Liverpool were handed an unanticipated break last weekend, with Storm Darragh wreaking chaos across England and preventing the Merseyside derby from being played.

It’s not the end of the world. Liverpool remain first-placed in the Premier League, four points ahead of Chelsea and with a game in hand – Arsenal and Manchester City trail further still.

It’s a fantastic position to be in, even if title talk is still premature. Given that Liverpool are first in the Champions League group phase only adds to the excitement, and means that Arne Slot can approach Tuesday evening’s fixture against Girona with rotation in mind.

The Dutch coach has been… hesitant to ring the changes since replacing Jurgen Klopp in the summer, but the games are coming thick and fast and you could make a case that Liverpool looked leggy during the draw against Newcastle United one week ago.

10/12/24

Girona (A)

Champions League

14/12/24

Fulham (H)

Premier League

18/12/24

Southampton (A)

Carabao Cup

22/12/24

Tottenham (A)

Premier League

26/12/24

Leicester (H)

Premier League

29/12/24

West Ham (A)

Premier League

The Reds are six points ahead of those outside the automatic zone, so changes can be afforded against today’s Spanish opponents, who have lost four of five matches on the continent so far this season and sit ninth in La Liga too.

Liverpool team news

Liverpool have been forced to contend with a host of injuries and absences in recent weeks, but Slot will be delighted to see Alisson Becker and Diogo Jota on the cusp of a comeback after respective periods in the infirmary.

Federico Chiesa was also cleared but has since fallen ill and will play no part in Spain.

Ibrahima Konate, Kostas Tsimikas and Conor Bradley serve as longer-term absentees, meaning Liverpool’s backline is weakened and stretched at one of the most testing points of any given season.

A host of youngsters, including Trey Nyoni and James McConnell, have travelled to Spain with the first team and might play a part in the matchday squad. Tyler Morton is out after picking up a knock in training.

Certainly, Slot would be wise to issue a healthy dosage of rotation.

Why Slot should rotate vs Girona

Alisson’s return is a momentous boost for a Liverpool side ready to chase down silverware across every possible front, but it’s crucial that the Brazilian isn’t rushed back. And anyway, Caoimhin Kelleher is a top-class goalkeeper and well worth his place between the sticks.

In midfield, Alexis Mac Allister is suspended (separate from the one-match ban that will be applied domestically against Fulham this weekend), but he’s been worked to the bone too and it’s not the end of the world that the Argentine is provided some time to recuperate.

Liverpool have alternative options. Ryan Gravenberch could start in the deep-sitting midfield role but Wataru Endo will be pressing for that anchor, and Curtis Jones should return to the starting line-up too.

Dominik Szoboszlai might fancy a starting berth, but this is actually the perfect opportunity for Slot to hand Harvey Elliott his very first start of the campaign.

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Football FanCast's Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Slot must unleash Harvey Elliott

It’s been a cruel start to an exciting new era for Elliott, whose marginal role at the very beginning of the campaign saw him make just one substitute appearance before fracturing his foot on international duty with England U21s in September.

He’s been fit for several weeks now but only afforded one brief cameo, but now, it’s surely time for Slot to hand the 21-year-old his maiden starting berth under new management.

He’s definitely got the technical quality to make a marked difference within the Dutchman’s system. Klopp commented at the end of his dynasty last season that his one regret as he patted the overhanging Anfield crest one last time was that he didn’t play the skilful playmaker more often.

Goals

0.20

Top 9%

Assists

0.59

Top 1%

Shot-creating actions

5.22

Top 1%

Progressive passes

8.12

Top 5%

Progressive carries

2.91

Top 3%

Successful take-ons

0.73

Top 39%

Blocks

1.41

Top 6%

Elliott’s ball-playing quality, his progressiveness and flair, have even seen Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham listed off as his most comparable player via stats-based website FBRef, with the Three Lions superstar also adept at shifting forward and influencing play with awe-inspiring goals and fiercely penetrative bursts into the box.

Given that Liverpool’s young maestro has scarcely featured under the new regime, it seems clear that he must be unleashed from the outset for this one.

After all, as a player of the Bellingham-type mould, he might be the perfect cog to unleash for this one. Los Blancos might not have reached their first form this term but Bellingham has been excellent of late, posting five goals and three assists from as many matches.

One of his recent masterful performances came against Girona, with the 21-year-old scoring and assisting against Girona in La Liga at the weekend across an hour of football, withdrawn due to fatigue.

