Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
Firmino likely to return as Liverpool take on Arsenal
LONDON: Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino is in contention to return for the defending champions against Arsenal on Saturday but skipper Jordan Henderson has yet to resume training, manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday.
Firmino, who has six goals and five league assists this season so far, missed Liverpool’s last three games due to a knee injury while Henderson has not played since late February this year after undergoing surgery on a groin injury.
Klopp added he was not sure if either Henderson or Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk, who has been sidelined since October with a knee injury, would be available for the European Championship this summer.
“Bobby (Firmino) is back. All the others not and I have no idea about the Euros,” Klopp told reporters ahead of Saturday’s trip to London.
Liverpool and Arsenal have had poor league campaigns, sitting seventh and ninth in the standings, respectively, with nine games left to play.
TV timings: Chelsea v West Brom, 5pm, Leeds v Sheffield United, 7.30pm, Leicester City v Man City, 10pm, Arsenal v Liverpool, 12.30am (Sun); Live on Star Sports Select 1 & HD 1
Don’t blame Spain for Ramos injury: Zidane MADRID: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he does not blame Spain for captain Sergio Ramos’s latest injury ahead of the season’s run-in.
Defender Ramos picked up a calf injury while doing warmdown exercises with Spain after their 3-1 victory over Kosovo on Wednesday. He came on as an 86th-minute substitute in the World Cup qualifier.
“Nobody’s to blame for the injury. These things happen in football, the part of the game we don’t like. But things happen and you just have to accept them,” Zidane told a news conference ahead of Saturday’s visit of 18th-placed Eibar.
Pak beat SA in last-ball thriller after Babar ton CENTURION: A century by Babar Azam set up a three-wicket, last-ball win for Pakistan in the first ODI against South Africa in Centurion on Friday. The Pakistan captain hit 103 off 104 balls but his dismissal started a collapse in which Anrich Nortje took four wickets in four overs. Brief scores: South Africa 273/6 in 50 ov (R van der Dussen 123*, D Miller 50; S Afridi 2/61) lost to 274/7 in 50 ov (B Azam 103, I-Ul-Haq 70; A Nortje 4/51) by 3 wickets
SL off to solid start on rain-hit final day
NORTH SOUND: Sri Lanka’s openers Lahiru Thirimanne and captain Dimuth Karunaratne took their team to 93 without loss at lunch chasing 377 for win after a rain-shortened first session of the last day of the second and final Test against the West Indies on Friday.
Brief scores (Day 5, at Lunch): West Indies 354 & 280/4 decl in 72.4 ov (K Brathwaite 85,
J Holder 71*) v
93/0 in 34 ov
Barty to face Andreescu in blockbuster final MIAMI: World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty bucked the upset trend at the Miami Open on Thursday, setting up a mouth-watering first career clash against US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in Saturday’s final.
Australia’s Barty fired 27 winners in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina.