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Klopp won’t let Liverpool flops feel sorry for themselves

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Jurgen Klopp has warned struggling Liverpool there is no room for “self-pity” as he fights to stop their troubled season spiralling further out of control.

Klopp’s side head to relegation-threatened Wolves on Saturday languishing in ninth place in the Premier League after one win in their past six games in all competitions.

The Reds, currently 10 points adrift of the top four, also crashed out of the FA Cup fourth round at Brighton last weekend, ending their defence of the trophy.

After that painful stoppage-time defeat on the south coast, Klopp drew attention to the unhappy body language of some of his players, who came close to winning a historic quadruple last season.

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Liverpool defender Andy Robertson has admitted the campaign deteriorated after the World Cup break.

But Klopp, who still hopes to salvage the season, is determined to stop his squad feeling sorry for themselves.

“Self-pity is not allowed in these moments,” he said. “We are human beings and know these moments when you think ‘Oh my God, everything is going against me’.

“There’s only one person who can change that really and it’s yourself. These kind of things can happen and will happen in the future as well, but it’s about limiting the time to get back on track.”

Publicly at least, Klopp has no answers for the poor form of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, among others.

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But the German believes the situation can be turned around, pointing to the recent resurgence of Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford after a poor period for his club.

“We all see that some players didn’t exactly reach the level they reached for us consistently over four or five or six years. That’s not unusual, it happens to other players as well,” Klopp said.

“One of the best examples ever probably will be Marcus Rashford. The season he had last year and the season he has this year, I’m not sure he can really explain it. Now he is flying. That’s how it goes.

“The times in between these two extremes we have to use and go through it and fight through it.

“You have to get through this and the players I know, my players, they will go through that and show again how good they are.” 

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Babar Azam retains top spot in latest ODI batting rankings

Babar Azam retains top spot in latest ODI batting rankings

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Babar Azam retains top spot in latest ODI batting rankings

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam maintained a healthy lead at the top of the ODI batting rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday.

In the rankings, there are a group of South Africa players who have made good ground on the prolific right-hander. Heinrich Klaasen rises 13 spots to 30th after he hit a brilliant century in the Proteas’ impressive victory over the West Indies in the third and final match of the series in Potchefstroom, while Temba Bavuma improves 17 places to 33rd following his big knock in the second game in East London.

The second place retained by South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen while Pakistani batter Imamul Haq jumped one place to secure third place. Quinton de Kock has been ranked fourth while Shubman Gill is at the fifth place.

India pacer Mohammed Siraj copped the brunt of the attack by Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head during the second match of his side’s ODI series with Australia and as a result has lost his place at the top of the rankings for ODI bowlers.

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Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood – who is absent from the ongoing series in India – re-claims pole position ahead of New Zealand left-armer Trent Boult, with Siraj dropping into a tie for third with in-form quick Mitchell Starc, ICC said in its press release.

West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph jumps to a career-high rating and 11th place on the ODI bowling rankings following a strong series against South Africa, while teammate Akeal Hosein (up four spots to 20th) is another big mover.

The top place in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings is held by Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne. New Zealand’s batter Kane Williamson rose to the second place.

It means Steve Smith (third), Joe Root (fourth), Babar Azam (fifth) and Travis Head (sixth) all drop one place, while Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (10th) takes the spot of India captain Rohit Sharma inside the top 10 after he scored three half-centuries in the series against New Zealand.

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Australia choose to bat in deciding 3rd ODI against India

Australia choose to bat in deciding 3rd ODI against India

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Australia choose to bat in deciding 3rd ODI against India

Australia’s stand-in-skipper Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat first in their series decider against India for Wednesday’s third one-day international in Chennai.

The visitors made two changes to the side that routed their hosts in Sunday’s last match at Visakhapatnam.

Opener David Warner returns from his second Test elbow hairline fracture for all-rounder Cameron Green while spinner Ashton Agar replaces pacer Nathan Ellis.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma fielded an unchanged team.

The two top-ranked 50-over teams are warming up for the ODI World Cup in India later this year.

