Newcastle demand FA punish Manchester City's Nigel de Jong
Club wants Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong to pay for the challenge that broke Hatem Ben Arfa's left leg in two places. telegraph.co.uk |
Newcastle demand De Jong action
Newcastle United have demanded that the FA take action against Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong over the horror tackle which left Hatem Ben Arfa with a broken leg. foxsports.com.au |
Chelsea captain John Terry overcomes demons after victory in Moscow
John Terry inspired Chelsea to 2-0 win over Spartak Moscow in same stadium he suffered Champions League heartache. telegraph.co.uk |
Canada jumps to No. 83 in FIFA rankings
Canada jumped five places to No. 83 in the latest FIFA rankings released Wednesday. cbc.ca |
Napoli v Liverpool – live!
• Hit F5 for updates or turn on autorefresh• Follow all tonight's live scores• Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk30 min: Lavezzi has been Napoli's best player. He again finds space behind the full-back down their right, Paul Konchesky's wing, but skies a dreadful cross into the stand behind the goal.29 min: Skrtel is booked for clipping Lavezzi as the Napoli man skittered down the right. The free kick is wasted.28 min: Another brief spell of passing from Liverpool in the Napoli half. Shelvey, Spearing and Jovanovic all knock it around. Poulsen thankfully doesn't get involved. When Babel tries a shimmy down the left, the ball's lost. The whistling continues. If I had a third eardrum, that one would be in tatters too.27 min: Cavani tries to Alonso it over Reina from the halfway line. He's not that far away, the ball sailing a couple of feet over the crossbar, but Reina had it covered.26 min: Another corner for Napoli down the right. Shelvey is the man hacking clear at the near post. It's a one-man show for Liverpool this, so far. "If Roy Hodgson does indeed get the sack, how long will we have to wait for an Englishman to take over another top 10 club?" wonders Jacob Geiger. "Three years? Five? I am assuming of course that Blackburn would never let Sam Allardyce walk away, since he is the self-proclaimed finest manager in football."23 min: Shelvey looks like a player. With Napoli on the attack, Jovanovic robs the ball down the right and tears forward. Nobody keeps up with him, apart from Shelvey who manages to get right up on Napoli's last defender and demand a through-ball so he can break clear. But Jovanovic's pass is wayward and the move breaks down. A decent looking break, that, for a while at least.22 min: Another set piece from the left, this time with better delivery from Shelvey. Skrtel gets his head on the ball at the far post, but only the tippy-top of it, and the ball clips out of play.20 min: A free kick down the other end on the left wing. Liverpool pile into the box, but Shelvey overhits his delivery and the ball sails out of play. "Not that I particularly care about it but I would think that the obvious solution to Scott W's dilemma is to fire Roy and hire a manager that gets the best out of his best players, not his second-string," Simon Thomas. "Unless that is part of the grand plan – sell Torres and Hollywood, pocket the cash but still improve on last year's league position (although in front of an empty stadium)."19 min: Lavezzi cuts inside from the left, Maradonas past Spearing, and hoicks a shot over the bar from 25 yards. Napoli are beginning to look dangerous.17 min: Dossena tears down the left and delivers a deep cross that Konchesky has to head over on the right. From the corner, Maggio scuffs a shot from the penalty spot that's heading wide right, Cavani attempts to direct a header into the top left, and Lavezzi skews a shot into the air. Liverpool were all over the place at the back there.15 min: Babel goes dancing down the wing. Unfortunately for Liverpool he's going the wrong way. Konckesky eventually hacks clear with Maggio and Lavezzi zoning in.13 min: A further spell of passing in the middle of the park for Liverpool. A solid start from the young midfielders Shelvey and Spearing, without much having been achieved up front. "Another sign of positivity is hearing the words 'and Dossena loses possession' and no longer have to get annoyed about it," writes Ian Copestake.10 min: A peach of a pass by Jovanovic from a central position, down the inside-left channel to set Babel free in the area. Babel dozily miscontrols and nearly runs the ball out of play, the chance of a shot and the danger both evaporating. Gareth Bale would have buried that in the bottom right-hand corner.9 min: More possession for Liverpool in the centre of the park. Ach, the whistling. My other eardrum's gone now. A life of deafness stretches out ahead of me. Still, I can't hear Peter Drury any more, so swings and roundabouts.6 