Premier League – 2019/2020 » Liverpool – West Ham

Team News

Liverpool

  • Jordan Henderson picked up a hamstring injury against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night and is out for three weeks.
  • Sadio Mane was pulled off at half-time against Atletico over fears the Spanish side were trying to get him sent off. He will start against West Ham on Monday.
  • The likes of Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joel Matip will push for starting berths here.

Wolves fans free to dream of Europa glory – Nuno

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito
Santo understands why the club’s supporters are dreaming of Europa
League glory after their 4-0 win over Espanyol on Thursday but he says
nothing will be taken for granted in the return leg.

Diogo Jota
scored a hat-trick for the second consecutive game in the competition,
and Ruben Neves found the net with a long-range volley in a dominant
first-leg performance at Molineux Stadium.

Nuno’s Wolves are now fifth favourites with the bookmakers to win the Europa League.

Hazard return poses conundrum for Real as Clasico, City loom

Eden Hazard’s return should prove timely
ahead of a crucial week for Real Madrid, but fitting him into the team
may not be a simple task for Zinedine Zidane.

Real play at
Levante on Saturday at the start of an eight-day period that continues
at home to Manchester City in the Champions League and finishes against
Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Hazard made his first
appearance since November 27 versus Celta Vigo last weekend and
impressed, winning a penalty in the second half and offering hope he can
regain sharpness quicker than when he returned from injury in
September.

Barca sign Braithwaite outside transfer window

Barcelona have signed Denmark striker Martin Braithwaite from fellow
La Liga side Leganes for 18 million euros ($19.43 million) after
receiving permission from the league’s organising body to acquire a
player outside the transfer window.

The Spanish champions said in a
statement on Thursday they had paid the player’s release clause and he
will join the club until June 2024, with a buy-out clause of 300 million
euros.

Interesting stats from Wednesday’s UCL matches

Atalanta 4–1 Valencia
19 February 2020

– Atalanta have won three consecutive matches in European competition (excl. qualifiers) for the first time in their history.


Valencia have played more away Champions League knockout matches
without ever winning than any other side in the competition’s history
(P10 – D4 L6).


Valencia have lost three consecutive games against Italian opposition
in European competition for the first time since a run of four between
November 1990 and March 2000.

Guardiola takes swipe at Barca over Man City’s Euro ban

Pep Guardiola went to war with his former
club Barcelona on Wednesday as Manchester City’s manager defended his
current employers in the wake of their European ban.

Barca
president Josep Maria Bartomeu has “thanked” Uefa for banning City from
the Champions League and Europa League for two years, a shock sentence
handed out on Friday which the Premier League champions plan to appeal.

The Catalan club, where Guardiola remains a legend, have problems of their own after being accused of hiring a social media company to attempt to damage the reputations of figures such as the City boss and their own striker Lionel Messi.

Gomes ready to return against Arsenal – Ancelotti

Everton midfielder Andre Gomes, who suffered a horrific ankle injury
less than four months ago, is ready to feature in Sunday’s Premier
League match at Arsenal, manager Carlo Ancelotti has said.

The
Portugal international has been sidelined since November 3 when he
sustained a fracture dislocation of his right ankle against Tottenham
Hotspur.

Neymar criticises PSG injury handling after Dortmund defeat

Neymar has criticised Paris Saint-Germain’s
handling of his recent injury after scoring in the 2-1 defeat at
Borussia Dortmund, which leaves the French club facing the prospect of
another early Champions League exit.

After missing four games in
the last fortnight with a rib injury, the Brazilian superstar looked
short of match fitness in Tuesday’s last-16, first-leg, defeat at
Dortmund.

Norwegian goal-machine Erling Braut Haaland scored twice
to make him the Champions League joint top-scorer, but Neymar gave PSG a
lifeline for the second leg in Paris on March 11.

PSG still ‘dangerous’, warns record-breaker Haaland

Teenage record-breaker Erling Braut Haaland
warned Borussia Dortmund still have it all to do to reach the Champions
League quarterfinals even after his two goals sank Neymar’s Paris
Saint-Germain.

Haaland netted either side of a Neymar equaliser on
Tuesday as the Brazilian superstar scored on his return from injury as
the French champions crashed to a 2-1 defeat at Dortmund in the last 16,
first leg, tie.

“We want to go through, it’s going to be a hard
game,” Haaland said of the return leg in Paris on March 11, “but we are a
good team.