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Teams

Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (capt), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Umpires: Jayaraman Madangopal (IND), Nitin Menon (IND)

TV umpire: KN Ananthapadmanabhan (IND)

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Match referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)

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African players in Europe: Kessie is El Clasico hero

African players in Europe: Kessie is El Clasico hero

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African players in Europe: Kessie is El Clasico hero

Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie came off the bench to score an added-time winner for Barcelona in a 2-1 El Clasico triumph over Real Madrid at the weekend.

The dramatic victory confirmed Barca as hot favourites to regain the Spanish title for the first time since 2019.

Kessie often celebrates his goals with a military-style salute — a tribute to his late father, who became a soldier after a professional football career.

Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:
ENGLAND

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JEFFREY SCHLUPP (Crystal Palace)

Ghana international Schlupp scored a consolation goal for managerless Crystal Palace in their 4-1 defeat at league leaders Arsenal. The 30-year-old midfielder hammered home from close range following a corner in the 63rd minute to make it 3-1 but any faint hopes of an unlikely comeback were quashed when Bukayo Saka restored the home side’s three-goal margin.

EMMANUEL DENNIS (Nottingham Forest)

Nigeria forward Dennis opened the scoring for struggling Nottingham Forest against high-flying Newcastle. Dennis, who joined Forest from Watford this season, latched onto Sven Botman’s back-pass before dinking the ball over Nick Pope in the 26th minute but Alexander Isak struck twice to seal a 2-1 win for the Magpies.

ABDOULAYE DOUCOURE (Everton)

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Mali midfielder Doucoure found the net in Everton’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea, nodding over the line to cancel out Joao Felix’s opener. Chelsea restored their lead through a Kai Havertz penalty but Ellis Simms scored a late equaliser, set up by Doucoure.

SPAIN

FRANCK KESSIE (Barcelona)

A low cross from Alejandro Balde set up Kessie at the far post to sweep the ball into the corner of the net. The match-winner gave Barcelona a 12-point advantage with 12 matches remaining.

SAMUEL CHUKWUEZE (Villarreal)

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The Nigerian winger continued his fine recent form by opening the scoring in Villarreal’s 3-0 win at Osasuna. Drifting into the area unmarked, Chukwueze kept his cool to volley home Alfonso Pedraza’s pinpoint cross.

ITALY

VICTOR OSIMHEN (Napoli)

The Nigeria forward was once again one of the stars of the show as Napoli continued their march to the Serie A title. Towering headers in each half in a 4-0 win at Torino helped Napoli eventually stretch their massive league lead to 19 points and took Osimhen’s tally for the domestic campaign to 21 goals.

Victor Osimhen (L) scored two headers as Napoli continued their march towards the title

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KINGSLEY EHIZIBUE (Udinese)

Germany-born Ehizibue struck the goal which sealed Udinese’s 3-1 win over AC Milan and gave his team their first home win since September. Ehizibue, who represents Nigeria internationally, scored his second goal of the season in the 70th minute and helped Udinese up to eighth in Serie A.

GERMANY

SEBASTIEN HALLER (Borussia Dortmund)

Haller scored twice in Dortmund’s 6-1 demolition of Cologne. In the first half, he hammered home and was on the spot in the second half to tap in a rebound from a free-kick.

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OMAR MARMOUSH (Wolfsburg)

Egypt forward Marmoush scored his second goal in three games for Wolfsburg amid speculation he will join Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of the season. His long-range effort gave Wolfsburg a 1-0 win at Stuttgart.

FRANCE

BAMO MEITE (Lorient)

The 21-year-old defender from the Ivory Coast, who moved to Paris from Abidjan as a child, scored his first senior goal for Lorient in their 1-1 draw with Nice, a result which keeps alive their slim chances of qualifying for Europe. Meite only made his first-team debut for Lorient in January but has quickly become a regular starter.

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HABIB DIALLO (Strasbourg)

The Senegal international striker had an eventful game for Strasbourg in their relegation six-pointer against Auxerre. He won a first-half penalty only to then see his kick saved. Diallo atoned by scoring late on to seal a 2-0 win for his side. With 14 goals this is already his most prolific season at this level. 

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