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Liverpool can look forward to a mouth-watering semi final Champions League tie against Barcelona after overcoming Porto 4-1 on Wednesday night and 6-1 on aggregate.The home team came out with all guns blazing with a clear plan to put the Reds on the back foot, looking to shoot at Alisson's goal wherever possible, and with their vocal crowd in full voice it seemed we could be in for quite a second leg.But while the Liverpool team of old may well have crumbled under the pressure, this team is made of strong stuff, and were able to weather the early storm.When Sadio Mane put the ball in the net after 26 minutes after some VAR intervention, there was always going to be one winner.The second half was certainly a less frenetic affair with the visitors well and truly in control.Jurgen Klopp even saw a opportunity to give Joe Gomez a run-out, the first time he has seen minutes since he sustained his untimely injury against Burnley in early December.The other members of the front three added their names to the scoresheet in the second half, with Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino now sitting alongside Ian Rush with 14 Champions League goals for the Reds.The fourth goal was a header by the leader of the defence in Virgil Van Dijk.The Dutchman was naturally asked after the game about the fixture on the horizon against the Catalan giants, and specifically how are they going to combat arguably the best player in World Football in Lionel Messi.Metro (via Viasport Futbol) reported Van Dijk as saying:‘I don’t know, we’ll see. It’s going to be a great match-up for all of us. ‘ "Obviously we’re very happy to be in the semi-final again and that’s the only thing I can say. Van Dijk said how the Reds defence combat a key attacking threat is through a complete team effort.‘It’s about doing it all together, it’s never 1 vs 1, it’s never just me against a particular striker. "It’s always us against everyone and I think that’s the only way we can defend well."And it’s going to be very hard and I think he’s the best player in the world but we’ll see."Jurgen Klopp is also looking forward to facing one of Europe's elite teams at such an important time of the competition, especially as it will the first time he has come face to face with Barcelona in a competitive fixture.But first things first Sky Sports reported the manager as saying his thoughts are firmly focused on Cardiff this Sunday."We are in the semi-finals and on Sunday we play Cardiff, that is in my mind and will be in my mind 100 per cent when I wake up tomorrow, not how we play against Barcelona."We have time for that. I am looking forward to it and it's brilliant, but not tonight."We have to get ourselves ready for another intense football game. "Cardiff are back in the race after the result yesterday (a 2-0 win over Brighton) so they will fight for it and I don't think it will be less intense than tonight. That's the next job to do."The fact there is a proper game between Liverpool and Barcelona is really good news. I am really proud of the boys, it is brilliant what they did. I am really happy."There is sure to be endless questions asked of both Klopp and the members of the squad in the next week or so.However as they have done all season, you will back them to keep a intense focus at the job at hand.And for the next two fixtures, that remains the title race in the Premier League.

Jamie Carragher has lavished Sadio Mane with high praise, comparing him with a Reds legend of the past and saying he is more irreplaceable in terms of Liverpool's title prospects than Mo Salah.Carragher was speaking on Sky Sports' Monday night Football and left no one under any illusion to how highly he rates the Senegal international. The Liverpool Echo reported Carragher as saying;"I think sometimes he goes under the radar. "You talk about Salah and the goalkeeper (Allison) and the impact these players have had, he's (Mane) the best wide player Liverpool have had in 30 years. You have to go back to John Barnes since Liverpool have had a player like Mane. "That is big because John Barnes is in my top five or six players to have ever played for Liverpool."His fellow pundit Gary Neville then asked the legendary Liverpool defender that if he had to choose one of Salah or Mane to miss the key games of the title run-in, which one would it be.Once again Carra did not hesitate."Salah. They have the same amount of goals. I'm a massive fan of Mane."Mane is the one that got Liverpool back. "He was Jurgen Klopp's first big signing. He's been there from the very start." Carragher knows first hand about the pressure of a title run-in, having lived through it in 2008/9.In that season, just like this current campaign, the Reds proved a very tough team to beat losing just two games. The current side have lost just once and have some pretty good football betting odds to win the title this season.However, in 2009 it was the inability to break down well organised defences which led to costly draws that was the main issue, and they eventually finished four points behind Man United.Carragher said that Mane was just the type of player which would have proved the difference during that season."We didn't have a wide player in 2009. "If you look at the teams that win the title, the wide players stand out massively. If we'd had Mane in 2009, I think we would have won the league."Carragher is also a big believer of setting the tone in matches. It's all very well getting a double when your team is already 3-0 up, but which player is going to do the hard yards in putting your team on the path of victory.Carragher said Mane has been the main man in that regard."Going through Liverpool's last eleven games and in the first four, Mane got the first goal." "There are only two other Liverpool players who have scored the first goal in those eleven matches (Roberto Firmino vs Burnley and Tottenham and Naby Keita against Southhampton)."That's how vital Mane is."While the overall impact of Salah over the past two seasons is indisputable, without Mane's goals over the past two months, City would be home and hosed in the title race.Once an unsung hero, Sadio is now getting the recognition he truly deserves.

Well that went well. Makes you wonder what we were worried about really, doesn't it? Pressure? What pressure? These players are incredible. The composure and mental strength we're seeing from them is something to behold. Whether they go on to win it or not, this is a truly great Liverpool side we're watching right now. If they carry on like this and win their four remaining games, it may or may not be enough to win the title but it will definitely be the highest points tally the club has ever amassed. There are no open top bus parades for that but it would still be a phenomenal achievement. Winning this game was a significant step as you know everyone (especially City) was looking on expecting this to be the game when it all went wrong for us. It was uncanny really, us playing Chelsea on the same weekend City were at Palace. Just like in 2014. Except it wasn't just like in 2014 because we won. If we win the title then this will be a significant victory, but even if we don't it still goes some way towards setting the record straight. It doesn't make up the heartbreak of the Gerrard slip, but it's a significant barrier that has been overcome. Next time we play Chelsea this late in the season with a title on the line, hopefully Sky Sports news will have the Salah thunderbolt on a loop instead of Demba fucking Ba. Ok, probably not, but it at least changes the narrative somewhat and banishes a few ghosts. The win was well deserved. The clean sheet was somewhat fortunate as we could easily have conceded, but ultimately this was a test that the lads - and the fans - came through with flying colours. There was no edginess or nervous tension in the stands, although scoring early in the second half obviously helps with that. The first half atmosphere was good too though. We weren’t creating too much and given the high stakes some tension would have been understandable, but there was no sense of panic and I thought the crowd were great from start to finish. What happened in 2014 will have been in the back (and in some cases the front) of all of our minds, but Klopp had done his best to dismiss that in the build up and it was clear that to him and the players it was a complete non-factor. When you think about it, why would it be? The one player who might have been thinking of it was Hendo, who was sat in the stands that day unable to do anything about it as he was suspended (thanks to Victor fucking Moses and his hospital pass. Twat). Given the way the skipper has been playing of late and the desire and determination he has, I was convinced he’d put in a big performance. He did. They all did. Trent was in the stadium that day too. He was a ball boy. He knew what that result did to the psyche of the fans as he’s one himself. Now, as a player, he was in a position to help slay that demon. He’s still only a kid himself, but what a performance he put in. I genuinely don’t think most people realise just how good he is you know. He’s incredible. He’ll be one of the best players in the world one day, regardless of what position he ends up in. So gifted. For the rest of the lads though 2014 had no relevance. It’s the fans who were scarred by it, not these players or this manager, and it showed by the calmness and maturity in their performance. The first half was fine, not a great deal wrong with it at all and certainly there were no nerves in evidence. Sometimes it just takes a while to break teams down and you need to be patient, which I thought we were. Chelsea set up to play defensively and hit us on the break, so it wasn’t easy for us. We created a few chances, not too many clear cut ones but some of the approach play was good and I thought we looked quite sharp. We weren’t helped by the wind though. It was especially noticeable any time a quick switch of play to Robbo or Sadio was attempted. A few times that ball was on but it hung up in the air and allowed Azpilicueta to recover his position. Balls over the top were difficult too, but for Chelsea it was easier in the first half and a few times they were able to get the ball into space for Willian to chase. Trent dealt with him very well though, and with Fabinho patrolling in front of the two centre halves Hazard was hardly able to get on the ball. One early tackle that won the ball and left Hazard in a heap needing treatment really got the crowd going. Great that, and good refereeing from Michael Oliver too who was in position and saw that the ball was won cleanly. I don’t know whether Hazard was genuinely hurt or not, but I suspect he was fine as it was clear from early on that Chelsea wanted to break up the play and waste time whenever possible. Azpilicueta actually had the cheek to go and complain to Oliver about that challenge and wanted a yellow card for Fabinho. He was trying to confront the official but was struggling to get past big Virg who was having none of it. Love that. It’s funny how sometimes you can completely misjudge a player. I’ve always seen Azpilicueta as a Steve Finnan type. Quiet, unassuming, good pro who just does his job. Watching him in this game it hit me just how wrong I was. He’s a proper little twat him. I guess if you spend as long at Chelsea as he has that it’s almost inevitable. He was lucky not to be sent off in this game. Oliver was quite lenient on the whole, but I don’t mind that as long as it’s consistent, which he was. He had a good game and is comfortably the least shit of a massively shit current crop of officials. He did miss a penalty when Salah was kicked on the shin by Luiz. Yes, he went down easily, but it's still a foul. And spare me the 'Salah diving again' nonsense. I've lost count of the amount of times he's stayed on his feet after being fouled, only to be given fuck all for it. If you don't go down you don't get a penalty, so where's the incentive to stay up? It's not in the spirit of the game some will say. That's true, but then financial doping is not in the spirit of the game either but nobody seems to want to bring that up, do they? Luiz didn't get the ball and he kicked Salah on the shin. Probably should have been a pen but I'd agree that it wasn't a stonewaller like the two that Naby hasn't been given this season. In fairness it was a difficult one for Oliver to see and I'm not being too critical of him for it. I do wonder what VAR would have made of this one though, as it isn't a clear one either way. Anyway, in between all the stoppages and time wasting, we were dominating the game without really creating too much. The best opening fell to Salah, who didn’t connect properly with a volley that went straight at the keeper. Mané had a chance too, firing just wide after positive play from Mo cutting in from the right. Hendo then saw a shot deflected behind off Luiz after a lovely cushioned header by Mo had set him up. At the other end Chelsea had two chances. Willian broke away and made room for a shot which he surprisingly put wide, while Hazard showed brilliant footwork to make space for himself in the box but his left foot strike from a tight angle was never going to trouble Alisson. They were warning signs though. As much as we were on top, Chelsea have that quality up top with Hazard (and to a lesser extent Willian) to hurt anyone. The much hyped Hudson-Odoi was completely anonymous though. Considering what was at stake I wasn't too anxious at half time. Of course I was a little concerned, but I was still confident we'd get the job done. We were playing alright but it just needed a slight raise in the tempo, and that’s exactly what we got after the break. You could tell as soon as the second half kicked off that the lads had the bit between their teeth. They had Chelsea penned back and wouldn’t let them out. Our intensity was too much for them and Sarri’s approach made things even more difficult for Chelsea. He just won’t compromise on his style at all will he? They kept trying to pass it out from the back and they kept being forced into errors because of it. It’s asking for trouble playing like that against us, and that Jorginho lad has clearly never watched us play because he seemed to think he had all day in possession. Every time he got it I expected us to nick it from him, and we usually did. He's not cut out for the Premier League him, he's a huge flop. Even the normally accomplished David Luiz was struggling to find team-mates and knocked the ball out for throw ins a few times. Sarri-ball is not going to work against us and he’d have been better off sticking Giroud up front and letting Hazard play off him. I’m glad he didn’t. I’m also glad he did us a big favour by starting Hazard through the middle. I was made up when I saw that. It was a massive relief. Very few players genuinely scare me but Hazard tops that list by a mile. Aguero always worries me too, as does Son. It's mostly Hazard though, as not only is he a great player but he always seems to save his best performances for us. He doesn’t like playing through the middle though and it genuinely seems like a stupid thing to do as he sees less of the ball in that position and has less room to operate in. It also meant he was up against two centre halves as well as Fabinho, which favours us massively. We controlled him quite easily, but the instant he was moved out wide everything changed and he started to run amok. By that point we were already 2-0 up, but if he’d taken one of the two great chances that came his way it would have been an unbearable last 15 minutes or so. It was a wild second half really. We were so good at times and they couldn’t live with it. We just wanted it more. We were pressing them, snapping into challenges, not giving them a second’s peace. The opener was the perfect example of it. Salah attempted a one two with Bobby, but the return pass didn’t reach him and was cut out by Emerson. Mo didn’t give it up though and challenged the full back, who wasn’t strong enough and just fell over. Hendo reacted quickest to seize on the loose ball and then clipped a perfect ball to the back stick where Mané had an easy header. Anfield went mad, but no-one lost it more than Hendo who was just so fired up that he ran off and celebrated on his own while his team-mates ran to congratulate Mané. I love that. With some players that could be seen as a bit of a self centred act, but it’s Hendo and you know it’s just because of how much it means to him. He wants it as much as any one of us does, he’s fucking desperate to do it and I love him for it. I can think of few things that would be sweeter than the sight of him lifting the Premier League trophy. While it was industry, endeavour and will to win that made that first goal, I don’t know what you’d put the second one down to. Karma perhaps? It wasn’t your typical Salah goal that’s for sure. Usually he goes for placement rather than brute force, but this was just fucking stunning. From my seat I had a great view of it and the moment that ball left his boot I was celebrating. It was only ever going in one place, you could tell even before it hit the net. The only thing missing was a nutmeg on Steve Staunton. That strike was pure Fowler. The great man himself was there looking on and made the same comparison afterwards, although he reckoned his was more difficult because he had to beat a defender! He’s probably right, but this goal was more memorable because of the occasion. And because it was Mo, against Chelsea. With a title on the line. The reaction of Margaret Aspinall hugging Kenny was something else too. No other club has this kind of thing. It’s part of why so many of them seem to hate us so much. I know that sounds a little corny, but it's true. Who else in England has anything like that? Who else can create an atmosphere like this, with the flags, banners, noise? No-one, that's who. And after what happened with some of their away following in Prague this week, there’s a poetic irony that Chelsea were beaten by goals from two muslim lads. They chanted about him being a bomber and he proved them right by unleashing a rocket that blew up right in their faces. Those racist dickheads in Prague were responsible for this, as not only was it a scummy thing to be chanting, it was also poking fate with a big stick. Karma can be a beautiful thing sometimes. The decent Chelsea fans know where the blame lies for this one. And there are decent Chelsea fans. Plenty of them. It’s easy to forget that because of the sheer volume of helmets that follow them. I don’t know what shocked me more - Mo’s wonder strike or the impeccably observed minute’s silence for the 96. I’m loathe to praise anyone for doing something that should be a given, but having been utterly convinced that there’d be some knobheads in the away end disrupting it, it’s only fair to say I was wrong. I’m relieved for all the decent Chelsea fans that they didn’t have to suffer the embarrassment of a few dickheads shaming them all again. In fact, the worst incident of fan behaviour was one of ours throwing a smoke bomb into the away end. Just no fucking need. We’re winning the game, that’s punishment enough for them. Why do something that’s going to make us look like the dickheads? At 2-0 the game went a bit crazy. We had the bit between our teeth and knew Chelsea were on the ropes. One more goal would finish them completely and it looked like we’d get it. The stadium was bouncing (all four sides of the ground were on their feet belting out Allez Allez Allez) and we all got a little carried away and almost paid the price. Sarri had sneaked Higuain on while we were all partying and Hazard now suddenly had the freedom to do his thing. For five minutes or so we were all over the place and they got in behind us three times. Hazard hit the post when he seemed certain to score and he put another one straight at Alisson. Higuain waddled in behind us too at one point, but thankfully he’s a fraud and was unable to punish us. We just needed to calm things down as this was all going a bit ‘last season’. For the most part this season we’ve been more pragmatic and sensible when leading, and we’ve not done anything stupid. We were 2-0 up and didn’t need to play at 100mph trying to score more. The first Hazard chance should have been the signal to shut things down for a bit and keep the ball, but it took the introduction of Wijnaldum to do that. Keita was the obvious one to make way, not because of how he’d played but because he was beginning to tire and we needed the calming presence of Gini out there. Naby was good though. He’s looking much more comfortable now and it speaks volumes that he was selected to start the game. A few weeks ago that seemed unthinkable. The midfield is functioning well at the moment though. Fabinho bossed this game and Henderson was terrific again. He had to go off with a knock that he picked up when making a crucial tackle to stop a Chelsea break. The reception he got as he left the field was rapturous. I’ve said