With 24 bookings in two-and-a-bit seasons, moody Chelsea striker Diego Costa is used to living on the edge in English football.
And nowhere is his brittle temperament seemingly put to the test more than in matches against Liverpool.
A stamp on Emre Can that earned Costa a retrospective three-match ban. The numerous bust-ups with Martin Skrtel. The forehead-on-forehead confrontation with Steven Gerrard. It doesn't take much to rile Costa but there's something about Liverpool that really fires up the often-pilloried Spain international.
So expect plenty of scrutiny on Costa when the two teams meet in the latest Friday-night fixture in the English Premier League, which is the highlight of the fifth round of games.
The debate is on regarding Costa: Will he finish the season with more goals than yellow cards? It's a close-run thing at the moment.
He is back to his best in front of goal, netting four goals in four games in Chelsea's unbeaten start to the league campaign that has seen the team earn 10 points from a possible 12. In the 2-2 draw against Swansea on Sunday, Costa scored both of Chelsea's goals and was almost impossible to keep down.
Costa is also keeping match officials busy by getting three yellow cards, and ran the risk of seeing those turn into red with a studs-first challenge against West Ham and by throwing himself theatrically to the ground against Watford and Swansea.
Costa, put simply, is never far from a flashpoint.
"If you are in a friendly-game mood then you have no chance," Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said of Costa. "He is a real warrior on the pitch."
There's rarely a news conference with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte that doesn't involve a line of questioning on Costa. Conte says the striker is targeted - and it is easy to see why given Costa's inability to resist reacting to goading by opposition players.
"Diego is growing in these situations - in the last game he showed great attitude," Conte said Thursday. "He is passionate but I want him to put his passion into the football in the right way."
It's one of the many subplots in what could be a thrilling game under the Stamford Bridge lights, considering the start to the season made by Chelsea and Liverpool.
Liverpool has scored four goals in each of its wins over both Arsenal and Leicester, and also gained a point from a draw at Tottenham. Aside from a disappointing 2-0 loss at Burnley, Klopp's side has been impressive - especially the fluid forward line of Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and new signing Sadio Mane.
Only Manchester City, which has won all four of its games, has more points than Chelsea so far this season.
And if Costa shows passion on the field, Klopp and Conte are possibly the most animated Premier League coaches on the touchline. Like in last weekend's Manchester derby when Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho went head to head, there could be as much focus on the coaches' technical area as on the field at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool had four players unavailable and a few more had to be benched because of nagging injuries, when the Reds beat Arsenal on Sunday. After years and years of Klopp facing injury crises, there is more to it than just bad luck.
During the preseason many Liverpool players picked up knocks with varying degree of severity, but Klopp pointed at the depth of his squad. “We needed to strengthen and we’ve done that. The situation with the keeper and the centre-backs in preseason hasn’t been too cool but this season we will be able to react better,” he told the Echo a few days ago.
In fact, Liverpool have been able to broaden their squad, as they secured the services of Loris Karius, Sadio Mané, Georginio Wijnaldum, Ragnar Klavan, Joel Matip, Juanma and Alex Manninger, while the likes of Martin Skrtel, Joe Allen, Brad Smith, Jordon Ibe, Kolo Touré and Jose Enrique left Anfield. However, that can’t fully hide the injury issues that have again occurred under Klopp’s watch.
It is not the first time that the German coach has struggled with injuries. It all started in 2012. After winning the domestic title twice with Borussia Dortmund, Klopp faced the unavailability of many players throughout the next season. Despite reaching the Champions League final, BVB weren’t as competitive over the course of a 10-month season than the years prior. Transfermarkt lists all the injuries of that particular season here and of the even worse 2014-15 season here.
Media reports have suggestedthat Klopp and his then staff member Oliver Bartlett, a highly regarded English fitness coach, disagreed on the intensity of training. Bartlett left Dortmund in 2012 and begun to work for Roger Schmidt at Red Bull Salzburg and Bayer Leverkusen, where Bartlett has been able to keep most of the squad healthy even though the respective teams have played a high volume pressing style.
The very out-spoken former Wales coach Raymond Verheijen, who has a history of attacking the training methods used by some Premier League clubs, insisted that Klopp’s training methods would ‘destroy players’. A month ago, Verheijen described in detail three phases and warned that Liverpool could be about to enter an ‘injury crisis phase’, which eventually happened.
However, recent statements made by Klopp could hint at the change of mentality and reduction of the intensity of training in between matches. In addition, Liverpool have the luxury of sitting out of the Europa League. Leicester City showed last year how valuable a week of rest can be, while direct competitors have to play midweek.
