner, who lined up at right-back, had the joint-second most touches of any Liverpool player (73) despite playing just 72 minutes. He felt the condition of the playing surface worked against Liverpool.

“It was two teams that aren’t playing their best at the moment. That’s why you have to win that battle, and the pitch didn’t make it as easy to play as we would like,” he said.

“At times we could have made it easier for ourselves by taking an extra touch but also moving for each other. 

“We had really good spells in the game as well. There’s things to work on, but a clean sheet is a step in the right direction.”

Southampton’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa was briefly suspended following the appearance of a drone at St Mary’s.

The drone was spotted flying above the stadium in the 42nd minute of the match, which was goalless, with play subsequently halted by referee Michael Salisbury.

The players returned to their dressing rooms while several supporters left their seats as Southampton’s safety officer surveyed the situation.

However, play resumed nine minutes later with the hosts looking for a victory that would lift them out of the relegation zone.

Christophe Galtier insisted Paris Saint-Germain will play “our best team” against non-league Pays de Cassel in the Coupe de France, as he looks to restore their intensity and rhythm.

The runaway Ligue 1 leaders are heavy favourites to progress to the last 16 without too many difficulties at the neutral venue of Stade Bollaert-Delelis – home to Lens.

Galtier’s side have lost each of their last two games away from Parc des Princes, but restored some momentum with an entertaining 5-4 victory over Riyadh All-Stars in a friendly on Thursday, when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were among the scorers.

And Galtier revealed he will field his strongest possible side in a bid to address the issues that have prevented his players from producing their optimum performance levels in recent weeks.

“It is a big match and a historic moment for an amateur club,” he said during his pre-match press conference. “We are preparing seriously for it.

“We will play our best team. There won’t be rotation. We need to get through this tie and the team needs to play at its best. I am working hard with the players to be focused on the mistakes that we need to correct.

“Especially in the style of play that we would like to have, we are looking for intensity and a direct approach. We have lost this in the last few weeks.

“In terms of wanting to press and win the ball as quickly and as high up the pitch as possible, there have been below-par performances in recent weeks, so we need to think about that.

“Both in terms of our setup and ability to press in the last few games, we haven’t managed to do that for various reasons.

“The sooner we can get our intensity, rhythm, link-up play back, the better, particularly with only one game per week. It would be silly to rotate in certain positions.”

Galtier said the club are working on bringing in a replacement for Pablo Sarabia, who departed the reigning Ligue 1 champions from Premier League side Wolves earlier this week.

The head coach also provided an update on Presnel Kimpembe, who continues his recovery from an Achilles injury.

“Of course, we hope to have Kimpembe in the coming weeks,” he added. “He is scheduled to be in full training in eight or 10 days, and we will see how he feels.

“He is working very hard. Of course, he is a big loss for us. We know how important Kimpembe is in terms of his level of play, his ability to lead the defence.”

Liverpool’s goalless draw with Chelsea – only their second in 80 league meetings – was as unsurprising as it was disappointing as two struggling sides failed to rise to the occasion.

For the last decade such a result between the two would often have been viewed as satisfactory but this was a missed opportunity for both and was a poor return on Jurgen Klopp’s 1,000th game as a manager.

Both clubs are currently a shadow of their best selves and the fact that this was sides in ninth and 10th place trying – and failing – to significantly close the gap on the top four shows how bad things currently are.

Klopp had kept faith with eight of essentially a second-string team which had won at Wolves in the FA Cup in midweek after praising the energy of that performance.

Tellingly he retained the same midfield, meaning a first Premier League start for 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic and places on the bench for captain Jordan Henderson and Fabinho along with right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who had only trained on Friday after a minor muscle problem.

While it helped with the effort level it did little to improve the quality, particularly up front where Liverpool were poor and Chelsea were not much better.

However, under-scrutiny Blues manager Graham Potter will have been boosted by new signing Mykhailo Mudryk’s encouraging second-half cameo and a fourth point from two games following one from the previous three.

In his programme notes Klopp had praised fans for their support in helping to eradicate a homophobic chant associated with Chelsea so, among his other disappointments in the first half, he would have been dismayed to hear an announcement saying there had been a report of it taking place followed by a warning it was against the law.

