Liverpool on track despite stalemate
UEFA opens disciplinary probe against Spartak
MOSCOW, Sept 27, (AFP): Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes his team remain on track to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League despite drawing both of their opening games.
After a 2-2 draw with Sevilla in their Group E opener, Liverpool drew 1-1 away to Spartak Moscow on Tuesday, with Fernando’s free-kick for the hosts cancelled out by a brilliantly constructed Philippe Coutinho equaliser.
Liverpool now trail leaders Sevilla by two points, but with four games still to come, Klopp is relaxed about his team’s
LONDON, Sept 27, (AFP): The English Football Association announced a major revamp of women’s football on Wednesday, with a top tier of 14 fulltime teams planned for the start of next season in order to boost standards.
The current Women’s Super League was set up in 2011 and a second tier, Super League Two, was added in 2014. There are 10 teams in each but several are still part-time.
Following a review of the structure, the FA now wants to make a clear distinction between full-time and part-time teams in order to raise standards
situation.
“Of course I saw enough (to suggest Liverpool can qualify),” Klopp told reporters at Moscow’s Otkrytiye Arena.
“We know more about the two teams. We know Moscow had a lot of injury problems. For sure Quincy Promes will be back for the next game and a few other really good players, which will change their game.
“In football you can never be sure. Yes, we are strong enough to go through, but we have to do it. When the door is open, you still have to walk through.
“The door’s not even open. You can see only a little bit of light behind. But we will be ready to go through.
“Because the boys work really hard and you can see that they really want it. You have sometimes situations like this. Stay cool, carry on, work hard and you will succeed at the end.”
Fernando put Spartak ahead with a 25-yard free-kick in the 23rd minute, but their lead lasted just eight minutes as Coutinho exchanged passes with Sadio Mane before coolly netting an equaliser.
Despite dominating the second half, Liverpool could not find a winner, with substitute Daniel Sturridge and Mohamed Salah both squandering excellent late chances.
Klopp aligned Coutinho, Mane, Salah and Roberto Firmino for the first time, but he said his ‘Fab Four’ would need time to develop an understanding.
“It’s good when you have all these players around, but it’s not lining up the players and hoping something will happen — they all need rhythm and need to be in good shape and all that stuff,” said the German.
“It was a very intense game. For me it’s not about the names, it’s really about how we can perform.
“In a lot of moments we performed as good as possible, in a lot of moments
Liverpool’s midfielder from Germany Emre Can, Spartak Moscow’s midfielder from Croatia Mario Pasalic and Liverpool’s midfielder from England Jordan Henderson vie for the ball during the UEFA Champions League Group E football match between FC Spartak Moscow and Liverpool FC at
the Otkrytie Arena stadium in Moscow on Sept 26. (AFP) and boost the popularity of women’s football.
Below the new top flight will be a national league of up to 12 semi-professional sides, with the current FA Women’s Premier League sitting beneath that in tiers three and four as regional competitions featuring promotion and relegation.
The revamp comes at a time of uncertainty at the top of the sport after England Women’s manager Mark Sampson was sacked last week for “inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour” in a previous role as a club manager.