‘Man Utd better than last year’
LONDON: Jose Mourinho says his Manchester United team are better than they were last year, playing down injury concerns as he prepares for a blockbuster Premier League clash against Liverpool. United travel to face their fierce rivals at Anfield on Saturday looking to maintain a rich vein of form that leaves them trailing Manchester City only on goal difference at top of the table.
Mourinho had a mixed first season at Old Trafford, finishing sixth in the League but winning the Europa League and League Cup. But summer signings Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic have impressed in the early weeks of the season, enabling United to keep pace with freescoring City.
“I think we are a better team (than we were),” Mourinho said. “You can say, like some people do, we have not played one of the top five teams but last season we did not beat West Ham at home, last season we did not beat Everton at home or Southampton away.
REID QUESTIONS EVERTON’S MENTALITY
LONDON: Peter Reid has questioned Everton’s character after their woeful start to the Premier League campaign left them just two points above relegation zone. After spending 140m pounds in the last transfer window, Everton, who finished seventh last season, have won just two of their opening seven league games. Reid, who made over 220 appearances for the club from 1982 to 1989, said Ronald Koeman’s side appear to lack the stomach for a fight. “I think this Everton team is in a scrap... I wouldn’t say they are not trying, but they look like they cannot move.”
FIFA HITS PAKISTAN WITH BAN
ISLAMABAD: FIFA announced on Wednesday it has suspended the Pakistan Football Federation for “third-party interference”, in a rare move by the sport’s governing body to issue a blanket ban targeting a country. The suspension centres on an internal feud at the PFF.