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Liverpool v Fulham: Premier League – live | Premier League
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Half-time reading
Half time: Liverpool 2-0 Fulham
Just what the doctor ordered for Arne Slot and Liverpool, a largely stress-free first half. Rio Ngumoha, 17, and Mo Salah, 33, curled two fine goals in the space of five minutes to put Liverpool in control – and, as things stand, four points clear of the Champions League-chasing pack. (Though Chelsea have a game in hand against City tomorrow.)
45+2 min Jones is back on the field, at least for the remainder of this half.
45+1 min “Tim Wheeler was 17 when he recorded Girl From Mars,” writes Matt Dony. “Mary Shelley began drafting Frankenstein at the same age. Picasso already had Science and Charity under his belt by his 17th birthday. And Rio Ngumoha goes and does that. 17. Seventeen. Unbelievable. Still, maybe I’ll still create a masterpiece…”
I can’t lie, Matt, I’m a bit disappointed to be excluded from your list of precocious 17-year-olds.
45 min Curtis Jones is down with what looks like a muscle injury. There will be two minutes of added time.
43 min Fulham were having their best spell when Ngumoha scored. Now they’re in danger of being finished off before half-time. Ngumoha tees up Robertson for a shot on the half turn that is saved to his right by Leno.
43 min “Robster!” writes Simon McMahon. “I’m high on crack life after a last kick winner for Dundee United today, and also the fact that it’s Masters Saturday Andrew ‘Andy’ Robertson is starting for Liverpool. He might be my favourite player of the last 15 years. The season he spent at Tannadice seems like a distant dream, but a very pleasant one.
“Will never forget this goal he scored, I watched him all the way as he made his way forward before drilling a shot into the corner. If the net hadn’t been there it would have made its way to me as I stood open mouthed, like he knew I was watching and was trying to pass to me. He celebrated right in front of me and my daughter, who was about 15 at the time, not an awful lot younger than him. Happy days.
“I guess, even after the career high of a Scottish Cup final to defeat to St. Johnstone in 2014, he’s done alright for himself since he left, and even though we’ve been relegated twice in the decade since, I’d still have him back.”
42 min That’s Mo Salah’s 256th goal for Liverpool. Two hundred and fifty blooming six.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Fulham (Salah 40)
Mo Salah makes it two! It was almost a mirror image of Ngumoha’s goal, curled and placed immaculately into the far corner with his left foot. Ngumoha and Gakpo combined to see up Salah, who took the shot first time and swept it beautifully past Leno. He didn’t strike it was quite as cleanly as Ngumoha but both shots were right in the corner and gave Leno no chance.
40 min Szoboszlai wins the ball high up the field and finds Wirtz, who pings a shot over the bar from 20 yards.
It’s Rio Ngumoha’s first goal at Anfield, and nobody at the ground tonight will forget it in a hurry. Anthony Taylor played a good advantage, allowing Wirtz to move forward and find Ngumoha on the left side of the area. He twisted Castagne one way and then the other before moving back onto his right foot and curling a perfectly placed shot into the far corner. He set it outside the far post with just enough curler to bring it back into ithe net. That’s such an accomplished goal, the kind a 17-year-old should be incapable of scoring.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Fulham (Nguomha 36)
Rio Nguomha, 17 years old, gives Liverpool the lead with a beauty!
35 min After another smooth Fulham attack, Robinson badly overhits his cross. But this is a good spell for Fulham, easily their best of the match.
33 min Harry Wilson comes close against his old club with a trademark curler from the edge of thea rea that dips onto the roof of the net. Mamardashvili probably had it covered, but I wouldn’t put the farm on it.
32 min Fulham are growing into this game. Bobb’s snapshot from 12 yards is pushed away by Mamardashvili, diving to his left. A fairly comfortable save.
29 min King plays a fine reverse pass to the underlapping Castagne, who moves into the area and arrows a cutback towards the unmarked Iwobi 15 yards out He can’t control the ball and the attacks peters out. Moments later Iwobi shoots straight at Mamardashvili from distance.
23 min Ngumoha almost beats Castagne in the area with an extravagant piece of skill. Castagne read it well and got between his man and the ball.
Liverpool have been very good so far.
22 min Salah has a close-range shot well blocked, I think by Berge. He tried to delay the shot to buy a yard, but it was such a crowded penalty area and there was just no room to get a shot away.
20 min Wirtz, Ngumoha and Robertson combine nicely to find Gakpo, whose low drive from 20 yards goes not far wide. Leno probably had it covered.
19 min Fulham’s first corner is punched away with authority by Mamardashvili.
17 min Ngumoha goes down in the area after a slightly clumsy challenge from Bobb. Anthony Taylor waves it away.