As per Sofascore, Bellingham also completed 100% of his dribbles and won every one of his contested duels, showcasing that his particular style stands a great chance of sending Girona, who play expansive football and thus can be caught by high-class technicians, packing.

Slot must ensure that Elliott gets a starting role in the Champions League. The young gun will desperately want to show what he’s made of, and he might just prove to be the star against Girona.

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Aston Villa return to the Champions League this mid-week away at RB Leipzig having recently turned around their dismal form.

Unai Emery’s men have now won two Premier League games on the bounce, after finding themselves without the sweet taste of victory for eight matches, which could bode well for their chances in Germany when facing off against Marco Rose’s hosts.

Morgan Rogers might well be key to Villa picking up another win in Europe against an opponent from the Bundesliga, with the former Manchester City youngster managing to shine bright for his side in their last two games to help those two crucial wins be picked up.

Morgan Rogers' form this season

Rogers got the ball rolling for his stuttering side versus Brentford after a harrowing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea right at the beginning of December piled on more misery.

He would delightfully find the back of net with a curled effort to gift his side a 1-0 lead early on, with the final scoreline reading 3-1 in his team’s favour to the relief of the home sections packed into Villa Park.

Away from just this contest, the electric 22-year-old has a further three goals and two assists in the Premier League, alongside showing off his daring best in an attacking capacity on Europe’s biggest stage.

One display from Rogers versus Bologna in the Champions League back in October saw the tricky attacker complete a ridiculous seven successful dribbles, with Emery now praying the 6 foot 2 ace can bamboozle Leipzig on Tuesday night in a similar fashion.

Villa will feel overjoyed that they paid Middlesbrough £15m to win their star man now, but they could stumble across their next iteration of Rogers for free in a sensational academy prospect.

Aston Villa's next Morgan Rogers

The homegrown gem in question here is Ben Broggio who is already making waves for the Villans at youth level.

Often lining up down the left wing for his boyhood club – where Rogers has been moved out to recently – the 17-year-old star has more than stood out for his team this season across various different competitions.

Also channelling is inner Jack Grealish – who tore defences to shreds for Villa with direct displays on the left channel – Broggio has managed to find the back of the net six times from 16 games playing in and around the youth set-up at the Premier League side this season, which included the effort above rippling the back of the net in UEFA Youth League action.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast's In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

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Lauded too for his ability as a “creative” force by Villa Academy manager Mark Harrison earlier this year after the teenager had penned a professional contract, the sky is truly the limit for the 17-year-old now, who has even had a senior opportunity gifted to him this campaign.

Broggio’s numbers at Villa

Age bracket

Games played

Goals scored

Assists

U21s

19

4

2

U18s

15

4

2

Youth League

5

3

3

First team

1

0

0

Sourced by Transfermarkt

That came against Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Cup, as the captivating attacking midfielder won himself four minutes on the pitch, which was deserved considering he has also picked up five assists this season from his 16 appearances.

Rogers is also known for being an unselfish talent willing to chip in with assists, with three next to his name in all competitions, alongside his promising four-goal return.

Broggio is some way off being able to strut his stuff in a similarly confident manner to Rogers in the senior mix, but if he keeps up his blistering displays at youth level, it won’t be long before even more first-team chances are presented to the teenage starlet.

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Rob Key, the former Kent captain turned Sky Sports commentator, has confirmed he is in the running to become the new managing director of England men’s cricket, but concedes that the “lifestyle” of the role may be the deciding factor as he weighs up the pros and cons of taking on such a high-profile vacancy.Key, 42, played 15 Tests for England between 2002 and 2005, with a highest score of 221 against West Indies at Lord’s in 2004. He made his name, however, as an outspoken and popular captain at Kent, whom he led for a total of nine seasons up to his retirement in 2015, and took that same independence of thought into his subsequent commentary career.His candidature has emerged from left-field, but according to the Evening Standard, the paper for which he writes a regular column, his name is in a shortlist of interviewees that includes Marcus North, the former Australia batter who is currently Durham’s director of cricket, and Ed Smith, Key’s contemporary with Kent and England, who lost his job as national selector last year.Related

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• Key: I need to look at why the mini-stroke happened at my age

