Alisson Becker has been a big miss in Liverpool’s defence – mind, Caoimhin Kelleher has done a sensational job standing in his place in recent months.

That hasn’t stopped the Brazilian from showing his support in alternative ways, as is most certainly demonstrated by his involvement in the Reds’ famous pre-match tradition ahead of the tie with Sheffield United.

The former Roma shotstopper was spotted belting out You’ll Never Walk Alone loud and proud before Jurgen Klopp’s men went on to secure a 3-1 victory over Chris Wilder’s men.

You can catch the clip below, courtesy of LFCTV (via @superszbo):

Alisson🥹🥹 pic.twitter.com/oZamHsV6oX

— (@superszbo) April 5, 2024

The post (Video) What Alisson Becker did just before Liverpool’s 3-1 win v Sheff Utd has just emerged appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Liverpool are officially in control of the Premier League title race following the aftermath of battles between the Reds and Brighton, and Manchester City and Arsenal.

Jurgen Klopp’s men will return to the top of the table by two points over the Gunners, should they defeat Sheffield United this evening.

Only eight top-flight games will then stand in the way of the German tactician and his photo-finish at L4.

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Liverpool team news confirmed

Caoimhin Kelleher lines up in goal once again as Alisson Becker’s ongoing recovery efforts look set to take him deeper into April.

Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate fill the heart of our backline for the impending clash with Chris Wilder’s Blades.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch form the midfield three at Anfield.

Up top, Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz are in place and ready to challenge the visitors’ backline.

You can catch the full team news below, courtesy of @LFC:

The Reds 🫡 #LIVSHU

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 4, 2024

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Liverpool’s patience paid off as they secured a hard-earned 2-0 win away to Sheffield United on Wednesday night, but the result was tempered by news of an anterior cruciate ligament injury for Joel Matip.

The 32-year-old has been a rock-solid performer this season and his lengthy absence will be sorely felt by the squad, but thankfully the man who came in to replace him at Bramall Lane filled the void with a powerhouse performance.

Sometimes statistics don’t quite tell the full story of a player’s display, but the numbers that Ibrahima Konate racked up against the Blades were beastly.

As per Sofascore, the 24-year-old won four tackles, made four interceptions and two clearances, took 140 touches completed a team-high 98 passes and – most impressively of all – came out on top in an incredible 19 duels out of 24 contested, winning all 14 of his aerial battles.

READ MORE: (Video) Trent casually pings 30-yard volleyed pass which had Blades defence scrambling

READ MORE: ‘Wow…’ – Jurgen Klopp awestruck by ‘outstanding’ Liverpool tank who won 9 duels v Sheffield United

It wasn’t quite the perfect performance from Konate, who needed to be bailed out by Virgil van Dijk when Cameron Archer was through on goal in the 20th minute, was booked for a later foul on the Sheffield United striker and survived a VAR check for a potential penalty on James McAtee in the closing minutes.

However, there was still much to admire about the Frenchman’s display last night, in particular the regularity with which he picked out Luis Diaz with pinpoint diagonal balls to the left flank.

As the aforementioned statistics evidenced, the 6 foot 4 colossus was an absolute demon in the air against the Blades, living up to any and all descriptions of him being a man mountain for Liverpool.

There are still aspects of Konate’s game on which he can improve, but if he can hopefully remain free of injury for the rest of the season, the door is open for him to firmly establish himself as Van Dijk’s primary centre-back partner at Anfield.

Last night’s display offered plenty of encouragement that the 24-year-old will be a towering an uncompromising presence at the back for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold can do things with a football which’d have even professional players watching on in awe.

The Liverpool vice-captain produced an eye-catching moment in the second half of his team’s 2-0 victory away to Sheffield United on Wednesday night.

Shortly after the hour mark at Bramall Lane, with the Reds a goal to the good, the ball was played back towards the 25-year-old, who was almost at the centre circle when he casually pinged a 30-yard volley into the Blades’ half of the pitch.

It was one of the home side’s players who got back to divert it away, but the defence was scrambling to try and cut it out, and the sheer trajectory of the pass spelled potential danger for Chris Wilder’s team.

