Adam Lallana: How important is the English talisman to Liverpool?

Liverpool certainly missed him at their 0-0 draw with Southampton, but how important is his loss to Jurgen Klopp's side?

Liverpool fans over the course of this season have become more and more impressed with Adam lallana as he finds himself one of the first names on Jurgen Klopp's team sheet for each game. In October last year, Lallana seemed to be a lost cause under Brendan Rodgers and seemed to be on his way out, but Klopp has changed the English talisman to be one of the most important players for Liverpool this season.

Lallana transformed under Klopp

When Jurgen Klopp was appointed Liverpool manager in October 2015, Adam Lallana became a big part of Klopp's plans for the upcoming season. Not only did he play a massive part in Liverpool's Europa League run last season, he secured The Red's victory at Anfield against Villarreal in the Europa League semi-final to send them to Basel for yet another European final. Exactly a year ago, Lallana helped Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino tear Manchester City's defence apart to help Liverpool to an historic 4-1 victory at the Etihad.

Over the course of last season, Adam Lallana's statistics were disappointing with just seven goals and seven assists in the Premier League and Europa League. However, this season, Lallana has scored three times and assisted his team mates five times in just 10 games this season. The stats are even more impressive as Klopp has moved Lallana into a more central midfield position alongside Jordan Henderson and Emre Can in a 4-3-3 formation. Not only is he contributing to Liverpool's incredible amount of goals, his passing accuracy has improved by almost 5% compared to last season.

Changing the game

After being forced off against Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Swansea, he became a big doubt against Manchester United. Despite being on the bench, Lallana changed the game, prompting faster flowing football at Anfield in the dull 0-0 draw in October. If Lallana perhaps played against Southampton, Liverpool fans highlighted the loss of the English midfielder, but missed chances cost Liverpool a big 3 points with a 0-0 draw on the south coast.

Jurgen Klopp has stated that Adam Lallana could be out for 2-3 games and will potentially miss Sunderland and Leeds at Anfield and Bournemouth away. Although it is still very early in the season, Lallana's absence could effect Liverpool's title aspirations.

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Pool boss claims aerial assault by United would show his plan is working

Liverpool v Manchester United, Sky Sports 1, tomorrow, 8.0

We have already started to stretch our players," Jurgen Klopp says, bringing laughter from his press room audience. The Liverpool manager is not responding to yet another question about the intensity of his training regimes, but considering how his side might cope with Manchester United's height advantage in tomorrow's north-west derby.

"Seriously, though, I would imagine that if United start putting their tall players in the box they will be fighting for the result, and for that to happen it must mean that something we did must have worked pretty well.

Click here to view full-size graphic

"We know about United's physical strength and we cannot do anything to change it, all we can do is try to avoid situations where they can use it.

"But we have strengths of our own and first we must concentrate on what we do well."

What Liverpool do well under Klopp is score goals. In the year since the German arrived in England, no Premier League team has scored more, and Liverpool went into the international break as joint top scorers this season, with league leaders Manchester City.

There may still be some defensive uncertainties, mostly surrounding the goalkeeping position and cover for the back-line, but going forward, Liverpool have some silky options.

Sadio Mane is already being described as one of the shrewdest signings of summer, even at a cost of £34 million, and before he picked up an injury, Adam Lallana was arguably the most improved player in the country.

Mane has three goals in six games for Liverpool and, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic has four in seven for United, the Swede was bought and is played as an out-and-out striker, whereas the former Southampton player operates from midfield.

Ibrahimovic has the height to trouble Liverpool in the air, and one imagines set-piece drills will be featuring heavily in Melwood training over the weekend, though Mane is just one of several home players with the pace and alertness to cause problems for United's defence.

A little hoarily, the former captain turned Sky pundit Phil Thompson is fond of likening the speed and surprise of Liverpool's attacking raids to a Red Arrows flying display.

Thompson has never been noted for impartiality, and he probably pinched the aerial motif from Claudio Ranieri's RAF imagery at Leicester anyway, but the point is that no-one is making any such extravagant claims for the speed and efficiency of United as an attacking unit.

