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Posts Tagged ‘leeds’

• Midfielder carried off in Carling Cup win at Chelsea
• Liverpool recall Jonjo Shelvey from Blackpool as cover

Liverpool are anxiously awaiting the outcome of a scan on Lucas Leiva’s knee, amid concerns the influential midfielder could be out for the rest of the season.

The Brazil international was carried off on a stretcher minutes from the end of Liverpool’s Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Chelsea on Tuesday night, following a collision with Ryan Bertrand. His manager, Kenny Dalglish, refused to speculate on the extent of the injury after the 2-0 win, and the 24-year-old is not expected to have the scan until Thursday. However, Lucas, who remains on crutches, fears he has suffered serious damage to the knee and that he faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. His season could be over if the scan confirms a ruptured cruciate ligament and a six-month recovery period.

Lucas’s form and reputation has been transformed at Liverpool in the past two seasons and his loss would be a major setback to Dalglish, as his side look to build on two impressive wins at Stamford Bridge in nine days plus the encouraging home performance against Manchester City on Sunday.

Far from the maligned figure of Rafael Benítez’s final year in charge at Anfield, Lucas is now recognised as an invaluable member of the Liverpool team and has been virtually ever-present under Dalglish. With Steven Gerrard absent with an ankle problem, and not in line for an imminent return, plus Alberto Aquilani on loan at Milan, the possible long-term absence of Lucas would heighten responsibility on his fellow midfielders Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Jay Spearing to maintain Liverpool’s pursuit of Champions League qualification.

With numbers potentially light in central midfield, Liverpool have taken the precaution of recalling Jonjo Shelvey from his successful loan spell at Blackpool. The 19-year-old scored six goals in nine Championship appearances for Ian Holloway’s side, including a hat-trick in the 5-0 defeat of Leeds United, but has returned to Anfield as a consequence of Lucas’s injury.

The Blackpool manager said: “Obviously this is a setback to us as Jonjo has done ever so well in his short time with us. We knew that Liverpool had the recall option on him and it is only the unfortunate injury to Lucas that has prompted them to take this course of action.”

Holloway has not ruled out re-signing Shelvey on loan when the transfer window reopens. He added: “We will be in regular contact with Liverpool about trying to bring him back in January should Liverpool’s injuries clear up.”

LiverpoolAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Craig Noone is hoping to face Steven Gerrard of Liverpool on Wednesday night but this time as his opposition rather than his roofer

High on Steven Gerrard’s roof, where he was hammering in tiles, Craig Noone would watch Liverpool’s most illustrious player leave for training and think: “I hope I get the chance to do that one day.” It was a bird’s eye view of a life Noone now shares as his Brighton & Hove Albion face Gerrard’s side at their new Amex Stadium in the Carling Cup third round.

“He was getting a conversion done on the back of his house – a games room and gym – and I was working on it. Now I’m playing against him. Working there, I’d never have dreamed of it. Now it’s happening it’s a bit surreal,” says Noone, a fizzy winger who has played a major part in Brighton’s promising start to their Championship campaign.

“I was at Southport, in pre-season, at the time. He was quite private, understandably, but I’d be there from eight o’clock in the morning and would see him go off to training. I have friends who are friends of his and when I turned professional it made a bit of news that I’d worked on his house, so I think he’ll know about it.”

Gerrard’s role in Brighton’s second Carling Cup tie with Premier League opposition (they kayoed Sunderland last time) has yet to be decided after his long absence though injury but Noone is hoping they both receive the call. Gus Poyet’s upwardly mobile team face Leeds United on Friday in their second Sky-televised game in three days and then Crystal Palace on Tuesday, so rotation is obligatory. “I just want to be in the team – but if not, there’s the Leeds game and a lot to look forward to,” Noone says. “This is a big game for me

Today’s blurb is feeling a little chilly

It’s a bumper edition of the Mill today, the nation’s papers oozing with rumour despite the rival editorial appeal of the latest Champions League semi-final, and Barcelona’s double-edged pursuit of perfection in both play and play-acting. But the biggest game yesterday wasn’t the one taking place at the Bernabéu, with football’s place on the tabloid front pages being secured by Prince William’s decision to hold a kickabout in an unnamed London park almost certainly owned by his grandma. On the eve of the eve of his wedding, Wills risked hamstrings and shinbones while starring in the five-a-side contest, before leaping aboard his 1,100cc Ducati to race home through London’s busy streets, past unsuspecting future subjects, head hidden behind his tinted visor, making light of the capital’s snarling traffic on his two whizzy wheels.

