Liverpool

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker will miss Saturday's home Premier League game against Bournemouth as well as their Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid after suffering a hip injury this week, manager Juergen Klopp said on Friday.

The Brazilian was left out of the squad when Liverpool lost 2-0 at Chelsea in the FA Cup with Spaniard Adrian playing in goal instead and Klopp revealed he had injured his hip in training prior to Tuesday's game.

It’s been a tough couple weeks for Liverpool fans.

Former Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge has been suspended from all football-related activity until June 17 after he was found guilty of breaching betting rules, English football's governing body (FA) said on Monday.

Sturridge became a free agent earlier on Monday after mutually agreeing to terminate his contract with Turkish side Trabzonspor.

He had been charged by the FA in July with 11 alleged breaches of its betting rules, nine of which were dismissed by an independent regulatory commission, and banned for six weeks — four of which were suspended.

It had been 422 days since last Liverpool had lost a Premier League match. The Reds were thought to be infallible. Saturday’s Liverpool-Watford match proved otherwise.

Not only did Watford defeat Liverpool, it beat the hell out of the Reds at Vicarage Road. A spectator with no prior knowledge of the teams would have thought it was Watford on an 18-game winning streak and Liverpool winless in its last five.

The Hornets opened up the flood gates in the second half on the league leaders, courtesy of abysmal Liverpool defending on a throw-in.

They’re calling Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge a procession because that’s exactly what it is. For whatever reason, that’s come to be seen as a howl of despair from neutrals, as though Liverpool’s brilliance is setting off an ennui inside us all that can only be rectified by allowing offside goals scored against the Reds to stand.  

When Pablo Fornals steered his volley beyond Alisson to give West Ham a 2-1 lead over Liverpool with 35 minutes remaining, there was a sense that David Moyes would finally have his day at Anfield while bringing a close to a host of historic Liverpool ambitions. 

Alas, the man with the football genius moniker will be left cursing his goalkeeper following a remarkable Liverpool turnaround that keeps the Reds 22 points clear at the top while the Hammers remain rooted in the relegation zone. 

Diego Simeone once summed up his coaching philosophy in one brief sentence: “Effort is non-negotiable.” 

On Tuesday, the Atlético team on the pitch at the Wanda Metropolitano fully embodied its manager in a heroic 1-0 Champions League Round of 16 first-leg victory over defending champion Liverpool.