Buoyed by their Champions League victory at Real Madrid in midweek, Liverpool this weekend have a chance to breathe new life into a Premier League title battle that most pundits have already awarded to Manchester United.
With United otherwise engaged by a League Cup final date with Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow, the Reds have the chance to cut the champions’ lead at the top of the table back to four points, provided they can collect three on their trip to Middlesbrough.
Recent history suggests that may be a tall order for Rafael Benitez’s men — Liverpool have not won at the Riverside under the Spaniard — but there is no doubt that morale in their camp has been greatly bolstered by the relative ease with which they secured a precious away win at the Bernabeu.
Benitez’s attempts to quash speculation that he is set to leave the club have also lifted spirits, even if some of his ambiguous comments have only served to further encourage the rumors that prompted bookmakers to stop taking bets on him quitting before the end of this month.
Benitez is due to hold further contract talks with Liverpool’s American owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, in the aftermath of the Boro clash, although the Spaniard’s players appear far from convinced that the uncertainty over his future will be resolved by him signing a new long-term deal.
“I cannot say what is going to happen, but with him Liverpool is doing a great job,” Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano said. “If we want to keep going in the Champions League and Premier League it is important to have him with us.”
On the pitch, Liverpool are equally dependent on the combined talents of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, both of whom may not feature at Boro because of foot and hamstring injuries respectively. Gerrard appeared for the final few minutes in Madrid, but Liverpool’s medical staff remain concerned about the risk of him suffering a more serious setback than the one that has kept him sidelined for the last three weeks.
Elsewhere, Chelsea will be hoping Guus Hiddink’s revitalizing impact will carry them to a third successive win under his stewardship at the expense of Steve Bruce’s Wigan Athletic, the visitors to Stamford Bridge today.
Hiddink’s arrival as a temporary coach has had a particularly galvanizing impact on Didier Drogba and the Dutchman will be hoping for more of the same from the Ivorian striker after his match-winning display against Juventus in midweek.
Today’s curtailed program also sees Everton take on bottom side West Bromwich Albion, while Arsenal, like Chelsea, will be hoping for a European spillover effect following their 1-0 defeat of Roma on Tuesday.
Arsene Wenger’s side remain six points outside the top four, but a home clash with Fulham offers an opportunity to pile the pressure on to faltering Aston Villa, the side they must overhaul to secure a return to the Champions League next season.
Villa’s 2-0 UEFA Cup defeat by CSKA Moscow in midweek — albeit with a very weakened side — means they have now gone four matches without a win in all competitions and failure to overcome struggling Stoke City tomorrow is likely to have a highly demoralizing impact.
Tomorrow also sees Craig Bellamy return to his former club West Ham United with Manchester City, while Bolton Wanderers entertain Newcastle United in a battle of two teams desperately trying to retain a margin for error between themselves and the relegation zone.
Hull City will also find themselves right in the heart of the survival battle if they slip up at home to Blackburn Rovers tomorrow.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set