Stories By Graham Ruthven
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Sport
Klopp excuses wearing thin after defeat to City
Cold feet. That’s what Jurgen Klopp said might have caused Alisson Becker to gift Manchester City two goals in Sunday’s damaging Premier League defeat for Liverpool. “It sounds funny but could be,” the German coach added, blurring the line between what may have been a throwaway wisecrack or a sincere excuse.
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Sport
Scale of financial trouble at Barcelona revealed by Messi contract leak
No other context was required. The number was the headline as the front page of Sunday’s edition of Spanish newspaper El Mundo revealed the true worth of the contract which Barcelona have been paying Lionel Messi – €555,237,619.
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Sport
Mo Salah is quietly scoring loads of Premier League goals
Not since 2005 had Liverpool gone four Premier League games without finding the back of the net. While the Reds’ defence had been decimated by injuries, it was their attack letting them down as they suffered defeats to Burnley and Southampton and dropped points to Manchester United and Newcastle United.
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Sport
Klopp facing Trent Alexander-Arnold dilemma
In these Covid-19 times the silence at Premier League stadiums reveals a lot. This includes just how unhappy Jurgen Klopp was with Trent Alexander-Arnold in the first half of Liverpool’s goalless home draw to Manchester United, with the German lambasting the England international over his poor positioning.
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Sport
Which England midfielders could play in Euro 2020?
Gareth Southgate had little choice but to adopt a counter-attacking style for the 2018 World Cup. England just didn’t have the players to control a game against the strongest opponents and this was exposed in the semi-final defeat to Croatia when the Three Lions had their roar muffled by the masterful Luka Modric.
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Sport
Is Ilkay Gundogan Manchester City’s unsung hero?
If Manchester City go on to win the Premier League title this season, Kevin de Bruyne will likely be hailed as the player to drive them there. The Belgian is, after all, the most influential player at the Etihad Stadium.
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Sport
Gareth Bale hasn’t lived up to his Tottenham billing
Gareth Bale might not have been afforded the ticker-tape homecoming in front of a packed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium he surely would have have received in normal, non-Covid-19 times, but the excitement around the Welshman’s return to North London could still be felt last summer.
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Sport
City must sign Erling Haaland to replace Sergio Aguero
No player defines the Sheikh Mansour era at Manchester City like Sergio Aguero. The Argentine striker’s £38 million signing from Atletico Madrid a decade ago was a statement of intent from the new owners and Aguero delivered on that intent by scoring the goal that famously secured the club’s first Premier League trophy.
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Sport
Championship stars in demand for January transfer window
It is one of football’s well-worn truths that January is a challenging time to find value in the transfer window. Clubs are generally unwilling to let go of their best players midway through the season and so the majority of moves concluded at this time tend to be loan deals and short-term solutions.
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Sport
Could Christian Eriksen be heading back to the Premier League?
It was only a year ago that hundreds of Inter fans gathered at the club’s headquarters to welcome Christian Eriksen. The signing of the Danish playmaker from Tottenham Hotspur was seen as something of a coup for the Nerazzurri at the time.
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Sport
Could Eric Bailly be the key to a title push for Manchester United?
His name was nowhere to be seen on the score sheet, but Eric Bailly did more than anyone else to secure three points for Manchester United against Aston Villa last week. In what felt like a pivotal match for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men, it was the Ivorian defender who proved the biggest difference between the two teams.
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