Even if Wayne Rooney is left out to accommodate Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial, Ibrahimovic could not be described as a member of the jet set.

Klopp does not yet know whether Lallana will be fit for the United game, he has another doubt over Georginio Wijnaldum and has yet to discover whether Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino suffered any ill-effects on international duty with Brazil, but he is typically relaxed about the situation.

"It is the same for all teams when the internationals come along, so I cannot complain," he says. "At least in this instance we have a day extra to prepare, so at the weekend I will be able to see who is fit and begin to think of a team and a plan."

It is not quite the same for everyone, though. Klopp does not have to work out whether Rooney should feature in his attack, as Jose Mourinho does, and neither does he have to worry about what frame of mind his captain may be in after a week in which he lost his place in the England starting line-up.

The whole Rooney issue has been bothering United all season, ever since Mourinho, perhaps unwisely, insisted he would be using the player only as a striker, and as a result tomorrow's visitors to Anfield are still unsure about their best attacking line-up.

Klopp, in contrast, has acted with conviction, moving Christian Benteke out, keeping faith with Divock Origi, and bringing in Mane and Wijnaldum to act as a support cast for Daniel Sturridge.

Some Liverpool supporters expressed concern that a new striker was not brought in over the summer, though if Klopp had wanted a like-for-like replacement for Benteke, he would not have sold the Belgian to Crystal Palace in the first place.

It could be argued that Liverpool are placing too much reliance on Sturridge staying fit, a risky proposition given his record, though at this stage the statistics suggest Liverpool's multi-point attacking approach is working and the money raised from the sale of Benteke and Jordon Ibe has been well invested.

"I have the attacking options I want," Klopp says. "It's not about having to have the best players around anyway, it's about doing the best with what you have.

"Of course, I am pleased to have scored the most goals, even if I still remember most of the chances we missed. I am quite happy with the offensive part of our game, but even if we have scored a lot of goals, we still have to show we can score goals in the future."

Considering the differences between the sides ahead of tomorrow's clash, Klopp insists: "We don't feel we are in a good way and they are not, we only think about their quality, and they have big quality. If you have one second where you don't concentrate, you can lose the game in that second.

"That's just how it is. There's not a big difference between the teams."

There is quite a big difference in the two managers, though. They met only once last season, at Stamford Bridge when the Liverpool manager was still new to England, and with some focus on his approach from the sidelines, Klopp says: "I'm not as intense as I used to be when I was younger.

"Sometimes it still happens, but actually now at Anfield with the new stand there is much more space for all of us."

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Adam Lallana relishing his new deeper role in Liverpool's midfield

LIVERPOOL -- Adam Lallana says he is relishing his new deeper role in Liverpool's side, but still believes he will need time to fully adjust playing closer to his goal.

The England international took up a place in Liverpool's central midfield in the 4-3 win over Arsenal on Sunday, having been tested there frequently throughout the Reds' preseason.

Lallana has mostly been used as an attacking midfielder in his time at Anfield but thrived at the Emirates Stadium alongside summer signing Georginio Wijnaldum.

Lallana, 28, proved he was still a threat going forward by bursting into the penalty area to score Liverpool's second goal against the Gunners.

"I've enjoyed it," he told Liverpool's official website. "I feel like I'm still learning the role and I'll probably still be learning the role throughout the season -- you can always get better.

Adam Lallana scored his 10th Premier League goal for Liverpool in the win vs. Arsenal.

"But I've been watching different players that play in that position and it was great to play against Barcelona and some top teams in preseason to get good run-outs against them.

"I'm enjoying it and this is a squad full of great players. If you look around, there are a lot of players that can play in two or three positions, which definitely helps.

"It's a different role but one I'll embrace and I'll play wherever the manager wants me to play as long as it benefits the team."

Lallana, who is in his third season at Anfield, added: "[Jurgen Klopp] says a sign of a good game is having a lot of men in the box and I think if you look at my goal there are six players in the box and he highlighted that.

"That's how he wants us to play. It's attacking football but, as long as we get our protection right behind that, then why not? You've got more chance of scoring goals."