it before, but the way Henderson is viewed by the crowd does not tie in with how he’s talked about on social media. I’m not saying he never gets any stick at the game, but it’s not proportionate with the warped view I often see of him on Twitter. He even had his name sung a couple of times in this one. Two different songs too. Made up for him. Milner came on and with him and Gini settling things down, the rest of the game passed with very little incident. Once we saw out that mad 5-10 minute spell after it went 2-0 I never felt there was any way we’d concede. Not least because Chelsea were still trying to pass it out from the keeper and putting themselves in trouble. If I’d been a Chelsea fan I’d have been fucking fuming at the last ten minutes of this game. Where was their urgency? It was bizarre. It looked like they gave up, but then this is a side that conceded six at Man City so their temperament is clearly in question. They probably knew when Hazard missed those two chances that they were done. We were much better than them all over the park. Trent was brilliant, some of his passing was sublime and he also pulled off a Cruyff turn that will have had Adam Lallana sagely nodding in approval in the stands (and probably pulling a neck muscle in the process). Big Joel was terrific too. His only blemish was trying to play offside and letting Hazard in for the chance that Alisson saved. Other than that, he was outstanding again. Big Virg was Big Virg, Fabinho was monstrous, Robbo was solid, I’ve already spoke about Keita and Hendo, and the front three were all brilliant. I gave all of the forward line 9 out of 10 in my ratings for ESPN. Sadio was razor sharp and tormented Azpilicueta throughout. The experienced full back was booked in the first half and then got away with a forearm block in the second that should have seen him given a second yellow. Sadio has been fucking boss since the turn of the year. Mo looked really sharp and dangerous throughout too. The goal was great, but what I also liked was his willingness to look for team-mates when he was running into the box. Sometimes he gets too pre-occupied with trying to score himself, but this was the Salah from last season. Great to see. Loved how much ‘umph’ there was in his celebrations too. The pick of the forwards was Firmino though. I’m not giving him the star man, that honour has to go to Salah because of the incredible goal, but Bobby was immense. The second half especially. He was good in the first half too but at times he held onto the ball a little too long. After the break though he was phenomenal. The touch, the intelligence, the running. The fucking running. He didn’t stop, he was perpetual motion. The only thing missing was a goal. It was close to being the perfect number nine performance. He’s been a bit up and down this season but like Salah he seems to have come into form at just the right time. The crowd are responding to it and Anfield has been electric these last few weeks. I’m not sure I can ever remember the place being louder than when Mo’s shot hit the net. It really was something else. I doubt anything will ever top the atmosphere of that ’05 semi against them, but in terms of a one off reaction to a goal, this is right up there with anything I’ve experienced. We’ve had so many of those moments this season that we will look back on as being “defining” if we do go on to win it, and this goal is certainly one of them. The Spurs own goal is obviously another, as is the Hendo celebration at Southampton. There’s loads actually, although Divock’s derby winner currently tops the list. We have to win it though for those moments to live forever. Otherwise it will be like Lovren’s Dortmund winner. Does anyone really think about that anymore? Funnily enough, Klopp actually referenced it afterwards when he compared it with Sadio’s goal, and my reaction was “oh yeah, I forgot about that”. Not winning the Europa League that year basically ruined that amazing moment against Dortmund. Losing last year’s final to Madrid didn’t wipe out all the great things that happened along the way to Kiev, but they don’t mean as much when you don’t get the trophy. It doesn’t take anything away from the achievements themselves, it just means they aren’t looked back on as fondly. For example, Gerrard’s winner against Olympiakos is an iconic moment in the club’s history. If Istanbul hadn’t happened though it would just be remembered as a great goal. Davie Fairclough against St Etienne too. This team has a chance to make history, but the unfortunate thing is that it’s not in their hands. That’s massively fucking unfair considering they are having the best season this club has ever had in terms of amassing points. None of our other great sides have had to contend with a Man City though. We can’t do anything about them breaching all of the financial fair play rules that the rest of us abide by, and we can’t do anything about so many of their opponents just curling up into a ball and begging “please don’t hurt us”. We can only control what we can control, and this team are controlling it admirably. Every test that’s put in front them they pass. This was a big one, make no mistake. It could so easily have gone wrong as all of the ingredients were there for it. City had won at Palace. Chelsea hadn’t lost at Anfield since 2012. We had the ghost of 2014 haunting us and then there was Hazard, who had just come into his best form of the season and seemed primed to unleash more punishment on us. Klopp and his players just don’t seem to be effected by any of that stuff though. They just take it one game at a time, don’t get too far ahead of themselves and play their football. There’s a steel, resolve and belief about them that we haven’t had in a long, long time. Five years ago we were within a whisker of winning the title but came a cropper against Chelsea at Anfield. This team has so much more about it than the 2014 vintage though (and I loved that team). The current group are just better in virtually every department (although there’s an argument to be had about which is the better forward line) and although I don’t want to say they’re luckier too (that's doing them a dis-service), let’s just say that - up to now at least - it doesn’t appear as though they’re cursed like Brendan’s team was. As if to emphasise the point, Robbo slipped over on halfway but nothing came of it. Klopp certainly saw the funny side of that, he was pissing himself on the touchline. It felt like that was a symbolic moment. For all the talk of Brendan's side bottling it and throwing the title away, what happened to Stevie and the team that day was desperately cruel and unlucky. Chelsea did absolutely nothing in that game in 2014 yet somehow won 2-0. A freakish slip and then a late counter attack, that was all they had. The big difference was that Rodgers' team panicked in the second half when they knew they needed to score. They didn’t do the things that they’d been doing all season and they lost their composure. Klopp’s team did the opposite, they played their natural game and got the job done. They were against a stronger opponent too. This Chelsea team were not camped in their own half and created three or four chances (two of them great ones) but didn’t score. Hazard hitting the post when it seemed certain to score seems quite fitting. In any other previous game between the sides he’d put that away. That he didn’t this time adds more fuel to the ever increasing fire that maybe this year it’s going to be different for us. It’s not that we’re getting loads of good luck, it’s more than we’re not being plagued by bad luck. Not yet anyway. There’s still four games left and plenty of time for that kick in the face that usually comes our way. If these lads don’t win the title though it’ll be a travesty. Some will argue that it’s the same for City. If they miss out they’ll also be the second placed team with the most points in history. The difference is that they’ve cheated the system to get where they are and therefore deserve fuck all. The Ben Johnson of football. Fuck them, the cheating cunts. This team deserves a title. In fact, after last year and the whole Ramos / Salah / Karius thing they deserve a European Cup too. If there’s any justice in this world they’ll get them both, but it's 30 years to the day since 96 Reds went to a game and didn’t come home. We're still waiting for someone to be held to account, so we of all people know that justice is not something you can ever rely on in this world. RIP and Justice for the 96. Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho; Henderson (Milner), Keita (Wijnaldum); Salah (Shaqiri), Firmino, Mané:

In a week where Mo Salah made the headlines entirely not of his own making, the Egyptian superstar gave the perfect response to the 'fans' of his former club in the best way he knows how, by letting his football do the talking as Liverpool defeated Chelsea 2-0 on Sunday evening.In a clash that had a whole lot of meaning for both clubs albeit for different reasons, it was always going to come down to which of the many stars on the pitch could rise to the occasion.After a first half stalemate where not a lot was given away by either side, it came down to three minutes early in the second half which could prove incredibly pivotal come May.Firstly, Sadio Mane was on the end of some good work by Jordan Henderson as he headed home from close range.But what was to come will be regarded as a special Anfield memory for a long, long time.After receiving the ball from Virgil Van Dijk, Salah unleashed a stunning, angled 25-yard strike which left Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa as an onlooker, and led to complete bedlam in the crowd.For the man himself, Salah said his instinct completely took over. The Official site reported Salah as saying:"I don't think, I just feel!""Normally I shoot [with the] inside of the foot but this one - because it's far [out] - I just hit it with power."I was a bit lucky that the ball hit the net like that."While many will view it as a certain candidate for goal of the season, the humble superstar says he rates it behind another one of his strikes for the Reds, that being his goal in the Merseyside Derby last season which won the Puskas award in 2018."I will always choose [the Everton] one," he added. "This is my favourite because it's my first derby."I think I used everything good - the strength, the technique and the skills."If we manage to win the title, Mo will look back on this strike as a very significant moment in his career.