To action, then, and news that Barcelona’s decision to pull out of the chase for Anderlecht’s £18m Belgian wonderkid Romelu Lukaku has left the way clear for Chelsea to steal in, snap him up, stick him in their reserves for three years and then send him on loan to Bolton. But Chelsea’s No1 target remains Brazil’s Neymar, with “a source close to Roman Abramovich last night confirming Neymar was still on the radar,” according to the Star. Expect a busy summer at Stamford Bridge then, with the Mirror asserting that Carlo Ancelotti, or whoever it’s going to be, is planning a major summer clearout, with Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda among those heading for the exit. Paulo Ferreira, José Bosingwa and Yuri Zhirkov are also on their way out, as the Blues aim to tweak their tactics to leave themselves with a first XI in which Fernando Torres can actually play without ruining everything.

The Star also says that Manchester United could yet hijack Manuel Neuer’s move from Schalke to Bayern Munich with a £24m mega-bid. “The offer could be too much for Bayern to match, leaving United in pole position to sign the man regarded as one of the world’s best goalkeepers,” they guess. Across town to Manchester City, where Yaya Touré sellotaped Mario Balotelli’s trainers to the dressing-room ceiling in one of a number of hilarious japes involving Manchester City’s unbalanced Italian. According to the Sun, friends from the forward’s homeland have also been cheekily making large pizza orders in his name from his favourite local eaterie, San Carlo, and even phoning him up at night and barking down the phone, “winding him up about his beloved pet dog who’s still in quarantine”. Also of potential interest to City fans is news that Valencia want to splash £7m on their very own Pablo Zabaleta.

Also on the news pages, Jack Wilshere’s 22-year-old sister, Rosie Ann, has been convicted of assault after hitting someone with a half-pint glass. This will doubtless cause the young England midfielder enormous embarrassment – a half-pint glass? Talking of English midfielders and casual violence, Joey Barton has been linked with an unlikely £5m move to Liverpool, though the Reds may well prefer to spend twice as much on Standard Liège’s Axel Witsel. And Arnold Schwarzenegger is to return to the silver screen in the fifth Terminator movie, to be directed by Justin Lin. He’s the man behind Fast and Furious 5, which apparently is a hit film, even though it sounds a little bit like Stoke City’s five-a-side team.

Niko Kranjcar is desperate to end his Tottenham hell in the summer. “Is there a point of beginning next season as a bit-part player? None whatsoever,” he raged. “I would definitely be interested in moving to Italy. I think I would adapt well to Italian football.” His Spurs team-mate Wilson Palacios could be heading in a similar direction, with Napoli interested in securing his £10m-rated services, while Internazionale are eyeing another Tottenham star in the shape of the Croatian string-puller Luca Modric.

Newcastle have joined the chase of Leeds’ Robert Snodgrass, who is likely to leave Yorkshire if his current employers fail to win promotion, though Stoke and West Brom are also interested. Alan Pardew is also considering an offer for the Korean striker Ji Dong-won, with the Mail reporting the not-that-encouraging-really news that Newcastle’s chief scout watched the 19-year-old play for Chunnam Dragons at the weekend and “was reasonably impressed”. In nearby Sunderland, Steve Bruce is close to tying up a deal for Cardiff’s England striker Jay Bothroyd, whose contract is due to expire this summer, and also wants the equally-free Blackpool midfielder David Vaughan. And Blackburn have been left mildly surprised after Málaga slapped a £7m price tag on their midfield target José Recio.

Aston Villa are busy drawing up a managerial shortlist, just in case Gérard Houllier’s current health issues prevent him from returning to the dugout. Mark Hughes and David Moyes are said to feature prominently. Moyes, still wearing an Everton hat, is putting the possibility of a move Midlandswards to the back of his mind and concentrating on signing some exciting talent to really get his current side’s fans excited about next season. To that end, he’s ready to pounce for the relegated League One-bound free-transfer-seeking Preston ace Billy Jones, and is busy scouting Dale Stephens, currently on loan from Oldham to Southampton. And while stirring Football League-based rumour the Mill has one final story to tell: if Millwall go up and Swansea do not, expect the nation’s premier rhyming footballer, Angel Rangel, to move to London. “I have heard of Millwall’s interest,” said the player’s brother-in-law, Zavi Cruz. “In the summer we’ll listen to all the managers and then make a decision.”

Manchester UnitedSchalkeChelseaAnderlechtNewcastle UnitedLiverpoolManchester CitySimon Burntonguardian.co.uk