Almost racist tone of Raheem Sterling criticism is not football

The view of a disgruntled English journalist - how this scapegoating diminishes us all

Weak, shameful, craven, immature, shiftless, gloating. Let’s face it, the wider mainstream media response to England going out of the Euros really has been a disgrace to our once-brave nation.

What a grim spectacle the English are in defeat these days. And not just for the complex and thrillingly sustained layers of fury, innuendo and full-on bullshit. But for the loss of scale too. One of the best bits of being out of England when England go out is the clear evidence that in the wider world no one really cares. No tournament hopes are ever seriously built around expectations of a thrilling England team, no other nation’s enjoyment notably diminished by their departure.

We’re not the good guys. We’re not the main characters. We’re not even the main villains. We’re disposable patsies, third bad guy from the left behind Alan Rickman with a machine gun and power-ballad hair. Our role is to hang around and then die cinematically. And in this case England did exactly that by going out in fairytale and - let’s face it - very funny fashion. In at least one Parisian bar people were openly laughing during the Iceland game at every misplaced pass and wild shot, genuinely enjoying the spectacle.

Not so in England of course, where a familiar process is in train. There has been a change of tone here. Once it was enough to blame some external factor - referees, managers, Germans - for England’s failure to win. Now though it seems - for reasons of unhappiness, envy and indeterminate rage - it is necessary to blame and hound and aggressively belittle the players.

Roy got his of course, even before he’d turned up at his press conference looking like the final detainee in an extended supermarket hostage release saga, wild-eyed and skinny and frightened behind his plinth, looking like he’d spent the last six months eating tinned soup in a state of increasing dependence on his charismatic captors.

Roy was never going to be enough. It had to be the players too. There are three main routes of attack here. The first is outright spiteful muck-raking, the suggestion that defeat is a consequence of complete moral, personal and spiritual collapse. England’s players have already been convicted of, in no specific order, greed, yobbery, ornate plumbing, owning a telephone, wearing headphones, going to parties, being soft-skinned fancy-boys, having inappropriately attractive girlfriends, and generally revealing themselves to be overgrown men-child monsters.

Two days after defeat in Nice the Daily Mail’s London office published a hastily googled schedule of the full range of England player shame, from Adam Lallana’s Nivea deal (face cream wanker), to Tottenham’s Kyle Walker: excellent pro, family man and also (it says here) “hippy crack idiot”.

Plus of course it has been the usual open-season on Raheem Sterling, a decent, talented, rather jaded 21-year-old who really doesn’t deserve the rubbish thrown his way. As ever Sterling’s private life was snickeringly bullet-pointed, complete with the usual knowing, loaded sneers. Playboy. Had a kid at 17. Are you thinking what we’re thinking? The next day we learned, accompanied by much phoney outrage, about the house he’s bought his mother. In the same newspaper a picture of Sterling was used to illustrate a story about an unconnected drug dealer

It is important to remember it is not sports journalists doing this, almost all of whom will be privately appalled, but who will still get flak for what is a wider “news” agenda.

This is an awkward subject to write about, but the language deserves to be called out. Lavish ? flash ? blinged-up ? bragging ? crystal-encrusted ? brother ? baby ? the lights and shit ? the big daddy Rangey ? send him home ? rename the national team. You could jump to some conclusions here couldn’t you? I’ve no doubt this isn’t intended as “racist”. It isn’t that extreme. But if I feel a little creeped out by its tone and texture there’s no doubt others must too. Football at its best brings people together, dissolves division, suggests a kind of ideal meritocracy. This is not football at its best.

Not that Sterling is the first England player to be treated with hostility and eventually booed by his own fans. Either way division, acrimony, alienation, dog whistle sneering: as we’ve seen in the last week these are dangerous things.

So, bad, people then. But also weak people. Another despairing suggestion is that England’s players are part of the soft, moneyed academy generation and have therefore lost their basic self-reliance and toughness. Our brave roaring lions have been replaced by cowardly Wizard of Oz-style lions with fey speaking voices and flicky tails they twirl as they prance about performing song and dance numbers. Hence the meltdown in Nice, the inability to make hard decisions, bend the game their way. Too infantilised, too middle-class, too boarding-schooled. We don’t like it up us.