Key responded coyly about the role when quizzed on-air by his co-commentator, Bazid Khan, during the fourth day’s play of the Lahore Test, and joked that his desire to play golf would be the deciding factor.”There’s a lot of speculation around… there’s a lot of jobs up for grabs in English cricket,” he said. “A fair few people have been asked, a fair few people are going for these jobs. The thing I have is that you have to weigh up how much golf you can get in doing some of these. For me, the lifestyle thing is the big issue.”In May 2020, Key was hospitalised after suffering a transient ischaemic attack, or mini-stroke, and though he has recovered fully from his illness, he conceded at the time that he would “need to look into why it happened at my age”.The appointment of a new managing director promises to be one of the most crucial elements of English cricket’s so-called “red-ball reset”, following the sacking of Ashley Giles from that role in the wake of England’s 4-0 Ashes defeat.Andrew Strauss, Giles’ predecessor, has returned to the role in an interim capacity, and last week announced a high-performance review of the professional game. However, after stepping down to care for his two sons amid the tragic death of his wife, Ruth in 2018, Strauss himself is not expected to put himself forward for the full-time return.”I haven’t considered that really,” Strauss said last week. “I’ve got unique personal circumstances that makes doing that role difficult and quite frankly there’s always value in getting a new perspective and new views. Nothing ever stays the same or goes backwards. I’m certain there’s going to be some good candidates for this role.”Other potential candidates include two current ECB employees in Nathan Leamon, the England white-ball team analyst, and Mo Bobat, the influential head of performance. One high-profile name who would appear to be out of the running, however, is Alec Stewart, the director of cricket at Surrey, who has reportedly also opted out for family reasons.The ECB advertised for the role on March 14 with applications due by March 27. The recruitment process is being led by consultants at SRI Executive, and the job specifications suggest than “international and/or first-class county playing experience” is “desirable”.

Allrounder dismisses workload concerns as ‘media thing’ as he promises to do it his way

Andrew Miller03-May-2022Ben Stokes, England’s new Test captain, says he expects a team of “selfless” cricketers to take the field alongside him, starting with next month’s first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s, as the squad begins the process of turning around a run of form in which they have achieved one victory in their past 17 matches.Stokes, who was officially unveiled in his new role at a press conference in Chester-le-Street, dismissed doubts about the wisdom of handing the captaincy to the team’s pivotal allrounder as a “media thing”, but insisted that when it comes to managing his workload – including balancing his role within the white-ball squad and opportunities at the IPL – “Test cricket is my No.1 priority”.”It’s an exciting time for myself but it is a challenge, especially after how the last few years have been,” Stokes told Sky Sports News. “But for me, it’s not about focusing on what’s gone in the past. It’s all about focusing on what we’ve got going forward and obviously that starts now, and then starts [at Lord’s] on the second of June.”Although Stokes has captained England’s Test team once before, against West Indies in 2020 when Joe Root was absent on paternity leave, he never actively courted the full-time role. However, despite admitting he took a moment to consider the magnitude of the position when Rob Key, England’s new director of cricket, called to offer him the captaincy, Stokes confirmed he had little hesitation in accepting.”Obviously you need to give it some consideration because it’s not a role that you can just go ‘yep’,” he said, “because you’ve got to think about everything else that comes with the job. But no, it didn’t take me very long. And it’s not exactly a role that you can turn down.”There is a lot that needs to change, not just from on the field,” he added, alluding to the wider organisation issues that have hampered England’s progress in recent years – including the much-vaunted high-performance review that the ECB are due to undertake this year.”Those kinds of things will be going on, and those discussions will be had, they’re not really to speak about here,” he added. “But in terms of on-the-field stuff, a great starting point for me is I want to have selfless cricketers who make decisions based on what they can do to win a game in that given time.Related

