Virgil van Dijk insists playing behind an attack-minded midfield is all part of the spice of life for Liverpool s defenders.
Manager Jurgen Klopp used a new-look midfield three of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Fabinho in Wednesday s 4-1 Champions League win against Genk.
Keita made only his second start of the season while Oxlade-Chamberlain scored twice on his first appearance in the competition since April 2018.
Genk caused problems for Liverpool s backline in the first half when space opened up in the final third, and Van Dijk concedes there is room for improvement, but he feels the Reds performed securely enough at Luminus Arena.
3 points away from home!
Thank you to all of you travelling Reds!
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk)…
Central Coast Mariners sporting director Mike Phelan has reaffirmed his commitment to the A-League club despite taking on a temporary role as Manchester United first team coach.
Phelan, who played for United and served the club as a coach for several years under Alex Ferguson, has returned to Old Trafford as part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s backroom staff following the former favourite s appointment as interim manager.
But while Molde have confirmed they expect Solskjaer to head back to Norway as head coach at the end of the Premier League season, Phelan will continue his work in a senior position with the Mariners throughout the coming months.
Phelan admits his dual commitments may provide a small distraction , but he insists the Mariners can benefit from the link…
Adelaide United s Rini Coolen has been sacked as coach by the struggling club on Sunday, with Coolen replaced by former coach John Kosmina.
Adelaide are sitting in ninth on the table following an inconsistent start to the season that has seen them record just two wins, despite the club enjoying numerous home matches.
But last Friday night s 3-0 loss to last-placed Gold Coast was the final straw for Adelaide United management, with chairman Greg Griffin calling a hasty press conference early on Sunday afternoon to reveal the decision to replace Coolen with prodigal son Kosmina.
I ll be honest, it s pretty humbling the whole thing and probably emotional, Kosmina told FiveAA radio.
It s not often you get a second chance at things and I had my first chance…
Market: Halifax win
Odds: 11/10 @
Hoping to move within touching distance of the play-off places in midweek, Halifax will host Dorking on Tuesday night.
Starting with the hosts, putting in another gritty display over the weekend as they picked up a 1-0 win at home against Boreham Wood, there is no doubt that Halifax will be looking to build off of that success here. Despite watching their FA Cup adventure come to a shock end away at Ebbsfleet earlier in the month, Chris Millington s men have their sights set on claiming another play-off spot this season. Knowing that three points on Tuesday night would move them within striking distance of the top-seven, the Yorkshire-based outfit are enjoying a real National League purple patch. On a run that is highlighted by …
FIFA insists secretary general Jerome Valcke was not involved in the administration of a $10million payment outlined in last week s United States Department of Justice indictment.
US authorities allege the sum was paid as a bribe to secure the 2010 World Cup for South Africa, with the New York Times reporting Valcke was responsible for transferring the funds to CONCACAF then led by the indicted Jack Warner.
A FIFA statement read: In 2007, as part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the South African Government approved a USD 10m project to support the African diaspora in Caribbean countries as part of the World Cup legacy.
At the request of the South African Government, and in agreement with the South African Football Association (SAFA), FIFA was asked to pro…
Dinamo Zagreb star winger Daniel ‘Dani’ Olmo has emerged as one of the hottest European prospects.
The 20-year-old Spanish international moved to Croatia in a rather surprising move from Barcelona in 2014 and went on to become one of the key players for Dinamo Zagreb.
Four years after his debut with the first-team, Olmo is currently highly regarded as the next big thing in European football and has got a host of Europe’s biggest clubs on his trail.
The interest this boy generates is best illustrated through the fact that the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Manchester City, Juventus and Real Madrid, to name but a few, found it fitting to send their scouts for Dinamo Zagreb’s Europa League clash against Viktoria Plzen last week.
Eur…
Former Argentina international Hernan Crespo insisted disgruntled attacker Lionel Messi has been unfortunate not to have won a major trophy with the South American giants.
Messi dropped a bombshell following Argentina s shoot-out defeat to Chile in last month s Copa America Centenario decider, announcing his plan to retire from international football.
The 29-year-old and five-time Ballon d Or winner the nation s all-time leading goalscorer was visibly dejected post-match after missing a penalty as he suffered a fourth loss and third in succession in a major final with Argentina.
Regardless of whether or not Messi follows through in retiring, Crespo believes Argentina are on track to end their 23-year wait for a major title.
The Argentina national team is…
Jamie Maclaren scored a landmark goal as Melbourne City went four points clear at the top of the A-League with a clinical 3-1 win over lowly Newcastle Jets.
Captain Scott Jamieson and Maclaren, the league s leading scorer, added second-half strikes to an early own goal, before Steven Ugarkovic grabbed a late consolation for the league s bottom side.
The result means Melbourne City hold a comfortable lead over Sydney FC and Central Coast Mariners, who each have 31 points and have both played one more game than the leaders.
City edged ahead against Newcastle in the 32nd minute when Andrew Nabbout raced in from the left and shot across goal, with his strike taking a decisive deflection off Jets defender Johnny Koutroumbis on its way past goalkeeper Lewis Italiano.…
Defending champions Italy secured their place at Euro 2024 after a battling goalless draw with Ukraine.
The fixture, which was played at Bayer Leverkusen’s BayArena due to Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia in their homeland, was not short of chances, but Serhiy Rebrov’s men failed to find the winner they required to send them automatically through to next year’s tournament in Germany.
It means Ukraine must contest a play-off in March, while Italy boss Luciano Spalletti can reflect on a job well done after they clinched the point they needed to finished second behind England in Group C.
The equation was simple for both teams, but any hint of caution was thrown to the wind during an action-packed start with Viktor Tsygankov testing Gianluigi Donnarumma from…
After losing in the Wild Card Round to the 49ers, Mike McCarthy looks to make good on a promising young Dallas Cowboys roster in his third season as head coach.
Opposing tonight will be the Denver Broncos, who are looking to follow the last two Super Bowl winners by taking a promising, underperforming roster and catapulting it with a big-splash move at quarterback.
Before either team can begin that journey, they will open their preseason schedule against each other on Saturday.
Continue reading for free NFL picks for the Cowboys vs. Broncos on August 13.
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