Liverpool’s finishing was poor with new signing Cody Gakpo (twice) and an out-of-sorts Mohamed Salah both blazing shots over.

Such profligacy was something they could ill afford having already been offered a lifeline by VAR in only the third minute when shambolic defending allowed Kai Havertz to turn home Thiago Silva’s effort which rebounded off a post only to be denied on review.

That did at least lift the atmosphere at a bitterly cold Anfield but that was soon punctured when Alisson Becker was forced to save Benoit Badiashile’s close-range header.

Just seconds after the break Ibrahima Konate’s mishit hopeful ball forward almost caught out Kepa Arrizabalaga but any optimism it might spark an improvement in proceedings proved misguided.

Within 10 minutes Mudryk, signed from Shakhtar Donetsk in an £88million deal, was given his debut off the bench.

His first real opening saw him overhit the ball off the end of the pitch as he tried to race clear, from his second he fired into the side-netting after neatly evading a couple of challenges inside the penalty area.

He was then taken out by James Milner, who was booked for the challenge, but even when Liverpool’s stand-in right-back could not get near him the Ukrainian’s control let him down when well-placed at the far post.

Hakim Ziyech’s terrible finish wasted an exhilarating cross-field run from the right wing while Darwin Nunez’s arrival introduced more of a threat and he set up Gakpo’s brilliant pirouette and shot on the turn but it was still not enough to properly test Arrizabalaga.

The sight of substitute Carney Chukwuemeka falling over his own feet when well placed in Liverpool’s penalty area late provided a suitable summary of the game as a whole and the final whistle was greeted with general indifference around Anfield.

Norwich continued their superb start under new boss David Wagner with a 4-2 victory at Coventry.

Having thrashed Preston 4-0 in Wagner’s first Championship game in charge, the Canaries raced into a 3-0 lead inside 18 minutes through a Michael Rose own goal, Onel Hernandez and Josh Sargent.

Coventry, watched by new majority owner Doug King, reduced the deficit to one with quickfire strikes from Jamie Allen and Kasey Palmer – all five goals coming inside the opening 26 minutes.

Things settled down after that but Kieran Dowell added a fourth for Norwich in the 65th minute, with leaders Burnley next up at Carrow Road in two weeks time.

The Canaries flew out of the traps once again and found themselves two goals ahead inside 10 minutes.

Rose set Norwich on their way when he got the last touch to Gabriel Sara’s corner amid the attention of Grant Hanley following a spell of Norwich pressure.

A free-flowing Norwich attack yielded the second when Dowell picked out a wide-open Hernandez in the box after Sargent’s clever flick.

The Cuban looked to have got the ball stuck under his feet but composed himself enough to evade the attention of Brooke Norton-Cuffy and fire through a crowd of bodies for his first goal since August.

Tim Krul almost offered the Sky Blues a route back into the game but Gustavo Hamer couldn’t take advantage of the Dutchman’s poor clearance.

Sargent offered Coventry a warning shot on 16 minutes when Ben Wilson was forced to turn the American’s effort round the post and the former Werder Bremen man made no mistake at the second time of asking.

Sara’s delicate outside-of-the-foot ball found Teemu Pukki, who drove to the byline and squared for Sargent to sweep home Norwich’s third after 18 minutes.

The response was almost immediate. Palmer’s deep cross was knocked down by Jake Bidwell into the path of Allen, who volleyed into the top corner to reduce the arrears.

Palmer, who had played more than a helpful hand in the opener, then reduced the deficit to just one eight minutes after Coventry had found themselves three goals behind.

Norton-Cuffy’s cross from the right picked out Viktor Gyokeres and his wayward touch inadvertently teed up Palmer to side-foot his second goal in as many appearances.

Hernandez was causing Coventry all sorts of problems with his movement on the left and he was offered a golden chance to give Norwich breathing space once again but could only lift his effort over the crossbar.

The Canaries almost started the second half in similar fashion to the first, Hernandez digging out an inviting cross for Max Aarons at the back post before almost doubling his tally when he cut inside and struck the outside of the post.

Dowell had the final say when he gave Norwich breathing space again, latching onto former Sky Blue Sam McCallum’s cut-back before drilling home a fourth.

Pukki and Allen both missed decent chances to add to the scoring late on.