“Remember the situation when Phil (Coutinho) had his first hamstring? He came back, we couldn’t give him time. He played five games and then … (was injured again),” Klopp explained recently. “Things like this shouldn’t happen this season. We can’t change the intensity of games. But it’s clear that we can change the intensity of a player’s training. If we can avoid situations like that we will do.”
It should be mentioned though, that Liverpool are not the only team struggling with injuries. Sunday’s opponent Arsenal, for instance, were also significantly weakened as many players have been left on the treatment table. So Klopp and his staff are not the only ones who need to reconsider training regimens and the length of recovery phases.
Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel's eight-year stay at Anfield is close to an end with Fenerbahce putting the finishing touches to his transfer.
The Reds accepted a £5million bid for the Slovakia captain a couple of weeks ago, Press Association Sport understands, but the deal has been on hold because of the centre-back's involvement at Euro 2016.
Since Slovakia were eliminated by Germany negotiations have moved on and it is understood it only remains for personal details to be agreed for the transfer to be concluded.
The Istanbul club's president Aziz Yildirim told AMK Spor: "The (Gregory) van der Wiel and Skrtel transfers are almost done."
Skrtel, who made 320 appearances for Liverpool, fell out of favour last season after a hamstring injury sidelined him for three months in the middle of the campaign.
When he returned to fitness he struggled for form and veteran Kolo Toure - since released when his contract expired - was preferred for the Europa League final defeat to Sevilla.
Schalke defender Joel Matip's arrival on a free transfer and youngster Joe Gomez's return to fitness after knee ligament surgery reduced Skrtel's chances of first-team football and convinced the 31-year-old to move on.
Boss of Goss Kevin Darling on an apparent audacious bid by Jose Mourinho's Europa League hopefuls to land the world's best player.
No matter how boring it gets watching Manchester United, there will always be something good for their fans to read about them. And today is one of those moments when Red Devils supporters can feel like they’re following the most exciting club in the world.
The Daily Mail has reported that Lionel Messi could be on his way to Old Trafford in a world record transfer.
The Red Devils have reportedly made “two approaches in three weeks” for the Barcelona superstar as they “explore the potential of a sensational move”. We’re not told what Barca’s response was to these approaches, so we can assume for now that it was complete silence.
But the Mail has helpfully dug up some “sources close to Messi” (agent? butler? cat?), who have revealed that the 28-year-old Argentine is “frustrated and hurt” by the media circus surrounding his tax evasion court case in Spain. What this has to do with any potential transfer is unclear.
The Mail then goes on to add that Messi would not move to Old Trafford until next season, because even they aren’t foolish to suggest that the world’s best player would sign for a club that wasn’t in the Champions League.
The paper ends by saying that Messi will “require certain assurances” if he is to remain at the Nou Camp beyond his current contract (ending 2018) but it gives no indication of what this assurances are.
So in summary, Man Utd would like to buy Messi but there is absolutely nothing to suggest that they will.
It’s the poor United fans you have to feel sorry for in all this, reading all these stories and getting their hopes up.
If that transfer has about a 2 per cent chance of happening, let’s move on to another one that seems a bit more likely (probably about 13 per cent). The Sun claims that new Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has made Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere his “number one target” at the Etihad.
Although the occasionally fit England midfielder may find this flattering, the reasons for Pep’s pursuit aren’t very romantic, with City seemingly interested just to boost the quota of English players in their squad (currently there are just three - Joe Hart, Fabian Delph and Raheem Sterling).
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman’s proposed move to Everton could prompt an exodus (another one) from St Mary’s, with the Sun claiming that Victor Wanyama, Graziano Pelle and Shane Long will seek moves if the Dutchman leaves.
Elsewhere, Stoke have won the race to sign £10m-rated Norwich winger Nathan Redmond (Mirror), Barcelona have joined Chelsea and Man City in the pursuit of Atletico Madrid defender Jose Gimenez (Talksport) and Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel is wanted by a couple of clubs in Turkey(Liverpool Echo).
Finally, at the exact opposite end of the scale to the Messi to Man Utd rumour, Talksport have claimed that West Ham are in talks to sign Besiktas’ 33-year-old Canadian midfielder Atiba Hutchinson. WOW!
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp gives fitness update on Reds trio ahead of Wednesday's Merseyside derby.
Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Divock Origi will be available for Liverpool’s clash against Everton in Wednesday night’s Merseyside derby.
The Belgium international suffered an injury scare on Sunday afternoon after the 21-year-old came off the bench in the second half of Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Bournemouth at Dean’s Court.