It has been a moment that has played on the mind of many individuals associated with the club for the best part of five years, but Jurgen Klopp has said the victory over Chelsea on Sunday has put 'the slip' to bed once and for all.The manager was asked a series of questions at his pre-match press conference on Friday about the moment in 2014 against the same opposition which was so pivotal in deciding the title that season.But Klopp maintained it had never crossed his mind until the questions were to put to him.Add to the fact that the German was not even at the club at the time and this is a whole new group of players. So in reality, the issue was not really relatable to this present situation.However, when a none too dissimilar moment occurred in the last ten minutes of the game, unpleasant memories would have come flooding back.On this occasion, it was Andy Robertson who lost his footing in the middle part of the pitch, but thankfully unlike Steven Gerrard's misfortune in 2014, there was sufficient defensive cover, plus the fact that the Reds had a two goal buffer.The moment was not lost on Jurgen Klopp after the match with ESPN reporting the manager as saying:"At this point, we can finally close the slipping book -- Robbo slipped and nothing happened, so it's not a Liverpool thing," . "Done. All good"The match against the West London outfit was always going to be a stern test of their title credentials as the Blues were fighting for a top four position.The first 45 minutes was a tense affair and while the Reds controlled the tempo, they could not find a way to open the door to the Chelsea defence.It needed a piece of guile and some brilliance to make the difference.Cometh the moment, cometh the duo as Sadio Mane and Mo Salah struck within the space of three minutes to send a already heaving Anfield into absolute raptures.The playmaking renaissance of Jordan Henderson continued as he produced a pin-point cross onto the head of Mane who finished from close range, and then Salah displayed a piece of brilliance that only a very few players can produce with a screamer from 25 yards that left Kepa grasping at thin air in the Chelsea goal. Klopp said he was lost for words after the stunning strike."It blew me away."I was really happy. I saw it really well; maybe I saw it first the ball would go in. It was a really, really outstanding finish. And I don't want to minimise that but I loved the first goal exactly the same."It immediately reminded me of the 4-3 against Borussia Dortmund, only Hendo [Jordan Henderson] instead of Millie [James Milner] and Sadio instead of Dejan [Lovren], but a similar situation with this wonderful cross in that area and really good team play."The performance was really good, but to really make it happen you need the goals and we got them, all good."Klopp was also in awe of another tremendous Anfield atmosphere which was mixed with a touch of poignancy after the death of club legend Tommy Smith on Friday and the 30th Anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy on Monday.It was a win against a team who had no fears of coming to Anfield, having not tasted defeat on the ground for seven years."I am so proud of what the boys did, and I loved, loved, loved the atmosphere -- it was outstanding what the people did. You could feel it, they are all on their toes, so let's try to do that seven more times and then we see what we get for it."Klopp said the focus of his team is not on title rival Man City and they will only focus on what they can control."The biggest challenge for us is always facing the world outside -- you [journalists] and other people -- because we don't think like that.“They [City] win [against Crystal Palace] and [did it] ask a question for us? If we think about them, yes, and if we don't think about them, no. We play our game.”What we want to do is collect as many points as possible, really -- 85 points, four games to play, that means [we can get] 97.“Good, let's try. Let's try that. If that's enough, perfect, and if not, we cannot change it."

Saturday Apr 6: Another week another City goal inside the opening ten minutes. At least this time it wasn’t in the league. Brighton did alright and kept the score at 1-0. They might have done even better if the ref (and VAR) had sent that tit Kyle Walker off for a headbutt. Not only is he shite, he’s fucking thick. I’m glad he didn’t get sent off because he’s our best chance of them dropping points, so I don’t want him suspended. I guarantee he’ll do something shit and braindead between now and the end of the season. The only question is whether they score enough goals for it to not matter. Hopefully not. Maybe Wilf will tear him a new one next weekend? Two goals for Harry Wilson today. He hasn’t done much of late and Derby have been struggling, so it’s nice to see him back among the goals. His mate Ben Woodburn scored today too, a penalty in the u23s 3-2 win over Chelsea. Curtis Jones got a late winner as the lads came from 2-0 down to win it late. Chelsea had a young lad playing right back who looked fucking dynamite. Tariq Lamptey, he plays for England at youth level and he looks brilliant. Defo worth keeping an eye on him and maybe snapping him up when he gets fed up of never getting a chance. Staying at youth level, our u18s still have an outside shot at the title after they won 2-1 at home to Wolves. Bobby Duncan scored again, goal number 29 of the season (he has 21 assists too), and the other was a belter by Jake Cain. Like Molby’s goal against Norwich back in the day, only a bit closer in and from the opposite side of the bench. Lovely hit though. Sunday Apr 7: My Boy Troy is in the FA Cup Final. Good for him, he deserves it as he’s done it the hard way. Everything he’s got he’s had to scrap for, and this will mean the world to him because he’s an 80s throwback and the FA Cup actually meant something back then. The interview he gave afterwards was great, it genuinely brought a lump to my throat. He doesn’t take himself too seriously and there’s a self deprecating charm about Deeney. I’d love to see him lifting the FA Cup, and not just because it would mean he’s beaten City. Ok, it’s mostly because it would mean he’d beaten City, but I’d be genuinely happy for him too. The downside to Watford winning is that Wolves are not in the final. Not that I care about Wolves or have any preference for them over Watford, but if Wolves had gotten there they’d have rested everyone when they come to Anfield on the last day. Now they’ll be full strength and we know they’re dangerous against the better sides. Not ideal. Monday Apr 8: Hazard warmed up for the weekend by destroying West Ham with one of the best individual performances of the season. Can’t wait until he fucks off, although knowing our luck we’ll get Real Madrid next year and he’ll knock us out single handedly. To be fair, I can live with that if he goes easy on us this Sunday. Some talk today that Origi may be in line for a new contract. I was told last week that the club expect him to still be here next season, which surprised me a little. I’ve flip-flopped on Origi so many times. He’s boss, he’s shit, he’s alright, he’s shit, he’s not bad, he’s shit, he’s decent… Where I am right now is that I wouldn’t be against him staying, and I’m really rooting for him because I love the attitude he’s shown this season. He was completely out in the cold but trained his arse off and waited for an opportunity, and whenever he’s had that opportunity he’s given everything he had to try and make the most of it. I think back to Wolves in the cup. Not a great game from him, but his attitude was fucking great and put some others (notably Sturridge) to shame. He plays like a lad who is determined to make the most of every second he gets on the pitch and I appreciate that. If we don’t plan on signing another top forward this summer though I worry for us a little next year. The plan seems to be to keep Origi and bring Brewster through, which seems risky to me. They absolutely love Brewster. I just hope the faith they have in him is justified. Tuesday Apr 9: L 2 Porto 0 Good result, so so performance. I liked the first half, although we were a little bit too open at times and I think that probably influenced how the second half went, as Jurgen is more pragmatic these days and no doubt wanted to avoid a repeat of Roma bagging a couple of away goals. Hendo and Naby were really god and there was a nice balance to the midfield. I’d be tempted to go with them again on Sunday but I reckon Gini will get the nod. He’s usually boss in the big games so that’s fair enough. Tell you what was fucking weird tonight though. Sturridge getting on for the last ten. Why? What’s the point? It basically puts us down to ten men and I’d love to know what he’s done to deserve that when poor little Shaq can’t get on. Shaq almost got ten seconds at the end but the ref blew the whistle before he got the chance to come on. All very odd. In the other game tonight, Spurs deservedly beat City in an incident packed game. Aguero missed a pen, Kane and Alli both went off injured and Fernandinho showed that it’s not just PL refs that he’s got incriminating photos of by once again getting away with fucking murder. Good for Spurs, I hope they can see it through now (even if it means less games for City) but I expect they’ll go out in the most heartbreaking manner possible, because they’re Spurs. It was funny seeing some Spurs fans on social media now talking about how they want us to win the league. Bet they weren’t saying that before tonight. I get it though. Familiarity breeds contempt and by the time they’ve played that third game against City I suspect most Spurs fans will be wanting us to do it because they’ll despise City after that. Wednesday Apr 3: That United / Barca game was funny, not least because of the coverage from BT. I sat and watched most of it but couldn’t reconcile the commentary with what I was actually seeing on the pitch. I saw Barca win the game without getting out of second gear. They were sloppy, barely threatened at all and did not play well by any stretch of the imagination. But they were in total command of the game and never, at any stage, ever, looked like conceding. Yet the BT commentary was all about how well United were doing, how poor Barca looked and how Scott McTominay was playing like some kind of Bryan Robson / Roy Keane hybrid. It was utterly fucking mental. Normally I’d suggest that the commentators were blinded by their desire to see United do well, but one of them was McManaman so that’s not the case. It was so weird that I began to question my own judgement. Was I misreading it so badly? No, because everyone else other than the BT commentators seemed to see it the same way. I mean fucking hell, they even completely brushed off Smalling’s assault on Messi that left poor little Leo with a bloody nose and a shiner. That was a clear red card and they