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“Because, at the end of the day, you’re always judged on winning games. That’s always been the most important thing to me. The decisions I make are based around what is the best thing to do to give us that chance. I want to have 10 other guys out there with me who are of that same mindset.”Two players who look set to come straight back into the fold are James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Both were controversially overlooked for the tour of the Caribbean, but Stokes is eager to give them the chance to extend their remarkable careers.”The best way to give yourself a winning Test match is picking your 11 best players,” he said. “If James Anderson and Stuart Broad are fit., they’re up for selection because they are the two best bowlers in England. They are two of the greats of the game, and in my opinion, it’s stupid to never consider them for selection. They are part of the best 11, so it’s pretty simple.”Despite England’s poor recent record, which included a 4-0 Ashes loss in Australia this winter, and another losing tour of the Caribbean – a venue where they haven’t won a series since 2004 – Stokes insisted that the circumstances in which the team has played its cricket in recent years was a major factor, and defended the players and team spirit that his predecessor Root would be passing onto him.”I don’t think it’s [about] a culture change at all, because we’ve got a very, very good culture going on in the dressing room, not just across our red-ball stuff, but in the white-ball team as well,” Stokes said.”You’ve got to understand that, having gone through what the England cricket team have gone through with COVID and everything, and with results and stuff like that, it is going to have a knock-on effect. But my role is to get that out of everybody as quickly as possible and make sure that we’re focusing on what’s ahead of us.”A great saying that I live by, especially with cricket, is you’re only as good as the next game. That works very well with the good performances and the bad performances as well.”Stokes is due to play his first match of the season for Durham against Worcestershire this week, having been managing a knee injury that affected him during the tour of the Caribbean. And given that he endured a high-profile absence from the game last summer, following a badly broken finger and subsequent mental-health issues, there were some understandable concerns about whether it was prudent to expect him to take on yet another burden within the team.However, Stokes insisted that far from being a reason to turn down extra responsibility, his high-profile issues would leave him even better placed for helping other players to manage the pressures of elite-level cricket.”There’s always a negative feeling around mental health,” he said. “But I took my break, I went and spoke with people, and I will continue to do that. I see it as a positive that me being in this role now, having gone through what I went through last summer and even before that, that I’ve got a huge amount of experience in what the game and what life can throw at you.”And I’ve always felt that I was someone that senior players and younger players could come and speak to, if they felt like anything was getting on top of them or they weren’t happy with anything, and I hope that continues. So I don’t see any of this as a negative whatsoever. I just see it as a huge positive that I’ll be able to relate to a lot of different scenarios that cricket and life can throw at you whilst being an international cricketer.”Moreover, Stokes insisted once again that he is his own man, and not pre-destined to follow in the footsteps of the last two prominent allrounders to take on the England captaincy.”The people who write all that stuff are obviously taking that from other people who have done the role and been the allrounder,” he said. “I’ve had to live with the tag of Andrew Flintoff and Sir Ian Botham since I was 18. But I’ve always maintained that I’ve never tried to be Andrew Flintoff or Sir Ian Botham. I’m Ben Stokes.”My workload is not going to increase because I’ll still be playing the same amount of cricket, but in terms of what’s at the top of my priority list, it’s the Test team and Test cricket going forward.”I’m sure there will be conversations to have with the likes of Rob Key and Eoin [Morgan], who’s captain of the white-ball team, to see where there is some potential to have some time off to get ready, because I know I’ve got a huge role here in getting this Test team back to winning ways.”I’ll be putting all of my efforts and energy into doing that. So, we have obviously got to be very careful about how much I do, but in terms of the workload going up, it’s not going to change because I’ll still be playing cricket for England regardless.”

There have not been many better footballing stories over the last few years than Ipswich Town’s miraculous rise up the football pyramid.

Kieran McKenna’s side have gone from playing in League One to the Premier League in just two years, and based on their performances thus far, there’s every chance they will remain in the league next season.

While there are still a number of players who helped the team on this incredible journey in the first team, like Leif Davis and Sam Morsy, the summer additions have made an enormous difference.

In fact, one of them is now being compared to a Premier League star who was valued at £100m just last year.

Ipswich's summer success

So, before we get to the player in question, let’s look at how some of the club’s other summer signings are getting on this season, starting with one that could be seen as cheating, Omari Hutchinson.

Yes, the former Chelsea ace did first join the Tractor Boys last summer, but he put pen to paper on a permanent contract just a few months ago, following a £20m offer from the Suffolk side, and after a slow start this season, he’s starting to show just why they spent so much.

For example, he was utterly sublime in the club’s win over Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month, and while he didn’t score or provide an assist in that match, practically everything ran through him, and as a result, he was handed a 9/10 rating from the East Anglian Daily Times’ Alex Jones.

However, he went a step further in the game against Manchester United last weekend, scoring an outrageous goal from outside the penalty area and earning his team a mighty impressive point in the process.

Another summer arrival who impressed in that game was midfielder Jens Cajuste, who’s on a season-long loan from Napoli with an obligation to buy should the club stay up.

The Swedish international was rock solid against the Red Devils and was arguably just as good against Spurs, and if he can keep up that sort of form, he may well be joining the club on a permanent next summer.

However, another of the summer signings has been even more impressive than both Hutchinson and Cajuste and has even been compared to a £100m England international.