16 min It’s still all Liverpool. They’re playing with good rhythm and plenty of intensity. So far Fulham haven’t had a chance to get on the ball.
14 min: Good save! Frimpong fires the ball into Salah, who hits a sharp right-foot shot that is well stopped at the near post by the plunging Leno.
11 min Robertson runs onto a Frimpong cutback, only to hit a tame shot from the edge of the area that is easily blocked.
9 min Ngumoha gets away from Castagne in the area but chips his cross too close to Leno.
9 min The lively Frimpong wins another corner down the right. Salah’s inswinger is nutted away by Bassey.
6 min Nothing comes of the corner, with Konate penalised for wrestling with Berge.
5 min Salah finds the underlapping Frimpong, who wins the first corner of the game. Liverpool have started pr-etty well.
3 min Both teams have started in a 4-2-3-1 formation as expected.
1 min Fulham kick off from left to right as we watch. The home fans launch straight into a song about Andy Robertson, who announced this week that he will leave the club this summer. £8m he cost.
A peedie reminder of the teams
Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Gakpo
Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Kirkez, Isak, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Ekitike, Gravenberch, Nyoni.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Iwobi; Wilson, King, Bobb; Muniz.
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Lukic, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze, Raul Jimenez.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Marco Silva talks to Sky Sports
I like to be ambitious but realistic – Liverpool’s home season has not been that different from last season. We are prepared for a tough game but we are capable of playing good football and let’s hope we can reach our level again at Anfield.
It’s another big game for us. We want to restart in the best way possible [after the international break].
Arne Slot’s pre-match thoughts
[On making five changes] That made complete sense after the week we’ve had. It’s been very demanding physically and mentally. I tried to use yesterday’s training session to see who had recovered fully.
Some of them have to play again because I’m out of options in those positions. We have a lot of ingredients for a good game.
If you play for Liverpool, every game is a must-win, and this one as well.
Premier League results
And this is what it means for the Premier League table. There’s a Spandex mini-league taking place below the top four.
The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
Team news: Salah and Robertson start, Fulham unchanged
Mo Salah returns to the Liverpool team after being manacled to the bench in Paris. Andy Robertson also starts, as do Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo and 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha. Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Joe Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch all drop to the bench.
Fulham haven’t played since a 3-1 win over Burnley on 21 March. Marco Silva has named an unchanged side, which means an exciting front four of Harry Wilson, Josh King, Oscar Bobb and Rodrigo Muniz.
Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Gakpo
Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Kirkez, Isak, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Ekitike, Gravenberch, Nyoni.
Fulham (4-2-3-1) Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Iwobi; Wilson, King, Bobb; Muniz.
Subs: Lecomte, Diop, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Lukic, Cairney, Smith Rowe, Chukwueze, Raul Jimenez.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Andy Hunter
Arne Slot has said last season’s title triumph “postponed” the end of an era at Liverpool but that the club were under no illusions a rebuild was required when appointing him as Jürgen Klopp’s successor.
Two more links to the Klopp era will be removed this summer when Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah leave on free transfers. Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and Joe Gomez, the remaining players from the squad that delivered Premier League and Champions League success to Anfield under Klopp, will then enter the final years of their contracts.
Slot is under intense pressure after a dismal season that has brought 16 defeats, a figure he knows is unacceptable. The head coach, however, insists he and the club hierarchy, including the sporting director, Richard Hughes, and the owner, Fenway Sports Group, remain aligned on the reasons for the problems, including an inevitable transition period after Klopp. The turmoil that accompanies transition, Slot believes, was delayed by last season’s Premier League title.
Preamble
Pop quiz, hotshot. Which of Liverpool’s next two games is more important: Fulham (H) or Paris Saint-Germain (H). It’s the Fulham game we’re covering today, so let’s try to hype that within an inch of its life make the case for that being the big one. It’s pretty simple: Liverpool have a 5-10 per cent of overcoming a 2-0 deficit against one of the greatest club sides in modern history, so they should prioritise qualifying for next year’s Ch£mpion$ League. Next stop, rocket science.
Liverpool have a tough Premier League run-in, including matches away to Everton, Man Utd and Aston Villa, and their home form will probably determine whether they finish in the top five. Even allowing for some good recent home form – Liverpool have scored 24 goals in the last seven games at Anfield – this is unlikely to be an easy night. Fulham can give any Premier League team a game, as they showed that last season when they took four points off a Liverpool side that romped to the title.
It’s too easy, when spring comes around, that Fulham are safely in mid-table and have nothing much to play for. Wrong! They started the day in ninth and have every chance of qualifying for Europe for the first time since 2011-12. They could even reach the Champions League: if they win today, they will be only two points behind Liverpool.
Kick off 5.30pm BST
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
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