dismissed it as nothing. Suarez was in full on wind up mode though. He was mocked and jeered when the goal had initially been ruled out for offside, but when VAR over-ruled it he was giving it loads to the fans behind the goal. Brought a tear to my eye it did. All the Suarez trademark scamp behaviour was on show. The highlights were: The old kick the ball at an opponents hand and then repeatedly slap the palm of his right hand against his left wrist while screaming ‘handball’. The late in the game collapse to the floor holding the back of his head after an aerial duel even though replays show there was no contact. As always, that was followed by the grimace and constant rubbing the back of the head, then examining the hands for blood. God I miss him. He best not pull any of that shit when we play them in the semis though, or I shall be most cross. Yeah yeah, I know, neither of us are in the semis yet and there’s a chance we could still go out, but there’s absolutely no way United are turning this around. They used up ten years worth of luck against PSG. They do have the players to hurt Barca win the break, but Messi and Suarez will tear them apart. I just hope Phil Jones plays in the second leg, just to add to the comedy value of it all. What’s that now, five defeats in six? Ole’s at the wheel…. Thursday Apr 4: Chelsea were away in Europe tonight which means there was always going to be some sort of video circulating to embarrass them. Every club has it’s dickheads, but Chelsea have far more than most. They’re like Diet Millwall. The video of those lowlifes, pissed in a bar and singing about Mo says more about this country as a whole than it does Chelsea in my opinion. The country is full of cunts like them, and they don’t all follow Chelsea. Some of them are in fucking parliament. It’s not just a Chelsea problem, it’s more of an English problem. It takes a special breed of pond life to dislike Salah, who is widely regarded as a genuinely lovely fella. He’s a former Chelsea player too, which makes this even more cunty because it isn’t even like he left them under a cloud. Mo is a muslim playing for the scousers though. Two things the far right in this country despise most. While these pricks don’t represent all Chelsea fans, it’s a safe bet that Mo will be booed by the away end on Sunday, and if that happens it will be explained away as him being a former Chelsea player. So presumably Kevin De Bruyne gets the same level of animosity then? Meanwhile, there’s talk today of a record breaking kit deal and that it won’t be with New Balance. While our last couple of home kits have actually been really nice, I can’t say I’m a fan of NB in general, especially their trainers which all scream out “Hi-Tech Silver Shadow” to me. Nike are the front runners at this point but I’d happily take a few quid less from Adidas, if only because they could then release the old retro shirts and have them look authentic, rather than what we have now, which is the same shirt but without the three stripes and Adidas logo. I’d quite like the 85/86 home and away shirts with the Adidas logo on. In fact, they should just make that the new home and away shirts. Tell Nike to do one, let’s keep it old school. Friday Apr 12: How sad was it seeing Sean Cox at that benefit game? Utterly heartbreaking, it’s a fucking scandal what happened to that poor fella and his family. It’s great to see how football has rallied around him and hopefully all this makes it a bit easier for his family, but it’s still just incredibly sad. More sad news then came when we learned that Tommy Smith passed away today. I know he splits opinion and Tommy Smith the person rightly isn’t held in the same regard as Tommy Smith the player. His treatment of Howard Gayle was abhorrent, and there are countless other examples of him being a thoroughly unpleasant individual at times (an disgusting interview in the late 80s was a particular low point). The Tommy Smith of that time had some pretty vile views, but maybe he moved with the times and realised the error of his ways? I’d like to think he looked back on some of the things he said and the views he had and was ashamed by them, and I doubt he felt the same way in his later years that he did in the 80s, but I don’t know if he did or not. I’m just a little bit uneasy about judging a person’s character by views they held in the 70s and 80s, especially on the night that he died and his family are grieving. I saw one prominent journalist bringing all that up within minutes of the announcement and taking issue with people calling him a ‘legend’. Frankly that’s bollocks. Football is littered with ‘legends’ who were not nice people. Smith was no Kenny Dalglish, but then few are. He is unquestionably a football legend though, massive sweaty, puss filled warts and all. Just like George Best, Paul Gascoigne, Ryan Giggs, Bryan Robson, John Terry etc It put LFC in a somewhat awkward spot though, just one day after they put out that statement condemning all racism. Now they’re having to pay tribute to a club legend who has said some pretty horrendous things about black people. Were they supposed to ignore Tommy’s passing, or were they meant to reference his racism in their tribute to him? It's a no win situation but by not doing so they were giving an open goal to anyone who wants to point out the hypocrisy of it all. In terms of what he gave to LFC, few can match Smith. He made an immense contribution to the success of our club. That doesn’t mean his racist views were any less reprehensible, but equally it shouldn’t prevent people from mourning his passing and acknowledging the heroic things he did on the field. If you think “fuck him, he was a racist prick” and you don’t care that he’s dead, that’s perfectly fine. What isn’t fine is telling others they’re wrong for not feeling the same way. I guess it all comes down to whether you can separate Smith the man from Smith the footballer. It’s worth remembering that the fella had all manner of health issues in later life as a result of playing games after taking pain killing injections. He quite literally gave his body for LFC and he wasn’t ever suitably compensated for that. For years he was living on invalidity benefit until some blue grassed him up and got it stopped after he took a half time penalty at Wembley. So many bums have left this club as millionaires over the past 20 years, so it never sat well with me that dedicated servants like Smith had to sell his medals just so he had some cash to leave to his family. So yeah, RIP Tommy. On a lighter note, I saw an interview today with the fella who does all the teeth whitening for the stars. He did Jurgen, as well as Coutinho and Bobby. He said that when Bobby came in, he looked at the chart with the colours, picked out the whitest one (number one on the chart) and then said he wanted “Maximo! Beyond one”. They had to create a new colour just for him, the fucking loon. That was the week that was….

As it turns out, Tommy Smith's bullet header in the 1977 European Cup Final wasn't to mark the end of his career, as Barry Davies famously declared in commentary. Smith played on at Anfield for another year, but at the time most felt that this would be his Liverpool swansong and it looked like a Roy of the Rovers style ending. Terry McDermott had given the Reds the lead against Borrussia Moenchengladbach, but a stunning strike from the Dane Alan Simonsen had levelled things up in the second half. Liverpool were wobbling and needed Ray Clemence to keep the Germans at bay. Then came Smith's moment. The following extract is taken from Tommy's first autobiography, entitled Tommy Smith: I Did it the Hard Way. Even Tommy himself thought it might have been his last game for the club, but he was still here the following season and had a big part to play. He appeared in 34 games in all competitions, but was cruelly robbed of an appearance in another European Cup final when a DIY accident at home cost him a place in the team that beat Bruges at Wembley to retain the trophy. As disappointing as that must have been, at least he had the memory of that header to ease the pain.

Sadio Mane has full faith that Liverpool will start to see the best of Naby Keita after his best week in a Reds shirt since his arrival in the summer from RB Leipzig.In a season of so many positives in a team and individual sense, the performances of Keita have been somewhat underwhelming.After starting the first couple of games of the season, Keita was not helped by a few niggling injuries which set back his progress.Manager Jurgen Klopp then took the 'slowly, slowly' approach with Keita like he has done with other new signings in the past.It was also the case that other midfielders came in and did their role in an accomplished fashion.Keita was seen as someone who would give the team a bit of a 'edge' in a physical and dynamic sense as he had done at Leipzig.Despite his inconsistency, Klopp has been adamant all along that Keita will come good this season.Mane who struck up a close friendship with the midfielder in their season together at RB Salzburg in 2014/5 also was a believer, especially as he knew the struggles that Keita had early on in Austria.Sky Sports reported Mane as saying:I knew him from a long time ago, from the first time he came to Salzburg and he was the same."At the beginning at Salzburg it was very tough for him but he never stopped working hard. "He was not playing for a while and he was really positive and after he was the star of the team.“I am 100 per cent sure he will do incredibly well."Keita's last two performances have seen the 24 year-old produce his first goals for the club.It has been a moment that Naby, his teammates, the management team and all the fans have been waiting for and Mane believes it is just the beginning." The real Naby is coming still. To be honest I think we have more to see from him. "At the moment it is going well for him and everyone is very happy for him." I think goals always give him more confidence. "He scored two goals and I think it boosts his confidence." Keita certainly appreciates having someone like Mane to help him settle in, but the Senegal international is adamant that he is seeing the rewards for the hard work."I just talked to him to do what I can but Naby is a big boy so he knows how football can work and sometimes not."He knows that so he is very positive and he knows he can do more. "I am sure he can do more. I'm trying to help him and everyone in the team and the coach as well. Speaking from experience, Mane says adjusting to a new league does take time."It is not easy to move from Germany to change club, especially as the league is not the same. "It is part of the things you have to deal with and he is working hard every single day."Off the pitch I am very happy for him, he's very relaxed."Let's hope that the past seven days is just a taste of what Naby can produce on a regular basis.

