Free from the extra burden of European football, Liverpool have a strong chance to win the Premier League this season under a "ruthless" Juergen Klopp, according to Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. Liverpool, who finished eighth in the league standings last season, are fourth in the table this campaign, having beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and champions Leicester City in their opening seven games.
Liverpool fielded a starting lineup consisting mainly of reserves and youth team players with an average age of 19.4, a club record.
Manchester United and Chelsea secured places in the Champions League with wins on the final day of the Premier League season while Watford and Bournemouth were relegated along with bottom club Norwich City.
Liverpool will start favourites but PSV Eindhoven coach Ronald Koeman will fancy another English scalp when the Dutch club host the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday.
Klopp's side won the Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup titles last year, but the German said that their rivals will look to close the gap.
'This is about him. This is a reflection of his personality -- don't give up -- his fighting spirit, every player giving everything'
'A new ownership structure must embed supporters and include fan share ownership'
Dimitar Berbatov scored a brilliant hat-trick to give Manchester United a 3-2 win over Liverpool and Chelsea maintained their goalrush by thrashing Blackpool 4-0 in the Premier League on Sunday.
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has defended the club's support of Luis Suarez following criticism for their reaction to the eight-match ban given to Uruguayan who was found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
Liverpool talisman Luis Suarez is happy for opposition supporters to jeer him as it only serves to motivate him more, the Uruguayan said on Thursday.
'It's not easy to handle a team at a big, big club... always demanding to win competitions and every manager needs time. I have the feeling United started to play the way he wants'
Premier League leaders Liverpool could only grind out a 0-0 draw at struggling Stoke City on Saturday, missing the chance to open a six-point gap at the top.
Phil Foden kept Manchester City's Premier League title challenge on track with a superb second-half double as his side hit back to clinch a 3-1 home victory over Manchester United on Sunday.
Chelsea maintained their stranglehold on the Premier League by beating Sunderland 1-0 on Wednesday to register their 10th successive win and move six points clear at the top of the table.
Goal-happy Manchester City continued where they left off at Manchester United on Sunday as they came from behind to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 5-2 on Wednesday to march into the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
Luis Suarez is a disgrace to Liverpool and should never be allowed to play for them again, Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said after the Uruguayan refused to shake Patrice Evra's hand on Saturday.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Manchester United missed the chance to make significant inroads into Manchester City's lead at the top of the Premier League after stumbling to a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Klopp fined by FA for referee comments after West Ham draw
Champions Manchester United suffered a second straight Premier League defeat on Wednesday, losing 3-0 to Newcastle United to leave Manchester City three points clear at the top of the table.
ManchesterCity manager Pep Guardiola has expressed doubts over whether Manchester United can challenge for the Premier League title but believes they have a realistic chance of finishing in the top four.
Manchester United manager David Moyes was given the perfect tonic to soothe the pain of Sunday's loss to Manchester City as a largely second-string side gave him a pleasing selection headache against Liverpool on Wednesday.
Two defeats and a draw from their first three matches in Group A left Liverpool in the mire and needing a Houdini-like escape act to stay alive
Arsenal also suffered a shock defeat when they went down 2-1 at Stoke City and Hull City came from 1-4 down to push Manchester United all the way before losing 4-3 at Old Trafford, in the English Premier League.
Salah got 48% of the vote, ahead of Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne
Manchester City went top of the Premier League when they beat Aston Villa 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday after Manchester United dropped two points in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool. City won with goals from Mario Balotelli, Adam Johnson, Vincent Kompany and James Milner against his former club and moved on to 22 points from their eight matches, two points clear of United who are on 20.
Manchester City stayed ahead of age-old local rivals Manchester United at the top of the Premier League on Saturday with a deserved 1-0 win away to champions Chelsea.
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has had successful surgery on a hip problem that effectively ended his season, he said on social media on Tuesday.
You would have been hard pressed at the start of the season to find anyone to bet on Liverpool's Brendan Rodgers becoming the first Premier League manager to get the sack, but he is now the bookies' joint favourite.
Liverpool stayed top of the Premier League on Sunday after an emphatic 5-1 win at Newcastle United gave them maximum points from their two Christmas fixtures.
Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt's hat-trick dealt a body blow to Manchester United's English Premier League title hopes as the leaders were beaten 3-1 at Anfield on Sunday.
Liverpool's hopes of opening up a menacing five-point lead at the top of the Premier League were scuppered in unlikely fashion as struggling West Bromwich Albion snatched a 1-1 draw at Anfield
Chelsea against Liverpool is one of the Premier League's more modern rivalries but the teams, who have clashed over 30 times since the start of the 2004/05 season, meet at Stamford Bridge on Sunday each with a point to prove.
Aguero's absence means a likely start for Brazilian Gabriel Jesus in attack.
English Premier League leaders Liverpool opened up a 22-point gap at the top of the table with second-half goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jordan Henderson and a Mohamed Salah brace giving them a 4-0 home win over Southampton. A rare double from defender Antonio Rudiger earned Chelsea a point in an entertaining 2-2 draw with third-placed Leicester City.
Goals rained in for Manchester City and Manchester United but Juergen Klopp's first game in charge of Liverpool was solid rather than spectacular with his new side drawing 0-0 at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday.
Brazil, who are fifth in the CONMEBOL table with 18 points from 12 games, host Colombia on March 21 and visit Argentina five days later in a match that could see Neymar come up against former Barcelona and Paris St Germain teammate Lionel Messi.
Two Steven Gerrard penalties helped Liverpool to a crushing 3-0 victory at bitter rivals Manchester United on Sunday to leave them breathing down the necks of Premier League leaders Chelsea.
Jose Mourinho's wretched week ended on a high note as Manchester United's big guns Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba finally began firing, both finding the target in a 3-1 win at dismal Swansea City on Sunday. Mourinho watched from the stands at the Liberty Stadium following his touchline ban imposed by the Football Association on Wednesday and was buoyed to see Ibrahimovic score twice -- his first league goals in eight weeks -- and Pogba net a superb volley. United, vastly improved after their midweek Europa League defeat at Fenerbahce, went ahead with a 15th minute strike from Pogba worthy of his 89 million pounds price tag before Ibrahimovic ended his goal drought with a sharp first-half double in the space of 12 minutes.