And yet the real point here is that none of this actually matters. I happen to think English footballers underachieve (very slightly) because the players have too little, not too much education. They don’t travel much. They don’t speak languages or study. In fact they’re not middle class enough. Like that small section of England’s fans, wherever they go it’s always a corner of England, flag wrapped around the cafe tables, unable to toast the bread, unable to understand the PA, frightened, sullen.

Again this is just my prejudice speaking, another narrative pulled out of the sky, just like the vile man-monster narrative and the cosseted matron-fetishist narrative. We are essentially shouting at ourselves here. Sport is won and lost on details, from which you might find a story that fits. Or in England’s case, a story that shifts blame from the almost overwhelming issue of our collective responsibility for how well or badly the national sport is run, an issue that takes in schools, public space, neoliberal economics, apathy, an entertainingly destructive league and a century of wider shared societal decisions.

In the end the players are us and we are them. Like ill-mannered parents enraged by their ill-mannered kids we stand there wondering why these normal, receptive human beings - not the best, but not the worst - play with such fear and angst in a knife-edge fine-detail knockout game ringed by hostile faces.

You get the players you deserve, that you can be bothered to make. Accepting this might not make them any better. But it would at least allow us to move away from a divisive and alienating aftermath. Mainly, though, lay off Raheem, eh? Defeat on the pitch is one thing. This kind of insistent, oddly pointed scapegoating diminishes us all.

Adam Lallana explains why Daniel Sturridge's England inclusion is a no-brainer

Sturridge finished as Liverpool's top scorer in all competitions despite injury struggles at the start of the season.

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana has said England taking Daniel Sturridge to Euro 2016 was a no-brainer, the Daily Mirror reports. 

There have been many worries about the fitness record of the Reds forward, who managed to finish as the club's top scorer in all competitions with 13 goals despite missing much of the first half of the season yet again through injury, following on from a campaign that was even more wretched.

From February onward Sturridge has been available for selection for all but one or two fixtures and managed to do enough to secure his place on the plane to France.

Lallana is quoted in the Daily Mirror talking up his teammate's qualities, saying: “Daniel finished the season very strongly and it’s no surprise that he is in the squad. Sturridge can change a game on its head.

“He is that talented, that gifted, and he’s been fit for the last few months. It was probably a no-brainer to take him.

“That goal in the Europa final sums him up. Out of nothing he can produce a moment of brilliance – that is exactly why he needs to be in and around the England team because he can do something like that and win you a game.”

Certainly Sturridge has the talent to score that crucial goal that could win the game for his side. One strength England do have is their strikers with both Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy scoring in excess of 20 goals in the Premier League this season, and two forwards that are capable of breaking 20 goals a year in Sturridge and Wayne Rooney. 

A lot has been said about both Sturridge's ability to score important goals and his injury record, but having someone with that capability in your squad - whether he is starting or on the bench - can be a huge boost to the rest of the squad knowing that there is someone else who can win a game for the side.

Will Sturridge have a positive impact for England at Euro 2016?

Adam Lallana ready for England challenge at Euro 2016

England flew to France on Monday ahead of Euro 2016 with expectations dampened despite having won all three of their warm-up games and boasting a 100 per cent record in qualifying.

Roy Hodgson has lost just seven of his 52 games in charge of the Three Lions, but the 68-year-old arrives at his third major tournament under pressure after a disastrous World Cup in 2014, when England finished bottom of Group D with a solitary point.

Hodgson's 23-man squad make the journey to their Chantilly training base amid uncertainty over how they will approach their Group B opener with Russia in Marseille, with the former Liverpool boss torn between two formations, his favoured 4-2-3-1 and a midfield diamond, accommodating Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy.

All three started for the first time against Portugal at Wembley last Thursday, but after a drab 78 minutes the trio were promptly hooked.