It was another limited week of Premier League fixtures due to some clubs farting around in some Mickey Mouse cup competition. Such was the lack of action that we were first on MOTD even though we played Friday night. Indeed, such was the lack of action that BBC gave Gary Lineker and all their regular pundits the night off and drafted in Gabby Logan, Alex Scott and Paul Ince. Genuinely don’t know how Ince still gets any work you know. I mean, it’s ok to not be the brightest bulb in the box if you’re funny or a bit of a character (Paul Merson, Robbie Savage and Ian Wright immediately spring to mind), but Ince brings nothing to the table. And when he talks always seems like he’s terrified. Like a naughty kid in front of the headmaster. Still, at least he’s not Alan Shearer or Phil Neville, so that’s something. Anyway, after the main course of us beating Southampton, it was pretty slim pickings and next up was Bournemouth losing at home to Burnley. They took the lead when Ashley Barnes deflected the ball into his own net, but it was all downhill from there for Eddie Howe’s men. Chris Wood equalised soon after when he took advantage of a howler from Begovic to head home. Westwood then side footed Burnley ahead and Barnes wrapped it up when he benefitted from another clanger by the hapless Begovic. Begovic was dropped a few weeks back and apparently Boruc was told he’d be number one for the rest of the reason. That was until Begovic went in to see Eddie Howe and kicked off, and was promptly reinstated. He’s been shite since he came back in though. Boruc should probably go knocking on Nice Guy Eddie’s door this week. Although he’s more likely to just kick the fucking thing in, the mad bastard. Putting Begovic back in was either a stroke of genius by Howe (proving he was right to drop him in the first place) or he's a bit of a jellyfish. The home fans booed at the end and you can understand their frustration to a degree as their record since November is terrible. They started the season brilliantly but since then it’s been relegation form. They do this every year though, they’re right streaky bastards. Burnley are almost safe now though and they can make it pretty much certain by beating Cardiff this weekend. I reckon they’ll give City all they can handle in a few weeks, regardless of whether they ‘need’ to win or not. They love sticking it to the big boys and unlike most of the bottom feeders they’ll relish playing City. Especially Barnes. It wasn’t so long ago that I couldn’t stand him, but much like my boy Troy (congrats on reaching the final, big man), he’s won me over. If he scores a winner against City I might even get a tattoo of his face. On my face. Anyway, moving on. Newcastle were all over Wilfried Palace in the opening stages of their game at St James’. Rondon could have had a hat-trick and Richie also went close as the Geordies laid siege to the Palace goal. Palace then thought they’d scored with their first attack when Tomkins fired in from a corner, but their celebrations were belatedly cut short by a linesman’s flag. It was the correct decision as McArthur was stood in front of the keeper in an offside position, and he also stuck a leg out to try and get a touch on the ball (he didn’t touch it). The annoying thing though is the next time that happens there’s every chance a goal will be awarded because of how they’ve made a complete Jon Walters of the offside law. Benteke had a great chance to break the deadlock but made a predictable dogs dinner out of it. Instead of getting a shot away he unintentionally trapped the ball and ended up nearly sitting on it. Jeez. I’m struggling to think of any footballer whose form fell off a cliff as badly as Benteke’s has. I feel bad for the guy. He wasn’t brilliant, but he was pretty fucking good. Now he’s dreadful, and there’s no real explanation for it as it’s not like he’s old or ravaged by injuries. Has to be confidence really. Poor sod. Newcastle continued to dominate but Palace were dangerous on the break with Zaha and Townsend, and then they got a penalty. Of course they did. Zaha won it. Of course he did. And Milovojevic converted it. Of course he did. I think I’ll just copy and paste that each week now. Newcastle have got enough of a cushion over Cardiff for this to probably not matter. Seven points clear having played a game more. They’ll be fine. Tell you what though, Zaha was fucking mesmerising at times. He’s second only to Jamie Vardy when it comes to opposing players I most enjoy watching. He’s fucking brilliant. Speaking of Vardy, he’s loving life under Brendan isn’t he? Seven goals in six games now after he bagged two in a 4-1 win at Huddersfield on Saturday. Tielemans fired in from the edge of the box to set them on their way, and Vardy converted a stunning cross from Ricardo (superb player him) to make it 2-0. Mooy pulled one back from the spot but Vardy’s persistence won a free-kick that Maddison curled in to make it 3-1. Vardy then won and converted a penalty to wrap up a fourth straight win for Brendan’s boys. Tell you one of the many things I like about Vardy. Even though he clearly wasn’t happy under Puel he always put a shift in and did things the right way. He still gave everything he had for Puel, but the Frenchman not only didn’t play to Vardy’s strengths, he kept leaving him out. Fucking whispering weirdo. You see some top players completely mail it in when they don’t like a manager *cough* Hazard *cough* Pogba. Not Vardy though. He’s like Charlie Sheen, he only has one speed, one gear - GO! If Leicester buy well this summer they might make a run at the top six next year. If United, Arsenal or Chelsea were to take a little step backwards and Brendan continues the way he’s started, who knows. Same goes for Wolves. Watching this game though I couldn’t help but wonder what Danny Ward must have been thinking on the Leicester bench. Huddersfield’s keepers are both crap, he’s way better than them and he’s loved at Huddersfield after his playoff final heroics. Now he’s sat on Leicester’s bench without a hope in hell of ever winning a place in the team. I have no idea why he made that move, it was just weird. Onto Sunday now. Everton beat Arsenal but - full disclosure - I'm not watching MOTD2 just to write about that, so I skipped it. From what I hear, the Blues battered them and it should have been four or five. That’s Arsenal though isn’t it? They take care of business against shite at home but any time they go away into a hostile environment or against a side that might make it a bit physical, they just fucking wilt. Mesut Oil was back in the line up, so it’s no surprise how this game played out. He’s the living embodiment of modern day Arsenal. The ultimate fair weather player in a fair weather team. They put themselves into a great position to get top four and maybe even finish above Spurs, and then they go and deliver a performance like this. Pure Arsenal. Of course they then beat Napoli at the Emirates. What price them going over there and getting a proper hiding though? Massive fucking losers. They’ve lost third spot to Chelsea who beat West Ham on Monday night. Eden Hazard was the difference between the two sides as he warmed up for his inevitable dazzling Anfield showing with a stunning display capped by both goals in a 2-0 win. It might be the best individual performance by anyone all season, he was fucking ridiculous. Roll on Sunday, eh?