With seven key passes to his name last night (Sofascore), Sheffield United will simply be glad that they don’t have to come up against Trent every week and, barring a potential FA Cup pairing in the meantime, won’t face him again until April.

You can view Trent’s sublime pass below, via @1947production on X (formerly Twitter):

https://t.co/VHleLD9w8o pic.twitter.com/hMwNXn20tv

— 1947 (@1947production) December 6, 2023

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Liverpool will be without Joel Matip for their latest away trip to Yorkshire where they will face a familiar face in Chris Wilder with Sheffield United.

The Merseysiders have a five-point gap to the league leaders, Arsenal, to mow down and will need to make it six Premier League wins in a row against the Blades to do so.

Jurgen Klopp jokingly suggested he’d need to ‘bin our analysis’ following the change in management at Bramall Lane.

It remains to be seen how the German tactician will approach this impending fixture.

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Liverpool team news vs Sheffield United

An injured Alisson Becker remains unlikely to return to the fray much sooner than December 17, leaving Caoimhin Kelleher in goal for now.

Ibrahima Konate returns to the side, in favour of an injured Matip, alongside Virgil van Dijk in the backline.

Wataru Endo starts int he midfield along with Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

Cody Gakpo is pushed into the front-three and is supported on the flanks by Mo Salah and Luis Diaz.

You can catch the full team news below, courtesy of @LFC:

🟣 #SHULIV TEAM NEWS 🟣

Our line-up at Bramall Lane tonight:

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 6, 2023

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Chris Wilder is the new manager of Sheffield United and he has outlined what players he will have at his disposal, as the Blades face Liverpool.

Speaking with the press, the 56-year-old said: “I’m not going to give anything away, the job’s hard enough. Everybody knows that Oli [McBurnie] isn’t going to be available, some long-term injuries with John Egan, Tom Davies and the likes.

“It’s looking okay in terms of a few coming back [from injury], Rhian Brewster and Rhys Norrington-Davies have trained today and Daniel Jebbison isn’t a million miles away.”

READ MORE: (Video) Wilder: ‘treat it like a FA Cup third round tie’ – underdogs against Liverpool

This initial reluctance to reveal too much about his new squad did lead to some revelations, including the fact that Rhian Brewster may be back to play his former club.

It’s up to Jurgen Klopp to play against whatever we’re faced with and try to find a way to beat the newly promoted side away from home, something we haven’t been great at in recent years.

You can watch Wilder’s comments on squad availability (from 39:26) via BeanymanSports on YouTube:

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It’s never a great feeling to play a club with a new manager, even though most of the time it comes off a bad run of games, and Chris Wilder will be hoping to pull off a shock against Liverpool.

Speaking with the media, the new boss said: “It’s a very tough first game but it’s a great occasion, great challenge isn’t it to play Liverpool at the Lane, it’s an incredible challenge

“Treat it like a FA Cup third round tie, we’re playing Liverpool at home – nothing to lose.”

READ MORE: (Video) ‘Bin our analysis’ – Klopp admits Sheff Utd change has made pre-match prep pointless

It’s an understandable game plan to make out that Sheffield United are huge underdogs, which they are, and take pressure away from his players.

It’s up to Jurgen Klopp and his squad to be professional, take their role in this ‘cup tie’ as Goliath and collect a much-needed three points at Bramall Lane.

You can watch Wilder’s comments on Liverpool (from 13:03) via BeanymanSports on YouTube:

Anfield Annals: Matt McQueen the Anfield All-Rounder who did everything in 36 years as a Red

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Jurgen Klopp is set to take his Liverpool side to Sheffield for a Premier League clash that we need to win but his pre-match preparations have been somewhat rendered useless.

Speaking with the media, the boss discussed the appointment of Chris Wilder: “I obviously remember the way Sheffield United played under Chris Wilder, overlapping wing-backs or underlapping wing-backs – as one part of it.

“He probably has his press conference now [Tuesday afternoon], training after that and maybe another session in the morning.

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“First thing, we can probably bin our analysis! We have to focus on ourselves, I don’t think he will change too much – what can he change in that short period? – and we don’t have to think too much about it.