Chris Smalling's glancing header four minutes from time was enough to spare their blushes, but the exercise seemingly raised more questions than answers. Substitute Raheem Sterling provided an inch-perfect cross for the Manchester United defender and it was his introduction alongside Jack Wilshere and Adam Lallana that flickered England into life underneath the arch.

Lallana will be hoping to register his first international goal in France after receiving his new PUMA evoSPEED II SL Leather Tricks boots for the tournament on Friday morning in his hotel room, which was walking distance from a cloudy Bournemouth sea front.

"It's always exciting wearing two different coloured boots," he said. "It might not be everybody's cup of tea but it's something different and I can't wait to start wearing them."

"We've had three great results," said Lallana. "You want to get in the winning habit and have a winning mentality.

"In every game we feel we could have played better, but it's not always about performance. Against Russia I'll take a bad performance and a win."

It will be Lallana's first appearance at a European Championships after making his international debut in 2013 in a 2-0 defeat to Chile, and he has been highlighted by former Barcelona playmaker Xavi as the key player if England are to go all the way to the final.

The winger began his career with Southampton after being spotted playing for Bournemouth's centre of excellence but regularly returns to his hometown on the south coast to visit his family. Accompanied by his three-year-old son, Arthur, who was busy kicking a football at the wall and running up and down the corridors dressed in a full England kit, Lallana insisted the squad will be ready come June 11.

"All the team's focus will be on Russia now," he told Sky Sports News HQ.

"It's the first game, you don't want to lose your first match and it's important we get off to a good start and build from there. I think it's important to treat it as much of a normal game as you can.

"There's always going to be hype but if we concentrate on our football and don't get too caught up in the emotion and what comes with it then I'm sure we'll be fine.

"There are three games and I'm sure six or seven points will definitely get you qualified. I think you just have to take it a game at a time.

"Obviously there is going to be a lot of hype and expectation about England doing well but as a player you just have to keep focused on the job in hand."

It will be England's youngest squad at a European Championships and second youngest at a major tournament after the 1958 World Cup, with an average age of just 25.8 years. On that occasion, Sir Walter Winterbottom's young side suffered an early exit after a 1-0 defeat to the Soviet Union saw England eliminated following three consecutive draws.

While Hodgson has been criticised for selecting three central defenders in his squad, with Tottenham's Eric Dier likely to fill in at the back if required, Lallana insists it's not a case of square pegs in round holes.

"We've got the balance of a young, fearless team with a good blend of experience as well," he said. "It's great to be versatile and we've got different options or plans that we can switch to.

"I think it's good there is an element of surprise so the opposition don't know what we're doing. I think that's a massive positive going into the tournament.

"We're not just going to have 11 players that are going to feature, if we are going to do well then you need the whole 23.

"The manager stressed that, so regardless of what team he picks for each game and what happens, suspension and injury-wise, you could find yourself not playing a minute in the first three games and playing in a big match towards the end of the tournament.

"Whatever team the manager selects, everyone will be behind him and behind the team to keep doing well."

Hodgson's squad announcement was met with scepticism from some, particularly the omission of midfielder Danny Drinkwater, who was instrumental in Leicester's charge to a first Premier League title.

In-form Newcastle winger Andros Townsend also missed out alongside Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph, as Hodgson opted for reinforcements in attack, with Manchester United youngster Marcus Rashford favoured alongside Daniel Sturridge, Vardy, Kane and Rooney.

"Roy has stressed that it wasn't an easy decision for him and the lads have taken it very well and wished us all the best and I'm sure that anyone who missed out would have done the same," said Lallana.

"We're a team and we knew throughout the course of the season there will be players playing, like Fabian [Delph] for example, who didn't make the squad but had a big impact in qualification so it's part and parcel of football."

Following the emergence of Vardy this season - who fired Leicester to the Premier League title with 24 goals - it remains unclear what formation Hodgson will choose against Russia.

Vardy has been utilised on the left on the international stage, at Lallana's expense of late, and the addition of 18-year-old striker Rashford alongside Sturridge will give Hodgson plenty of ammunition in France.

"It's remarkable to think three or four months ago he hadn't played a minute in the first team," said the Liverpool winger of Rashford.

