Liverpool lost 1-0 to Southampton in the EFL Cup Wednesday, which in and of itself is not all that surprising. Southampton are not bad and were playing at home, plus Liverpool have a huge EPL tie against Manchester United coming up.
Cameroon is very mad at Liverpool because Joel Matip doesn't want to play in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Matip is a senior-capped Cameroon international, has had disagreements with the country's sport governing body before, when he was playing for Schalke, and has evidently decided he just doesn't want to play for them anymore.
Naturally, the Cameroon FA decided that of course Joel Matip wants to play for Cameroon, who wouldn't, and it's all Liverpool's fault he's not going to the African Cup of Nations.
Liverpool will host Manchester City at home on the New Year’s Eve, as both sides chase Chelsea in the table.
This matchup promises to be the most exciting fixture yet in the current Premier League season, as the two most attacking sides go head-to-head with 84 league goals scored between them.
The two sides also share the weakness in the back, with both having the most goals conceded among the current top six, as they have given up a combined 41 goals. If stats are anything to go by, this fixture should provide plenty of goals with end-to-end excitement.
The 3-1 lead has taken a beating this year. The Golden State Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers also blew 3-1 leads in the NBA playoffs. The Cleveland Inidians blew a 3-1 lead in the World Series.
In the "year in review" pieces declaring 2016 the year of the blown 3-1 lead, one notable choker has consistently been overlooked.
Borussia Dortmund.
Saying the words "Adam Lallana is the key to the Premier League's most high-powered offense" feels weird. It does not roll off the tongue. You think "did I just say that?" and, after a few moments, realize you did say that, and that you meant it, because it's true.
This is not a thing that seemed like it could ever be true as recently as this summer.
Here are a couple of tweets I have tweeted about Adam Lallana:
The Merseyside derby was today. It had everything you'd expect from such an occasion: tackles, fouls, more fouls, lots of fouls, all the fouls, every foul, grabbing, holding, kicking, Ross Barkley doing something extremely stupid, Jordan Henderson stomping around with his chest puffed like a guy who's had a few too many and thinks everyone is looking at his girlfriend, more fouls and exactly one goal.
But what a goal.