“We really should just prepare for a football game, we play teams with five at the back, 5-3-2, 5-4-1, quite frequently, to be honest, so we have to make sure we give them a proper job to think about.”

Although the German may have jokingly said that his analysis can now be binned, knowing the players at the new manager’s disposal but also having a blueprint of how he likes to play football – will be incredibly useful

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Paul Heckingbottom hadn’t done the best of jobs since promotion and a 5-0 defeat at the hands of Burnley was the final nail in his coffin.

That means we face the dreaded ‘new manager bounce’ at Bramall Lane but let’s hope we get through unscathed and with three points in hand.

You can view Klopp’s comments on Wilder and Sheffield United (from 2:12) via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:

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Chris Wilder was in jocular and defiant mood as he held his first press conference upon his return as Sheffield United manager ahead of Wednesday night’s clash against Liverpool.

The 56-year-old is back in the Bramall Lane hot seat after the dismissal of Paul Heckingbottom on Tuesday, with Jurgen Klopp’s side presenting the first opposition of his second spell in charge in Yorkshire.

With 18 places and 26 points separating the teams in the Premier League table, the fixture looks a daunting one for the Blades at first glance, but their returning boss is determined that if his team are to go down to the Reds, it won’t be a meek surrender.

Speaking to reporters today (via Yorkshire Post), Wilder said with an initial tongue-in-cheek remark: “Thanks very much for the fixture! 30-odd thousand at Bramall Lane on a Wednesday night under the lights against arguably one of the best teams in Europe is a tough start, but it’s one we are going to attack and have a right go.

The post ‘Thanks very much…’ – Chris Wilder makes tongue-in-cheek admission ahead of facing Liverpool appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

When players leave Liverpool for pastures new, it’s not too often that we see them make a Premier League return but that’s not been the case with one former Red making an English comeback.

As reported on Sheffield United’s Twitter account: ‘Yasser Larouci has penned a season-long loan at Bramall Lane, with an option to buy, arriving from Troyes for the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign’.

The Frenchman only managed two senior appearances for the Reds, two FA Cup games against Everton and Shrewsbury Town during the 2019/2020 camapign.

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Originally arriving at our academy as a winger, it was under Steven Gerrard that Yasser Larouci was converted to a full-back and he starred in this role alongside Khephren Thuram for the French Under-21s this summer.

It will be interesting to see how the 22-year-old thrives at Bramall Lane for the upcoming campaign and whether there will be any who wished that we’d managed to keep hold of him.

After he rejected a contract from us in 2021, it was clear that the Troyes player had high hopes for his career and a return to the top tier in English football may show he was right.

We would only wish him the best of luck for the season ahead and that he continues to improve now that he’s made a positive step forward in his career.

You can view the Larouci update via @SheffieldUnited on Twitter:

Bonjour, Yasser!

Yasser Larouci has penned a season-long loan at Bramall Lane, with an option to buy, arriving from Troyes for the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign.@YeloDrive | #SUFC

— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) July 17, 2023

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The post Ex-Red makes surprise Premier League return; left Liverpool in 2021 appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

One Premier League manager has highlighted his team’s trip to Anfield as the fixture he’s perhaps most eagerly anticipating for the 2023/24 season.

The top-flight fixtures for the upcoming campaign were announced on Thursday morning, with Sheffield United among the trio of promoted clubs who’ll be visiting some of the biggest stadia in England.

Their manager Paul Heckingbottom was speaking to Sky Sports News after the schedule was released, and he has one particular reason as to why he’s very much looking forward to when the Blades visit Liverpool.

The 45-year-old said: “From a personal point of view, and you probably can’t believe, I’ve still never been to Anfield, either as a player, a coach or to watch a game. I think that’s the only stadium I’ve not been to in the country, so that’ll be one for me.”

The one possible pitfall is that Sheffield United’s trip to Anfield doesn’t come until Wednesday 3 April, so it remains to be seen whether he’ll still be in charge of the club by then, particularly given the rate at which Premier League managers were jettisoned during the 2022/23 campaign.

Hopefully Heckingbottom will get to realise his wish of coming to Liverpool’s home ground, and he deserves the chance to do so after the magnificent job he’s done in getting the Blades back into the top flight.