We return to the Bundesliga to check on the progress of young central midfielder Marko Grujic who has spent the season on loan at Hertha Berlin. The Serbian international has had an injury interrupted career and this season has been no different as he has suffered a serious ankle injury on two separate occasions In between times his form has been very impressive, winning high praise from many observers including his manager no less. Jack Woods who is a member of the UK branch of the Hertha Berlin supporters club supplied the answers to the questions. Marko was recently nominated for the Rookie of the month in the Bundesliga Can you explain the basis of that award (who nominates him/ how it is judged etc) and is it held in high esteem by the football community in Germany? Rookie of the month as far as I’m aware, is a smaller title with a little trophy to match. It’s sort of like being awarded ‘young Premier League player of the month’ in England. It isn’t like winning a World Cup golden boot but it’s a nice little award because it is a sign of recognition for their growth and progress made in the Bundesliga. I would say that the Bundesliga social media staff award it. The votes are cast by Bundesliga fans that vote via the link the social media accounts and sadly it’s almost like a popularity contest. That’s why Dortmund and Bayern players nominated are more likely to win it. Marko Must be the only player to be nominated three times and not win! Where do you think Marko ranks amongst the high level of young talent that are currently playing in the Bundesliga and do you think there is one key aspect of his play which separates him from his comtemporaries? Personally, I’d say he certainly near the top of that list. He’s not a teenager like some of these upcoming talents are but he is remarkably young. One issue for me in terms of Grujic is his concentration, it sometimes slips and it’s been visible in the last few games with misplaced passes. It happens, in every game and every player, but what’s interesting about Grujic is that he seems to not let it bother him. He made one massive error against Hoffenheim (I think) earlier this season, it led to a goal, but after that goal he stepped up and played one of his best games. What separates Grujic? I’d say his strength. He’s a decent attacking option and can score goals of which he has started the move off. We saw that against Schalke and against Düsseldorf. But also defensively, he’s extremely strong physically, yet agile. It’s not an aggressive sort of strong, rather an ability to push past other players, without committing a foul. His holding ability is also a strength, however that ability in some ways clashes with Arne Maier who is also a holding, defensive midfielder. That may be part of the problem of them playing together in the middle, one needs to be the attacking option, one the defensive (option) and it’s hard to decide who should play which role. At Liverpool Grujic also has this problem, where they’re not quite sure what role he plays or where he fits in. It’s not to say Marko is perfect. There are times we’ve seen him in a poor game, and ultimately Hertha have lost. It’s not all down to him to but it does suggest when he’s had a bad game, the entire team plays badly. When he plays a good game, the team feeds off that and it usually means a good performance. Marko seems to have carried on from where he left off before sustaining his second ankle injury of the season. What has been his best performance of 2019 to date and why was it so special? It’s such a shame that he was injured twice We could have used him in the games we lost where he was absent. But remember he wasn’t present for the victory over Bayern this season. He missed that game yet we won. That was the beginning of the season however where we did not know what impact he would have. I actually witnessed the injury in September that he sustained against Gladbach which we won 4-2. That injury could have been a lot worse than it was, it could easily have been a leg breaker and ended his season. I saw Marko the day after that incident at training. He was on crutches, and despite the brave face he admitted he was in pain...a lot of pain. It was worse than it looked for him. Despite that it seemed he recovered well. But that second injury was just frustrating and whilst he came back strong scoring against Frankfurt and giving some strong performances, the problem has been that the team has not as a whole, gelled in the Rückrunde. It’s hard to pick out a particular performance but his Frankfurt goal was a good one for him. Same against Schalke, both home and away, not only because of the goals but his reaction to them. His Schalke game where we drew 2-2 was one of his best. He was extremely alert to everything. It was a lapse in defensive concentration that led to us not winning that game. The passion he has for the game shows in those moments and whilst Hertha aren’t doing that well now, it seems he has adapted well to life in Berlin and actually enjoys being here. Hertha has averaged more than one extra point on average with Marko in the side this season (1.9-0.7). In your view, what are the key factors which makes him so important to the performance of the team? Strength in that midfield. It’s not to say the likes of (Per Ciljan) Skjelbred don’t have that but Grujic has a massive commanding presence in that middle. He can create and defend, he’s an all rounder but again he’s not perfect and his capable of making errors. The tables have turned a little now. Hertha have lost four in a row even with Grujic in the side, but that’s not down to any downturn in his personal performance. It’s a team game, Grujic is a team player, his understanding of the game is high up on the scale where sadly some of our other players just don’t have that natural ability. Now that Marko has finally been able to put a run of games together, what would like to see from him between now and the end of the season? I’d like to see Liverpool let him go and him sign a contract! An extension of the loan or just sign... but it probably won’t happen. I’d like to see him get a handful more goals at least and maybe work on the few flaws he has. A position slightly higher up the pitch could provide the chance to create more. But then he runs the risk of becoming a number 10. Which is not a natural position for him in this set up. Seeing him progress as a player is nice, but what hurts slightly is that he’s progressing as a Liverpool player, not as a Hertha one because the finished product sadly doesn’t belong to us. Are you aware of any dialogue between the two teams in terms of extending the loan for another season or agreeing to a permanent deal. There are only rumours circulating about his future. From the Liverpool end it seems they are ok to sell him, but the price may be too much for Hertha despite Marko’s comments about staying here in Berlin. The rumour is €20m plus, and another loan season in Berlin. This however would’ve been easier to achieve, had Hertha made the European spots. Without that, most fans are resigned to the belief that Marko is heading back to Merseyside. €20m is not an impossible asking price. But Hertha would have to compile a hell of a lot of savings to afford that. It all depends on Liverpool now. It seems (Hertha general manager) Michael Preetz has spoken to Liverpool about the future of Grujic here. There were rumours that Preetz has inquired about an extension of the loan at the players request. It was also rumoured that Liverpool had declined that request despite Grujic claiming he’d like to remain here at least another season. In addition, has Marko said anything publicly about his future? Publicly? Nah, players know better than to make suggestions. But in interviews he has made statements about wanting to remain in Berlin as his future at Liverpool was either in doubt or he needed another season to keep developing as he’s not a part of Klopp’s current plans. So far it seems he isn’t guaranteed football in Liverpool where as he is guaranteed football here. But the question is if he wants to remain in Berlin if they are not in any European competition? It would nice to see the Serb for at least another season, especially if a new coach was brought in. A new co trainer is incoming anyway with Raine leaving for Stuttgart at the end of the season. It would be interesting to see what they could do with Grujic’s development. But sadly the entire equation does not include Hertha and the future of Marko lay in the hands of Liverpool. Marko himself has admitted that despite wanting to stay if he had the option, he has zero control over his own future. That’s the problem with loans. Perhaps Liverpool will be kind and listen to their own player, it would benefit us if they did.

Emre Can has spoken about about his difficulties adjusting to a Jurgen Klopp training regime and why he decided to leave the club to join Juventus.The talented but inconsistent German made 167 appearances for the Reds in four seasons at the club after been signed by Brendan Rodgers in the summer of 2014.Blessed with a imposing physique, he seemed to have plenty of attributes needed to be a success in the Premier League.However, one of his major failings seemed to be his work ethic. The inability to truly push himself to the next level, something which the top players do no questions asked.Can admits he struggled to come to grips with the tough training regime employed his fellow German. It wasn't fun, like an evening spent at kiwicasinos.However if he thought that was tough, he was in for a rude awakening after joining Italian giants Juventus on a free transfer last summer. The Liverpool Echo (via Goal) reported Can as saying:"I already complained to Jurgen Klopp about the hard training in Liverpool. "But the training here at Juventus is a bit tougher."We have to run even more, do more strength training. "It was a big challenge for me at the beginning. But now my body has got used to it.”Can was offered a new deal by the Reds, but he felt he needed a new challenge, and the opportunity to play for the club of his football idol in Zinedine Zidane.The midfielder said while his manager was disappointed in his decision, he accepted it and the pair remain in close contact."He was disappointed. He wanted me to stay in Liverpool, but accepted my decision."He also knew that it was not a decision against him or against Liverpool, but for a new challenge at Juventus."I had a wonderful and memorable time in Liverpool and will always be grateful to all the people who have supported me there."Just like his time with the Reds, there have been glimpses of his best, sprinkled with some average performances in his first season with the Turin based club.The 25 year-old has only made 17 starts from his 31 appearances in 2018/9.However with the comments that he has made, perhaps the penny has finally dropped for the midfielder, who will be hoping for a reunion with his former club in Madrid for the Champions League final. If you enjoy sports betting online it could be worth a flutter on Juve and Liverpool both making it to the final. Can knows there is no time like the present to do the hard yards which will then see him get the most out of his potential.Time will tell.