Ipswich's stellar summer signing

So, to cut straight to the point, the player in question is Sammie Szmodics, who completed an £11m move to Ipswich in the summer from Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers.

The Irish international moved off the back of an outrageous campaign with the Lancashire outfit in which he scored 33 goals and provided four assists in 48 games, and while he’s not hit those heights for the Tractor Boys, he’s still looked good.

For example, while it took him a few appearances to get up to speed with his new teammates, the 29-year-old has now scored three goals in 12 appearances but only 610 minutes.

That means the “ridiculous” attacker, as dubbed by journalist Josh Bunting, is averaging a goal every four games, or every 203 minutes, which is not bad for a winger who’s new to the league and playing in a newly promoted side.

Moreover, it wouldn’t be hyperbole to suggest that the Colchester-born winger looks at home in the top flight, as he’s now been compared to one of the best in his position over the last few seasons: Jarrod Bowen.

The comparison stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, has concluded that the Englishman is the fourth most similar attacking midfielder or winger to the Irishman this season.

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair ranks closely, metrics including but not limited to non-penalty expected goals plus assists, shots on target, crosses into the penalty area, interceptions and tackles won, all per 90.

Szmodics & Bowen
Statistics per 90	Szmodics	Bowen
Non-Penalty Expected G+As	0.41	0.38
Progressive Passes Received	5.07	5.81
Shots on Target	1.04	0.94
Crosses into the Penalty Area	0.15	0.17
Interceptions	0.60	0.60
Tackles Won	0.75	0.85
All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 PL Season

For many, seeing one of your summer signings compared to a Premier League star who’s scored a winner in a European final is brilliant in and of itself, but there is the small factor of what said comparison could mean for Szmodics’ future valuation.

We say this as less than a year ago, it was revealed that West Ham valued Bowen at over £100m, which, given everything he’s achieved at the club, isn’t too outrageous.

Now, while nobody would suggest Szmodics is worth even half of that, he must be worth considerably more than Ipswich paid for him in the summer.

Ultimately, whatever happens over the next six months, it’s clear that McKenna and Co struck gold when they signed Szmodics in the summer, and if he can keep up his current form, then we might see him compared to more and more established stars.

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Jack Salveson Holmes

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Everton manager Sean Dyche is now open to the idea of selling a “fantastic” Toffees player in the January window, according to a fresh transfer update.

Everton manager & transfer news

After a promising spell earlier in the season saw Everton find some form as they responded to an awful start to the campaign, they have gone backwards again in recent weeks.

Admittedly, the back-to-back goalless draws away to West Ham and at home to Brentford aren’t disastrous results, but they were dull performances, with Dyche’s men unable to break down 10 men for much of the game in the latter. For that reason, the manager is under increasing pressure to keep his job, even though it looks like his position is safe for the time being.

Everton also continue to be linked with new signings to bolster their squad, with former Liverpool midfielder Arthur Melo seen as a potential option to bring in. He is currently at Juventus, but could be eager to seal a move away to enjoy more regular playing time.

Roma midfielder Bryan Cristante is also reportedly being looked at by the Blues, with additions needed in the middle of the park. He has started 11 Serie A games this season, averaging 2 aerial duel wins and 1.5 tackles per game in the competition this season.

Everton willing to sell "fantastic" player

According to AS Roma Live, Everton and Dyche could be willing to sell Dominic Calvert-Lewin in January, seeing him as an expendable figure at this point in his Toffees career. Serie A giants Juventus are named as a potential suitor for the striker.

Allowing the 27-year-old to leave would generate transfer funds for new signings, with the Englishman likely to be of interest to plenty of clubs.

Everton fans may be split about his situation, with some still seeing the £100,000-a-week star as an important player and their best attacker, while will say he is past his best and injury-prone.

Calvert-Lewin made himself a hero during last season’s memorable 2-0 win at home to Liverpool in the Merseyside derby, with Danny Murphy hailing his goal against their rivals:

“He gets the rewards of his great performance, yes why is he on the back post? Where is Van Dijk? Why is Trent not blocking him? A man of his quality in the air, it’s a fantastic leap, but you can’t be free.”

Injuries haven’t been as much of an issue for Calvert-Lewin this season, but he has struggled to make an impact in the final third, scoring only 2 goals in 12 Premier League starts.

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He is out of contract at the end of this season, so Everton know that January will be the last chance to earn a fee for the attacker, meaning that selling him midway through the season may be the best outcome, assuming they can bring in an excellent replacement.