You can view the 45-year-old’s comments below from Sky Sports News, shared via @footballdaily on Twitter:

"I've still never been to Anfield!"

Paul Heckingbottom is looking forward to the trip away to Liverpool! pic.twitter.com/Zrnr9LfOy4

— Football Daily (@footballdaily) June 15, 2023

The post (Video) Premier League manager makes Anfield admission as 2023/24 fixtures announced appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Liverpool were linked with countless midfielders this summer and one of the rumoured targets has confirmed interest in him and spoke about his feelings on the possible move.

Speaking with TV 2 in Norway, Sander Berge said: “There was a lot of interest, concrete interest, you weighed things up a bit, it had to work out for both the club and me, and it didn’t happen.

“It’s always nice to sit in a position and know that there were clubs that were very interested. There is nothing negative about clubs of that size being mentioned, but you shouldn’t put too much into it.

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“It can be flared up by very little, and it is not necessarily always right, even if there were big and interesting clubs that were in the picture. Not everything on the internet is true.”

The 24-year-old was obviously flattered to have had such interest in him and from clubs such as ourselves but it does look as though he is playing the rumours down a little here.

With such a public desire and then declaration from the club about us pursuing a new midfielder – there was always going to be a host of possible targets.

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The Sheffield United man was certainly one of the most discussed names in the newspaper and online columns but as he said – ‘not everything on the internet is true’.

Whether the former Genk man will be back on our radar this summer is unknown but it certainly appears that he is at least a player that the club are aware of, as a possible new recruit.

With 11 appearances, three goals and three assists this season already – if the Norwegian international keeps this level of performance up, we may be silly to ignore him.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens but with all eyes on Jude Bellingham, it feels like any other possible signings are taking a back seat for now.

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It’s looking more and more likely Ben Davies will be departing Liverpool without playing a single minute of competitive football.

At least, for now! The centre-half is reportedly close to joining Sheffield United on loan for the remainder of the Championship season.

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That’s according to local outlet, The Star, who claim a £1 million deal has been struck between the Blades and Liverpool for Davies.

The 26-year-old signed for the Reds earlier this year, alongside loanee Ozan Kabak, with Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all facing long-term injuries, but is still yet to make his debut.

With the aforementioned defenders now back and match-fit, Davies’ Anfield future looks bleak.

With a move to Sheffield United said to be imminent, the former Preston North End defender will likely see regular game-time return in the Championship.

The post Price revealed for Liverpool centre-half with Championship deal imminent – report appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Liverpool starlet Harvey Elliott has got off to a wonderful start in pre-season with his team-mates, dropping some eye-catching performances in Austria.

The Reds have now relocated to Evian in France and are getting prepared to take on Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna.

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Elliott’s short-term future at the club is set to be decided once these friendly fixtures have been wrapped up, according to the Sheffield Star.

The above outlet claims downed side Sheffield United are keen on the Liverpool winger and would be interested in taking him on loan for the 2021/22 season.

Empire of the Kop understands Jurgen Klopp likes the idea of keeping Elliott around this term, and that is indeed what he intends on doing.

Whether there is an unknown factor behind the scenes remains to be seen, but Xherdan Shaqiri is notably still with Liverpool, despite serious interest from Serie A side Lazio – there may not be room for two left-footed right-wingers in the squad…

The post Championship club hovering as Liverpool to make final Harvey Elliott decision – report appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

The transfer rumour mill whirls around once again and it would appear Liverpool could sign Sheffield United midfielder Sander Berge on a cut-down price this summer.

It would appear, at least…

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According to reports in Italy, which we at Empire of the Kop duly covered this morning, Berge could be available for as little as £10.3 million after Sheffield United’s relegation.

Though, it seems there may have been something lost in translation across the Mediterranean as sources close to the Championship club beg to differ.

Sheffield United News insist Berge will not leave the Blades for anything less than £35 million this summer, which does sound like a more realistic figure.

The Norway international is subject of interest from Serie A side Napoli, hence why the Italian media covered it.

We at Empire of the Kop feel it’s a responsibility of ours to not simply dismiss what reputable outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) have published – but it does now appear somewhat moot.

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