Marc Pozzo
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was left to rue a number of missed chances from his side in a 0-0 draw at Everton on Sunday that allowed Manchester City to maintain top spot in the Premier League.
Mohamed Salah passed up two glaring opportunities either side of half-time, while Fabinho was also wasteful as Liverpool failed to score for the third time in four games. Klopp is still to taste defeat in a Merseyside derby as Liverpool’s unbeaten run against Everton stretches back to 2010.
However, the Reds have now dropped points in four of their last six league games to put the title race in City’s hands just over a month since Liverpool had the chance to open up a seven-point lead at the top.
Liverpool’s upcoming fixtures at least appear more winnable after a difficult run that saw them also travel to Manchester United last weekend before a short trip to Goodison Park. It’s going to nail biting with nine games to go.
Come on my beloved Liverpool. Now one of my all-time heroes was none other than Gordon Banks. The World Cup winning goalkeeper of 1966.
Hundreds of football fans lined the streets to pay tribute to Gordon Banks on Monday as his funeral cortege was driven through Stoke. A fivecar funeral cortege carrying the body of the World Cup-winning goalkeeper passed through Stoke’s stadium, stopping at the pitch side dugout for a few minutes. The various achievements of Banks, who also won the League Cup with Stoke and Leicester, were displayed on a big screen as a chant of “England’s number one” broke out.
Sheffield-born Banks made nearly 200 appearances for Stoke, in central England, and was named the club’s president following the death of Stanley Matthews at the turn of the century.
Banks, England’s goalkeeper during their triumphant 1966 World Cup campaign on home soil, died on February 12, aged 81.
He was probably best known for a wonderful save he produced to deny Brazilian great Pele in a 1970 World Cup group match. RIP a real legend. This weekend the Six Nations resumes with two rounds remaining .
Wales, the only side left in this season’s Six Nations who can complete a clean sweep with two rounds left, are on a great run of form.
Their 21-13 victory at home to England last time out saw Wales to a new national record of 12 successive wins.
They’ve lost just once in the Scottish capital in 12 years and another triumph this weekend would leave them just 80 minutes away from a Grand Slam when they welcome Ireland to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on March 16. But memories of Wales’s last match at Murrayfield are still vivid for the Welsh , as they were leading 13-9 at half-time, Wales then conceded 20 points without reply as Scotland won 29-13 in a remarkable rally.
Gatland, in his final Six Nations in charge of Wales before he steps down after this year’s World Cup in Japan, is due to name his team today.
The New Zealander will have to make at least one change after lock Cory Hill was ruled out of the rest of the Championship as a result of the ankle injury he suffered during a try-scoring display against England. My money is on them for a Six Nations title and a Grand Slam title in 2019 . This last week the SRC hosted their annual sports awards, so I see and hear! It was so well advertised, that I managed to see it, on social media the day after. One of my friends, from Delta was present and posted a pic on Facebook . My point here? As a sports presenter, learning writer, one would have thought someone would have kept me in the loop of who’s who in the awards categories, and secondly, oh would you like to attend to give it some coverage. “I guess not”. This is where we let ourselves down as a nation. We don’t have to go far, to see how well our neighbours do it across the greasy Limpopo . They do it like a first world country, and make it with all the glitz and glamour and flare and every paper , magazine ,radio station are present to cover the event. I have attended many awards events there and wow they do it well. The emphasis is on the athlete and honouring them. They are the ones that deserve all the recognition no one else. Anyway maybe my invite is in the post!