A two goal lead and a clean sheet is a good night’s work. We’re not through yet but it would take an uncharacteristic defensive collapse for us to miss out on the semis now. Personally I thought Porto looked useful though so I’m taking nothing for granted yet. It’s a mark of how far we’ve come that a win like this is just seen as fairly routine now. Nothing to get overly excited about. In fact, there may even be an element of disappointment from some. We played alright, but it was generally third gear stuff. As I said, we’ve come a long way. The first half was good, the second half not so much. I wonder whether the way we played in the second half had anything to do with the Roma game last season though. 5-0 up and yet by the end of the second leg were hanging on and going through by a single goal margin because we conceded two away goals late on in the first leg. The first half in this one was end to end, thrilling stuff. Maybe Klopp didn't like that and thought we were too open? The second was certainly much more low key, as we played at a lower tempo and didn’t try to force it too much. Porto seemed to retreat into their shell a bit more too. In the first half they had a right go and seemed determined to not go home without an away goal or two. It made for an open, exciting opening 45 minutes. We went ahead very early courtesy of a deflected Keita strike. Lovely move, but the finish was somewhat lucky as Casillas looked like he probably had it covered until he was wrong footed by the deflection. That’s two goals in two games for Naby, both of them massively deflected (maybe he's becoming the new Lampard). They all count though and it seems to have helped his confidence no end. I loved Milner’s role in that goal too. He wasn’t content to just go in and win the ball, he made sure he knew exactly where it was going and he put it perfectly into space to set Mané away. Proper veteran know how that. Clever play from Bobby too to come short and collect the ball before rolling it to Naby. Just good football all round. We were rolling in that first half, helped considerably by how open Porto were playing. We don’t face that kind of approach very often and there’s a good reason for that, because it usually results in our forwards running wild. They threatened to do it in this game but it wasn’t quite happening, especially for Mo. He caused the Porto left back all manner of problems in the first half and should have scored when he went clean through after collecting a terrible backpass. Last season that was an automatic goal. This year it’s a 50-50 chance. It’s not like it was a terrible miss though, it was unlucky more than anything. But ‘unlucky’ was nowhere to be seen last season when he was banging in 44 goals. This was very unfortunate because he was impeded by a defender as he went through, and if he’d gone down it would have been a certain red card for Felipe. Mo rode the challenge but his momentum had gone, meaning the option of going around Casillas was no longer there. Instead he had to aim for a tiny gap and the ball rolled inches wide. Frustrating, but not particularly damaging as we scored soon after anyway. What a goal too. The pass from Hendo to split the defence and put Trent in was pure class. The ball across from Trent was perfect and Bobby had the simplest of tap ins. Glad to see he didn’t go with the ‘no look finish’ on that. No need to take any risks when you’re connecting with a cross coming at pace. Another 5-0 looked on the cards at this point but in fairness Porto always carried a threat and they could (probably should) have pulled one back and really thrown the cat among the pigeons with an away goal. Not for the first (or last) time, Marega found space in the channel behind Lovren and Trent and it needed a smart save from Alisson to deny him. Seconds later Alisson got into a mess when instead of catching a loose ball, he inexplicably just patted it onto the arm of Trent who was covering round the back post. That led to a VAR review, and as we know from the World Cup you can never be sure how those things are going to go, especially with handball decisions. Some of the VAR handball decisions in that tournament were mind bogglingly shit, so any time they go to the video you have to be a little concerned. It was never a penalty in a million years as there was nothing Trent could have done about it and it was point blank range, but the fact is we’ve seen them given. Thankfully common sense prevailed this time, but what the hell was Alisson doing? He’s had far too many of these ‘what the fuck’ moments but thankfully most of them have come to nothing. As well as being a better keeper than Karius and Mignolet, he’s also much luckier than them too as he’s gotten away with murder at times this season. I just hope he doesn't cost us over the next few weeks by doing something stupid. Porto’s tails were up now though and from the resulting corner they should have scored but again Marega’s finishing let him down, as this time he shot straight at Alisson when anything either side of him would have been a goal. He was a right handful that Marega though. His movement was great and he was constantly getting in behind. He gave our backline loads of problems but he didn’t give Alisson many, because he kept missing the target. The movement of Jamie Vardy but the finishing of Stuart Barlow. He’ll need to be watched carefully in the second leg though because it’s unlikely he’ll be this wild in his finishing for a second time. The end to end stuff continued and Bobby could have had a second but couldn’t keep his shot down. Difficult chance on his left foot, but the build up was glorious again. Nice driving run and pass to Henderson by Keita, and a lovely pick out from the skipper to drop it right at Bobby’s feet. That move typified the performance of the two box to box midfield lads. Naby and Hendo were both excellent and were involved in virtually everything good we produced. We also had a couple of those blistering counter attacks from the oppositions corners. Only the final ball let us down, but as I always say, there's nothing in football quite like a Kloppo counter attack. So 2-0 at half time and at this point I'm thinking that Klopp will sort out the issues at the back that was allowing Marega to get in behind, while at the other end we'd continue to push for more goals and basically finish the tie here and now. Never happened though. Marega was still a threat and we never really looked like scoring again. Actually that's not quite true as Sadio had a goal ruled out right at the start of the second half. I’ve seen loads of replays of it and still can’t tell if it was offside or not. Did that even go to VAR? I'm not sure it can if the linesman has already flagged. As far as I’m aware they aren’t supposed to flag if it’s close. Aren’t they meant to leave it and let it go to VAR? If he hadn’t put his flag up, would that goal have counted? I think it might, but we’ll never know. Thankfully it’s probably not that important anyway. At least I hope it’s not. That was pretty much as good as it got for us in the second half, as after that not a great deal happened. There were some good situations but they rarely led to clear chances. The intensity wasn’t quite there, which is fine because we were two goals ahead and we’ve got Chelsea this weekend. No point in going mad and knackering everyone ahead of that game. This was the kind of win we see virtually every week from City. Go a couple of goals up and then cruise, and conserve energy. I'd settle for five more wins like this in the league, that's for sure. Mo was annoying me in that second half though. I thought he looked boss in the first half, and that run back to his own box he made to snuff out a Porto counter was fucking ace. His decision making after half time was appalling though. I lost count of the amount of times he just dribbled straight into a defender. Porto seemed to play him differently after the break and instead of him coming up against the left back all the time, he was often confronted by the lad who is going to Madrid this summer, and he did very well to be fair. Mo got very little change out of him and also had a scare when VAR was used to see whether he should have been sent off for a studs up lunge. The still photo of it looks bad, but in real time you can see there’s no force behind the challenge, he just kind of dangles out his leg. Not just that, the only reason he’s even going into the challenge side on like that is because his arm is being pulled by another defender. VAR got that right, but again, on another night that would go against us. I fucking hate VAR, it’s horrendous, especially for those inside the ground who have absolutely no idea what's going on or what is even being looked at half the time. With 20 minutes left Klopp sent Origi on for Mané (a decision I was completely on board with) and then ten minutes later it was Sturridge on for Firmino (which had me scratching my head). Origi comes on and immediately wants to be positive and run at people. Sturridge comes on and gives us nothing without the ball, and in a game like this very little with the ball either. He’s someone you bring on for the last ten minutes of a league game when you’re 3-0 up, not when there's anything at stake and you're protecting a lead. To me it’s not a co-incidence that the last ten minutes was virtually all Porto. It happens all the time when Sturridge comes on. I’d love to know what Shaqiri has done to find himself in the doghouse. He almost got ten seconds at the end but the ball didn’t go out of play and he was left high and dry on the touchline in full kit when the final whistle went. I’d have been fuming, but he seemed in decent enough spirits. It’s weird that we haven’t seen him at all for months though, especially when Sturridge is getting on ahead of him. What next? Moreno getting a late run out on the right wing in the last couple of minutes on Sunday? All in all though a good nights work from Kloppo and the boys. Another goal or two would have allowed him to rotate a bit more for the second leg, but the main thing was to not concede and we did that, albeit somewhat unconvincingly at times. Marega got in behind us four or times times over the course of the game and that’s something that needs addressing before the second leg. It’s easy to just pin that on Lovren, but it wasn’t just down to him. One one occasion Van Dijk stepped up to play offside when he really needed to just cover behind his partner. Other times it was Trent not getting back in and leaving Lovren too much ground to cover. I Having not played for three months there was always going to be a bit of rust for Big Dejan, but overall he wasn't bad. The shirt belongs to Matip at the moment though and he should come straight back in on Sunday as he’s earned that spot over the last few months. It made sense to give him a rest and get Lovren some minutes though, as you never know who we might need in these next few weeks. With that in mind, it’s encouraging to see Keita finally contributing too, and the battle for places in midfield is pretty intense at the moment. Fabinho is virtually an automatic choice now, but Henderson has pushed to the front of the queue for one of the other two spots. Gini has gone off the boil recently and with Lallana once again proving that he can’t be relied upon Naby couldn’t have found a better time to show some signs of life. It will be interesting to see who gets the nod on Sunday. I suspect it will be Gini, but that would be a little harsh on Keita. This was probably his best game of the season. He was neat and tidy in possession, he was very good in his pressing and work off the ball, and we saw a couple of those gliding runs at the heart of the defence that were his trademark at Leipzig. More of that please, Naby. He was almost the star man, but once again I’m giving it to the captain. I thought he had a great game. Full of strong running, good passing and intelligent pressing. Honourably mentions to Bobby (some brilliant footwork in tight spaces) and Big Games James too, who were both very good. No-one played badly though. So now the focus is all on Sunday. I always felt that Spurs was the toughest game we would have left, but many have believed for weeks that Chelsea is the one with the most potential for things to go wrong. We don't have good history with this fixture and haven't beaten them at Anfield since Andy Carroll and Jonjo Shelvey were running wild all over them, days after they'd beaten us in the FA Cup Final. That's a long fucking time, and of course we had the infamous 2014 defeat that cost us a title. So I understand why there's trepidation about the game, and I'm not sitting here telling you it's going to be easy. I'm worried about it too, but what if we win it? The ramifications of that would be huge. Put yourself in Man City's shoes for a second. You're looking at the games we have left and will have a big red circle around this one. This was the fixture that handed City the title five years ago and they'll be hoping for the same outcome again. But if we come through this one then all the pressure is on them over the next few weeks. The only way to make them crack is to keep squeezing them. Who knows, by the time we play Chelsea Roy might have done us another favour and taken more points off City. Palace's home record is abysmal this year but they are well suited to playing against the better teams. If Zaha turns it on then you never know what might happen. I know one thing though, if City have slipped up in that game then the atmosphere at Anfield for that Chelsea game is going to be one for the ages. Just fucking win, lads. Just win. Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Milner; Fabinho, Henderson, Keita; Salah, Firmino (Sturridge), Mané (Origi):