Liverpool will visit Blackpool today determined to erase memories of their sensational loss to a club who were widely tipped as relegation certainties.
Ian Holloway’s side were written off before a ball was kicked at Anfield back in October but goals from Charlie Adam and Luke Varney helped the Tangerines to a famous and well-deserved win over their north-west rivals.
That was the lowest moment of Roy Hodgson’s managerial tenure with the Reds and he is still reminded of it constantly, despite Liverpool having improved considerably since then.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“That defeat was a bad result, especially with it being at home and we want to prove we can do better and win this game,” Liverpool striker David Ngog said.
“The team wasn’t so confident and we didn’t play very well but I think we are a different team now,” he said. “We are a lot better and more confident and we hope we can show that on Boxing Day [today].”
Liverpool may be ninth in the Premier League table but they are only ahead of Blackpool on goal difference and Ngog added: “Blackpool have done really well this season. They have played some good football and they have shown they can surprise any team on their day.”
Liverpool will be able to call on Steven Gerrard and Daniel Agger, who have recovered from hamstring and calf injuries respectively, and the Reds will need them if they are continue on the slow path to recovery after their worse opening to a season for 57 years.
Yet despite that, Hodgson has not entirely given up his hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
“We are in a position to strike for the top four but we are a good few [nine] points off,” Hodgson said. “Some people would say it is pie in the sky to suggest we can do it but I don’t think there is.”
Blackpool’s win over Liverpool was one of the highlights of the season so far, with Holloway’s side continuing to defy expectations as they remain the “feel-good” story of the year in English soccer.
“It’s the best any side I’ve ever had have played I think,” Holloway told www.blackpoolfc.co.uk as he recalled that victory at Anfield.
“I’ll never forget the following morning when I woke up and thought ‘I’ve just been to Anfield, I’ve heard their crowd sing that wonderful song ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ — which was my dad’s favorite — and we actually beat them,” he said.
“Now we are starting to believe that we deserve those types of performances and results, so long may it continue,” Holloway said.
For Blackpool, Matt Gilks, Chris Basham, Billy Clarke (all knee), Marlon Harewood (hamstring) and Louis Almond (shoulder) remain sidelined by injury while Jay Spearing (ankle) and Jamie Carragher (shoulder) will both be missing for Liverpool.
The Tangerines will hold a pitch inspection three hours before the scheduled 3pm kick-off as their Bloomfield Road ground, which does not have undersoil heating, could yet fall victim to the cold weather currently engulfing Britain.
BOUNCE BACK: Curry scored 46 points in the Warriors’ victory over the Spurs, after ‘everybody stepped up’ following Tuesday’s blowout loss to Oklahoma City Nikola Jokic scoring 50 or more points had never been enough for the Denver Nuggets to win — until now. Jokic on Wednesday night tied the highest-scoring performance in the NBA this season with 55 points, as the Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 for their sixth straight victory. The Nuggets were 0-4 in his previous 50-point outbursts. “It’s a good feeling,” the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player said. He equaled Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 55 in a double-overtime game at the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 23. Jokic has been on a roll during Denver’s winning streak. He is the
TIGHT GAME: The Detroit Pistons, the NBA’s second-best team, barely outlasted the Washington Wizards, who fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss Cade Cunningham’s triple double, Daniss Jenkins’ three-pointer at the buzzer and Javonte Green’s overtime dunk lifted Detroit past Washington 137-135 on Monday, stretching the Pistons’ win streak to seven games. In an unexpected thriller, the NBA’s second-best team barely outlasted a Wizards club that fell to an NBA-worst 1-10 with their ninth consecutive loss. “We knew how big this game was for us,” Jenkins said. “We wasn’t going to let nothing stop us from getting this W.” Cunningham made 14-of-45 shots and 16-of-18 free throws for a career-high 46 points, and added 12 rebounds, 11 assists, five steals and two
LIKE FINE WINE: Thirty-eight-year-old Djokovic won his 101st title of his career in Athens, becoming the oldest tournament winner since Ken Roswell, 44, in 1977 Elena Rybakina on Saturday clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022, defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. The world No. 6 put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy. Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record US$5.235 million and would finish the year ranked No. 5 in the world. “It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far,
The tri-nation Twenty20 international series featuring hosts Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, is to be played entirely in Rawalpindi from Tuesday next week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said yesterday, after this week’s suicide bombing in the capital, Islamabad. The change came after at least eight Sri Lankan players asked to leave over security fears following Tuesday’s bombing that killed 12 people and wounded 27. Their country’s cricket board issued a stern directive to the team to stay put or face consequences. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said the decision to stay was taken after “close consultations” with hosts Pakistan who
RSS