Klopp confirmed after the narrow victory that the former Lille forward struggled with cramp during the Premier League clash on the south coast and was a doubt for the visit of Everton mid-week.
Speaking at his pre-match media conference ahead of Wednesday night’s Merseyside derby at Anfield, Klopp confirmed that Origi’s fitness setback wasn’t serious and the striker should feature against the Toffees.
“Divock was only a little bit [of a problem] with the back – maybe from sitting on the bench! It was not a real issue,” Klopp told Sky Sports.
“He felt it a little bit in the game and so we left him out of training yesterday but that was only not to take a risk. So that is OK.”
On the fitness of centre-halves Martin Skrtel and Kolo Toure, Klopp added:
“In the game against Bournemouth, I think – and what I have heard so far is – it was cramp with Kolo.”
Klopp continued: “Before the [Bournemouth] game, Martin Skrtel had a little groin problem but with all the other things [players], there’s nothing new.”
Origi has scored four goals in his last five games in all competitions for the 18-time English champions, although the Belgian forward was unable to get on the score sheet against the Cherries.
The Belgian forward completed a £12m move to Liverpool from Lille following the 2014 World Cup last summer.
The Liverpool defender is reportedly considering moving on.
According to a recent report from ESPN, Liverpool centre-back Martin Skrtel is considering his options after slipping down the pecking order at Anfield this season.
Dejan Lovren and Mamadou Sakho appear to be Reds manager Jurgen Klopp’s preferred defensive pairing right now, with Kolo Toure and even midfielder Lucas Leiva also playing at the back ahead of Skrtel in recent weeks.
With Joel Matip arriving this summer on a free transfer, the competition for places is only going to get tougher, so if Skrtel does leave could a Premier League rival snap him up?
Arsenalare in desperate need of quality centre-backs after a season to forget for Brazilian Gabriel Paulista and with Per Mertesacker lacking pace, and given his experience of the English top flight, Skrtel could be perfect forthe Gunners.
At 31 Skrtel has plenty of experience and while Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger may prefer a slightly younger signing there is always a risk when bringing in a player unfamiliar with the division.
There would be no such risk with Skrtel, whose no-nonsense defending is exactly what Arsenal need as they bid to get over the missed opportunities of this season.
With 317 appearances for Liverpool Skrtel would be an interesting addition to Arsenal’s squad; a player who could be available relatively cheap but one who could form an effective partnership with Laurent Koscielny.
Skrtel (hamstring) has begun training outside, but he "still needs his time," manager Jurgen Klopp said Friday.
ROTOWIRE FANTASY ANALYSIS
With Skrtel and Dejan Lovren sidelined, Mamadou Sakho will continue to start, though it's unclear if he'll partner with Kolo Toure of Steven Caulker until Lovren is able to return.
Now the Reds boss has a full complement of players, Kristian Walsh looks at the main decisions he will have to make as far as his team goes.
For the first time since becoming Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has near enough a full squad to choose from.
After having to make do with whoever was fit for most of his time at Anfield, the German is now spoilt for choice.
Here Kristian Walsh from the Liverpool Echo looks at the big decisions facing Klopp.
Jurgen Klopp will not know which way to turn at Melwood. After a touch over five months in the Anfield job, his training ground is no longer full of the incapacitated and walking wounded. His deserted island has been inhabited. In his words: “Finally, we have more players than matches.”
A glance at the away dugout at Selhurst Park would have confirmed that. It was a bench so strong, it could have held seven sumo wrestlers. Philippe Coutinho and Christian Benteke came on in a bid to salvage the game; Daniel Sturridge watched on.
It has been a luxury he has not been afforded since moving to Merseyside in October. Juggling a healthy squad can create dilemmas. After the game, the German shrugged it off in typical fashion.
“We need all these guys,” said Klopp. “I will never complain about having players available. I could play them all together – we could play 4-1-4!”
Quick mental arithmetic is not his strong point, clearly. He soon corrected him. “Hang on,” he laughed. “I’ve forgotten a player, haven’t I? Okay, 4-1-5!”
He was speaking in relation to the strike force, which, once so barren, now looks so prosperous.
But these puzzles are emerging across the pitch, not just at the top end.
Some issues look sorted. Simon Mignolet is the first-choice goalkeeper and, with Lucas Leiva out for over a month, Jordan Henderson and Emre Can are the obvious choice in central midfield.
There are big questions elsewhere, though – not just for the Europa League double-header with Manchester United, but for the remainder of the season, too.
After five months of asking plenty of questions about life on Merseyside, now Klopp will have to answer a few and figure out his strongest side for the rest of the season.