"He looks at home with us training day-in day-out, he looks as if he has been there for years.

"It doesn't seem to have affected him and he's got such a mature head on such young shoulders and I think that's a big reason Roy selected him."

Rashford only made his United debut in February but went on to register eight goals in 18 appearances before scoring after just three minutes of his international bow in a dream debut against Australia at the Stadium of Light.

"It brings an element of freshness to the squad, it's very exciting," Lallana added.

"We've got a blend of young lads with experience that are fearless and haven't played at a major tournament like Dele Alli and Rashford.

"A lot of players are playing off the back of a great season, look at Vardy and Kane and all the goals they have scored. It's very exciting a Roy has got a lot of options."

At 28, Lallana is one of the senior members of the England set-up and made a total of 48 appearances for Jurgen Klopp's side, scoring eight goals.

It was a campaign of mixed emotion for the German during his first season on Merseyside, finishing eighth in the Premier League and suffering penalty heartache to Manchester City in the Capital One Cup final, plus defeat in the Europa League final to Sevilla.

"I've enjoyed the season," said Lallana. "There have been plenty of good moments and a couple of disappointing ones in losing two cup finals. But I feel like I've learned a lot and hopefully I can take that into the Euros.

Lallana is one of five Liverpool players in the squad alongside Nathaniel Clyne, James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Sturridge.

"We've played for England together on numerous occasions so it's quite easy to switch from club mode to international mode," he added.

"Sometimes it's what you need, you want a change of scenery and personnel and that's what you get in international football, which can be a good thing."

Sturridge has only featured for his country for 58 minutes since September 2014, but his inclusion was cemented after he proved his fitness after a calf injury, and Lallana is confident his team-mate can play an integral role.

"Sturridge was hitting great form towards the end of the season and scored some vital goals for us," said Lallana.

"He was always going to make the squad if he was fit; he brings something nobody else has got. He can change the game with a moment of class and I'm really excited he is fit and raring to go."

It remains to be seen whether Hodgson will unleash his dynamic young squad or assume a more pragmatic approach.

Either way, Lallana will be hoping to announce his arrival on the international scene after a bittersweet season at Anfield.

PREMIER LEAGUE REVIEW WEEK 35 (PART 2): SAKHO FAILS DRUG TEST; ULLOA BRACE; SUNDERLAND JOY

In this week’s Premier League review Mamadou Sakho is in hot water after failing a drugs test, Leicester shows that they’re not a one-man ‘Jamie Vardy’ band, and Sunderland climb out of the bottom three.

How on earth are Leicester City sitting at the top of the Premier League?

It will be the subject of Ted Talks, business seminars, and even Hollywood movies.

I don’t know all of the secrets, but I do know one. Claudio Ranieri, the man the English media christened ‘Tinkerman’ during his time at Chelsea, has hardly had to field a changed side.

All that went to pot this weekend after Jamie Vardy watched his team from the stands after being sent off in the draw at against West Ham.

Was Leicester City a one-man ‘Jamie Vardy’ band?

Leicester came into the tie knowing that a win would put them eight points clear of Spurs and place the pressure right back on the crew from White Hart Lane as they prepared to face West Brom on Monday night. There are only 12 points left to play for.

If Leicester City does win the Premier League, it will hit the British bookies for £10m. Betfred owner Fred Done has already paid out £1.1m in Leicester Premier League winning bets. Ladbrokes are looking down the barrel of a £3m pain in the head after 47 people thought Leicester were worth a shot at pre-season odds of 5,000-1. They are currently 1/5 at Bodog.

With Vardy requiring a pair of binoculars to watch this one, it was down to Leonardo Ulloa to fill in and fill in he did. The Argentine scored twice in the 30th and 60th minute, either side of a 10th minute Riyad Mahrez opener, and an 85th minute Marc Albrighton sealer.

The victory means Leicester are now guaranteed second place. But they aren’t going to be happy with that; not now. They have come too far. Four more games to go and the fairytale will be complete.

And, no, they are not a one man ‘Jamie Vardy’ band.

