Successive defeats at Anfield have piled the pressure on Klopp’s misfiring team when Championship side Wolves visit in the FA Cup fourth round on SaturdayThere was no disguising the EFL Cup mattered to Jürgen Klopp or that the momentum and cutting edge that propelled Liverpool until new year has vanished at a critical juncture. Wembley also disappeared from view on a painful night for Klopp’s team as Southampton executed their game-plan to perfection at Anfield. A job well done by Claude Puel, and a job done on Liverpool.Since victory at Burton Albion in the opening round, the Liverpool manager had made no secret of his ambition to reach the final and to go one better than last season’s penalty shoot-out...
The podders look back on mixed fortunes for Manchester United and Liverpool in the EFL Cup semis as the two prepare to meet at Old Trafford. Plus, Dmitri Payet goes to war with West Ham and Fifa’s plans to expand the World Cup Subscribe and review: iTunes, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast & Stitcher.AC Jimbo is back, and he’s joined for this sparkling edition of Football Weekly Extra by James Horncastle, Jacob Steinberg and Paul MacInnes. What could possibly go wrong? Continue reading...
The Frenchman’s side will defend a one-goal lead going into the EFL Cup second leg after making Liverpool look rather ordinary at St Mary’sThis was the opportune moment for Claude Puel and his Southampton team to make a statement. In the buildup to the match the Frenchman said how his players “had nothing to lose” and it was time for his team to back him up amid growing frustration at his defensive approach and his side’s poor form. Related: Nathan Redmond gives Southampton narrow edge against Liverpool Continue reading...
His manager Claude Puel has insisted he will come good but the 22-year-old needs to start delivering soon and the EFL Cup would be the perfect timeOne thing has been missing from Southampton’s rise over recent years and this season would be a fine time to change that. The club have won promotions and plaudits since 2011, playing their way stylishly from League One to the upper reaches of the Premier League while becoming a model of shrewd development, but they have yet to garnish that progress with major silverware. An EFL Cup triumph this season would put that right – and soften fears their progress is stalling.Victory in the 2010 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, a competition for lower league teams,...
Surpassing Sir Bobby Charlton has become a distraction in addition to making the Manchester United captain too easy to mark out of the game – as Hull City demonstrated in the EFL Cup semi-final first legMarco Silva would probably prefer to be picking up league points than examining the possibilities presented by cup football in England, though perhaps the Hull City manager should view his first two games as a honeymoon period.Quite an eventful one at that. Victory at the first time of asking in the FA Cup at the weekend may have been marred by a shortage of home fans – Hull supporters were staging a protest against the club owners – but this occasion was even weirder. First...