‘Strongest’ is an archaic term in the modern game, of course, but a reliable best 11 is something most managers will strive for.
Here is what he has to figure out in order to find that.
WHO PLAYS IN CENTRAL DEFENCE?
Spare a thought for Steven Caulker. Brought to Anfield on loan in January to deal with a defensive crisis, he now finds himself sixth-choice. Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren have completed their comebacks, with Martin Skrtel still awaiting game time after his recovery from injury. In their absences, both Kolo Toure and Lucas emerged as viable options at the back.
With five of their six centre backs now fit – Lucas is out for the next five to six weeks – and Klopp traditionally deploying a back four, a lot will depend on which partnership works best.
Skrtel and Lovren often struggled to impress last season, while Sakho’s inconsistency can be a worry. Lovren has improved under Klopp – perhaps as a result of playing on the right-hand side – but still needs to strike an understanding with his French team-mate. Toure brings experience to the mix, if not able to do so twice in one week, while the imminent arrival of Joel Matip complicates matters further, as does Joe Gomez's return to fitness.
HOW MUCH DOES JON FLANAGAN PLAY?
Never claim Klopp does not admit his mistakes. With Jon Flanagan still recovering from a knee injury that saw him out of action for 629 days, the Reds boss was cautious with his management of him and left him out of the Europa League squad.
Since then, he has become a viable option at full back once more.
Flanagan has lined up only as a right back since his return – rather than the left, as he did under Brendan Rodgers – but that facilitates Nathaniel Clyne to move to left back, if needed. It was a set-up that worked well against Manchester City.
Liverpool are short at full back, though Brad Smith deserves consideration against Alberto Moreno – if only to rest the Spaniard’s legs in a position that relies upon plenty of high-intensity sprints.
But ultimately, it is Flanagan – out of contract this summer - whom the dilemma revolves around, and just how much league action he should see, and on which side he should see it.
WHEN DO YOU UNLEASH THE FANTASTIC FOUR?
The formula up front might not be as hard as some think. Divock Origi has been superb, but still remains raw; Benteke, despite his lively cameo at Palace, still has much to prove.
Adam Lallana has been praised by Klopp for his understanding and ability to counterpress. Firmino is the Premier League’s most in-form player, with no one scoring more league goals since the turn of the year. Sturridge is widely considered Liverpool’s best striker. Coutinho is widely accepted as Liverpool’s best player.
It could be a fearsome foursome, one that combines everything Klopp wants from a front four.
Yet he has been able to play it for just nine minutes this season – in the second half against Manchester City at Wembley.
But despite the quartet seemingly syncing well on paper, there is still creases to be ironed out. Much like the central midfield problem, perhaps the Firmino, Lallana and Coutinho trio – as an attacking midfield – are all too alike, all no.10s at heart. It worked as an attacking trident, but Sturridge’s presence could disrupt that. Sturridge, himself, will also take time to fully adapt to Klopp’s demands.
It would also mean losing the shape, solidity and reliability of James Milner. The balance he gives often goes unnoticed, but is nevertheless crucial.
Danny Ings' return from his cruciate injury next season makes tough decisions even harder, as well.
WHAT FORMATION?
Klopp has utilised a number of systems already since arriving at Anfield. 4-4-1-1, 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-2-1 – there is no set style under the German just yet.
A lot of that is dependent on the opposition, granted. His decision to match Leicester’s 4-4-2 at Anfield with one of his own was a masterstroke, and led to just one of the Foxes’ three defeats in this league campaign. Likewise, bringing in the extra man in midfield against Manchester City at the Etihad was a vital foundation to the mesmerising attacking play that steered them to a 4-1 victory.
Maybe, though, some point soon, Klopp has to decide what formation suits him and his players best.
HOW DO THE YOUNG BOYS PROGRESS?
It feels a long time ago now, but Liverpool won plaudits for their use of their Academy stars. Deserved praise, too, although it was also forced upon them.
What happens now to Smith and Connor Randall, or midfield duo Cameron Brannagan and Kevin Stewart, or Sheyi Ojo and Joao Carlos Teixeira? Smith may still appear on the bench and Stewart might feel unfortunate to be injured, as central midfield looks a little thin, but a lot of the attacking players will likely not feature again this season.
Their rise to superstardom – under the bright lights of Exeter and West Ham, no less – ended with their FA Cup involvement this season.
Klopp will keep a watchful eye on their progress from the youth teams, no doubt. Whether an opportunity arises to give them more minutes will be dictated on the next month of results.