Sunderland Climb Out of the Bottom Three; Mamadou Sakho Fails Drugs Test

Having scored two goals in the past fortnight, you would have expected Mamadou Sakho to have been a dead cert to start their Premier League match against Newcastle.

He was nowhere to be seen.

With Liverpool preparing to face Villareal in a two-legged Europa League Semi-Final that will make or break Jurgen Klopp’s first season in charge, the last thing he needed was a scandal, but that’s what’s been dumped on his lap after the French centre-half failed a drugs test.

The 26-year old was tested by UEFA officials after Liverpool’s triumph over Man Utd in an earlier round of the Europa League on 17 March. His yellow stuff contained some naughty boy stuff. He has until Tuesday to complete a ‘B’ sample. BBC Radio 5 Live Senior Football Reporter Ian Dennis is quoted as saying that Sakho failed for a type of fat burner.

His Liverpool teammate Kolo Toure was handed a 10-month ban when playing for Man City after being found guilty of a similar mishap. If Sakho receives the same punishment, he won’t just miss that Europa League Semi Final but the Euro 2016 Championships.

After 30-minutes of their game against Newcastle, it didn’t look like they would miss the big Frenchman. Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana scoring one a piece to take Liverpool into the half time interval in a commanding position.

It wasn’t the return to Anfield that former boss Rafa Benitez was hoping for. And maybe the fire in his belly that comes with playing against a former club roared out of his mouth during the half-time team talk. Something changed. Newcastle, who were on a nine-match losing streak away from St James Park, managed to find goals through Papiss Cisse and Jack Colback to come away with another vital point. It was a draw that ended Liverpool’s run of four consecutive wins in all competitions.

With Newcastle drawing at Anfield, Sunderland knew that a point at Arsenal would be enough to see them clamber out of the bottom three on goal difference.

Big Sam Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League, and he knew victory in the remaining five games would ensure that sterling run would continue. They came into the match on a high after trouncing Norwich 3-0 but were acutely aware that it was their first victory in seven games despite some valiant performances.

In the end, a goalless draw will be viewed as a win for Big Sam and his Sunderland side. Arsenal may be stuttering, but they are still a formidable outfit. Jack Wilshere managed to get six minutes on the park, his first since last season’s FA Cup Final.

Champions League Watch

Man Utd now have Arsenal in their crosshairs after their neighbours Man City handed out a third four-goal hammering in a row for Mark Hughes’s Stoke side. The victory lifts them into third place on goal difference, five points clear of Man Utd (although the FA Cup finalists have a game in hand).

It was a time for youth to shine as Kelechi Iheanacho scored twice, and was the man hacked down by Ryan Shawcross in the box allowing Sergio Aguero to score his 23rd Premier League goal of the season. He is now one behind Harry Kane in the chase for the golden boot. Brazilian midfielder Fernando scored the other goal as Man City head into their Champions League clash against Real Madrid in fine form.

Here are the rest of the results:

Results

Man City 4 v 0 Stoke

Aston Villa 2 v 4 Southampton

Bournemouth 1 v 4 Chelsea

Liverpool 2 v 2 Newcastle

Sunderland 0 v 0 Arsenal

Leicester 4 v 0 Swansea

To Be Played (Mon 25 Apr)

Spurs v West Brom

Premier League Title Winning Odds (Courtesy of Bodog)

Leicester -500

Spurs +325

Premier League Standings

1st. Leicester – 76 pts.

2nd. Spurs – 68 pts.

3rd. Man City – 64 pts.

4th. Arsenal – 64 pts.

5th. Man Utd – 59 pts.

6th. West Ham – 56 pts.

7th. Liverpool – 55 pts

8th. Southampton – 54 pts.

9th. Chelsea – 47 pts.

10th. Stoke – 47 pts.

11th. Everton – 41 pts.

12th. Watford – 41 pts.

13th. Bournemouth – 41 pts.

14th. West Brom – 40 pts.

15th. Swansea – 40 pts.

16th. Crystal Palace – 39 pts.

17th. Sunderland – 31 pts.

18th. Norwich – 31 pts.

19th. Newcastle – 30 pts.

20th. Aston Villa  – 16 pts.