min: Liverpool are exposed down both wings. First the Napoli left, Dossena shanking a shot in the trademark style. (Napoli haven't scored three yet.) Then Konchesky makes a terrible ricket of a turn on the other wing, Cavani breaking clear down the right and delivering a dreadful cross.4 min: Now it's Napoli's turn to stroke it around awhile. Like their guests, the hosts go absolutely nowhere. "Your Six-Millionth Email About Roy Hodgson," is the subject heading of my second email about Roy Hodgson, from Scott W. "Just thought I'd test out a pub-honed theory regarding Roy Hodgson's Liverpool tenure on the bigger stage of the MBM. My theory is that Roy does better with these so-called 'depleted line-ups' than with his full complement of stars. A certain amount of fuss has been made regarding Roy's training schedules, a common line being that they are not sophisticated enough for such glittering personalities of the game as Daniel Agger, Dirk Kuyt, etc. But an alternative line suggests itself: what if the level of sacrifice and teamwork Hodgson demands is simply beyond Gerrard, Torres and co.? What if Agger, Gerrard and Torres are merely so many Jimmy Bullards, whereas Hodgson burned down barns at Fulham by ekeing the best out of the likes of Etuhu and Konchesky? What I'm saying is that, under Hodgson, Liverpool pose more of a threat with Ngog, Spearing and Kelly in their starting XI, than they do with Torres, Gerrard and Cole." England Internationals Who Are Not Quite As Good As They Think They Are in Not Listening Or Doing What They're Told shock? Who'd have thought?2 min: A bit of possession for Liverpool, who stroke it around awhile. Kelly curls a low cross into the area from the right, but there's no red shirt in the box. The whistling when Liverpool have the ball is so loud I'm an eardrum down already.And we're off! There's a rare old atmosphere at the Stadio San Paolo, as you'd imagine. Napoli, in their trademark powder-blue tops and white shorts, get the party started. "Does Ferguson have some compromising pictures of Roy?" wonders Phil Sawyer. "Or has he simply threatened to send Big Sam round if Roy doesn't accede to his every whim?" Send him round to do what? Bore him with Opta stats?A season's first! Some vaguely positive noises from Roy Hodgson. Would a defeat here be acceptable, he's asked by ITV. "Well you don't want to lose, but the fact is, playing three games in a week impacts upon the game at the weekend, and I had to prioritise. That's the one we need to win. But there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to trust these players." All fair enough. He also delivered some strident big talk regarding 19-year-old Shelvey's ability. "I've thrown him in at the deep end but I expect him to cope ... he can do some of the things Steven Gerrard does." Now all he needs to do is take a wild-eyed pop at Fergie later, maybe even pop round his house and ask him if he would like to have a fight, and most of his previous crimes will be forgiven.Kick off: 6pm.Referee: Thorsten Kinhofer (Germany).Liverpool, featuring Paul Konckesky: Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Skrtel, Konchesky, Jovanovic, Poulsen, Spearing, Babel, Shelvey, Ngog.Subs: Jones, Aurelio, Cole, Kyrgiakos, Maxi, Wilson, Eccleston.How Liverpool must wish for an Andrea Dossena now: De Sanctis, Campagnaro, Cannavaro, Aronica, Maggio, Pazienza, Gargano, Dossena, Hamsik, Lavezzi, Cavani.Subs: Iezzo, Grava, Dumitru, Zuniga, Yebda, Cribari, Sosa.Anyway, his reign's not over yet, despite what the jungle drums say, so here's his first chance of redemption after a bad week. It's hardly a must-win game - Liverpool already have four points in this group - but a good performance is a must, or Merseyside will surely self-combust. Even from a weakened team featuring Christian 0/6 Poulsen.He's not helping himself, though, is he. It's all well and good trying to suggest Liverpool's non-performance in last weekend's Merseyside derby was up there with their 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest in 1988 - that merely marks him down as another of those tiresome "technical" coaches who talk a good game and are "well-regarded" within it, an Andy Roxburgh without the tartan scarf. But the refusal to warn Manchester United off Fernando Torres was something else. Come on, Roy, your paying customers are the Liverpool fans. You've got to perform for them, not Alex Ferguson or the rest of the LMA. Say he's leaving over your dead body, even if you don't believe it. That's what the people want to hear. It's not rocket science.Welcome to coverage of Roy Hodgson's last game as Liverpool manager. If you believe the internet rumours, that is. I'm no wiser than you, really.Europa LeagueNapoliLiverpoolScott Murrayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |