Mohamed Salah scored to equal another Premier League record as Liverpool became the first team to 2,000 top-flight wins in English football with a 3-1 victory over Newcastle United.

Jonjo Shelvey opened the scoring after seven minutes at Anfield on Thursday, but Diogo Jota soon restored parity – Liverpool finding the net for a club-record 32nd game in a row across all competitions.

Salah then nudged Jurgen Klopp's side ahead four minutes later, matching Jamie Vardy's record for scoring or assisting in 15 consecutive Premier League games, before Trent Alexander-Arnold produced a stunning strike in the second half to confirm victory.

Liverpool, who achieved the 2,000-win landmark in 4,227 games, moved three points clear of third-placed Chelsea – held by Everton – and within one of leaders Manchester City, leaving Newcastle still three adrift of safety.

Jota was thwarted by Martin Dubravka in a positive start by Liverpool, but a defence missing Virgil van Dijk following a suspected positive COVID-19 test conceded first when Shelvey whipped into the bottom-left corner from range.

Jota equalised in contentious fashion as he smashed in a close-range rebound to his own header with Isaac Hayden down inside the box, before Salah rifled Liverpool ahead after Dubravka had denied Sadio Mane.

Salah almost doubled his account in the first half but uncharacteristically dragged wide.

Dubravka was called upon again after the break to stop Mane's header, while Jacob Murphy drilled narrowly off target with a rare Newcastle opportunity.

Shelvey then curled a free-kick just wide of Alisson's goal, but Alexander-Arnold sealed victory when he arrowed into the top-left corner from outside the area in the closing stages.

Liverpool became the first side in history to win 2,000 English top-flight games after defeating Newcastle United 3-1 at Anfield on Thursday.

Jonjo Shelvey silenced the home crowd on his return to his former club as he rifled in after seven minutes, but Diogo Jota soon levelled things up - Liverpool scoring in a club-record 32 consecutive games across all competitions.

Mohamed Salah put Jurgen Klopp's side into the ascendancy four minutes later, the forward matching Jamie Vardy's record of scoring or assisting in 15 consecutive Premier League games, before Trent Alexander-Arnold produced a magnificent long-range effort to seal victory.

Indeed, Salah has 24 goal involvements in the league this season (15 goals, nine assists), only former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer in 1994-95 has registered more before Christmas in the competition (16 goals, nine assists).

The Reds have now won 2,000 of their 4,227 top-flight fixtures (D1047 L1180), a win ratio of 47.3 per cent.

Liverpool have lifted the English top-flight title on 19 occasions, the first coming in the 1900-01 season, while their most recent was in the 2019-20 campaign and their first of the Premier League era.

With victory over Eddie Howe's side, Liverpool also extended their unbeaten top-flight run over Newcastle at Anfield to 26 games (D5 L21) and moved back within a point of leaders Manchester City, while going three clear of third-placed Chelsea.

Klopp's side next travel to Tottenham on Sunday as they aim to keep the pace with City and Chelsea at the top of the league.

Mohamed Salah equalled Jamie Vardy's record of scoring or assisting in 15 consecutive Premier League games after netting against Newcastle United on Thursday.

Liverpool found themselves behind to a Jonjo Shelvey curler, but soon restored parity as Diogo Jota converted before Salah tapped in from close range to record a goal involvement in his 15th straight league game.

The former Chelsea man has now found the net in five consecutive top-flight home games against Newcastle as well, his best 100 per cent scoring run against one side at Anfield in the competition.

He also now has 24 Premier League goal involvements this season (15 goals, nine assists), in Premier League history only Alan Shearer in 1994-95 has registered more before Christmas.

With Jota's earlier strike, Liverpool also made it 32 consecutive games across all competitions in which they have found the net - a new club record after a 31-match run between 1957 and 1958.

Salah moved to within one of the Leicester City striker's tally after scoring a penalty in the 1-0 win over Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa on December 11. 

It was the 15th straight Premier League spot-kick the Egypt international had converted - the second-longest such run in the competition after Matt Le Tissier (23 between 1994 and 2000).

Salah's haul of 21 goals and nine assists prior to Thursday's contribution on Merseyside was achieved with an expected goals tally of just 16.58 and an expected assists tally of only 3.75, suggesting Liverpool have benefited from some especially clinical finishing this term.

Mohamed Salah matched Jamie Vardy's record of scoring or assisting in 15 consecutive Premier League games after netting against Newcastle United on Thursday.

Liverpool found themselves behind to a Jonjo Shelvey curler, but soon restored parity as Diogo Jota converted before Salah tapped in from close range to record a goal involvement in his 15th straight game.

The former Chelsea man has now found the net in five consecutive top-flight home games against Newcastle as well, his best 100 per cent scoring run against one side at Anfield in the competition.

He also now has 24 Premier League goal involvements this season (15 goals, nine assists), in Premier League history only Alan Shearer in 1994-95 has registered more before Christmas.

With Jota's earlier strike, Liverpool also made it 32 consecutive games across all competitions in which they have found the net - a new club record after a 31-match run between 1957 and 1958.

Salah moved to within one of the Leicester City striker's tally after scoring a penalty in the 1-0 win over Steven Gerrard's Aston Villa on December 11. 

It was the 15th straight Premier League spot-kick the Egypt international had converted - the second-longest such run in the competition after Matt Le Tissier (23 between 1994 and 2000).

Salah's haul of 21 goals and nine assists prior to Thursday's contribution on Merseyside was achieved with an expected goals tally of just 16.58 and an expected assists tally of only 3.75, suggesting Liverpool have benefited from some especially clinical finishing this term.

Liverpool will be without Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones for Thursday's Premier League clash with Newcastle United after they returned suspected positive COVID-19 tests.

The Reds revealed just over an hour before kick-off that defender Van Dijk will miss the match at Anfield along with midfielders Fabinho and Jones.

Ibrahima Konate partners Joel Matip at the heart of the Liverpool defence in the absence of Van Dijk.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, captain Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara make up Jurgen Klopp's midfield, with forward Diogo Jota coming into the starting line-up.

Soaring numbers of coronavirus cases have led to further Premier League matches being postponed this weekend, with Everton's trip to Leicester City, West Ham's home game against Norwich City, Watford's match against Crystal Palace and Southampton's clash with Brentford off.

It was earlier announced that Manchester United will not face Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday due to an outbreak in the Red Devils camp, while also led to their match at Brentford on Tuesday being postponed.

Leicester's home game against Tottenham on Thursday was also called off due to positive cases in the FA Cup holders' squad, while Burnley's home fixture with Watford could not be played on Tuesday.

The Premier League said in a statement: "The board assesses applications to postpone matches on a case-by-case basis, based on existing rules and COVID-19 postponement guidance issued to all clubs.

"It will assess a number of factors, including the ability of a club to field a team; the status, severity and potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak at the club; and the ability of the players to safely prepare for and play the match.

"The board must also consider the wider risks to the opposition and other people the club representatives may come into contact with.

"With the health and wellbeing of all players and staff the priority, and in light of the recent rise in COVID-19 cases across the country, the Premier League has reintroduced emergency measures.

"These include protocols such as more frequent testing, wearing face coverings while indoors, observing social distancing and limiting treatment time."

The race for Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland is on.

Haaland is reportedly being chased by several top clubs, including Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

Each club will be looking for an edge in the race for the Norwegian.


TOP STORY – BARCELONA NOT KEEN ON POGBA-HAALAND PACKAGE

Barcelona are unlikely to bring in both Haaland and Paul Pogba, reports SPORT.

Agent Mino Raiola, who represents both players, is reported to have recently met with Barca president Joan Laporta.

Young striker Haaland is unmistakably an appealing player to Barcelona, but they would need to find the funds to buy him from Borussia Dortmund. Barcelona, who have major financial issues, are said to be wary of taking on Manchester United star Pogba's wages, and he may not be an ideal technical fit for coach Xavi. Pogba's United contract is due to expire at the end of this season.

Manchester City are also readying themselves to chase Haaland but will not over-spend, reports the Manchester Evening News.

ROUND-UP

- Cashed-up Newcastle United are bullish about their prospects of signing Atletico Madrid's England defender Kieran Trippier in January, according to Football Insider. Talks between the Magpies and Trippier are reportedly already under way.

- Premier League trio Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United could be all set to make a move to sign Fiorentina's Dusan Vlahovic after he rejected a bumper extension offer, reports Talksport.

- Paris Saint-Germain have joined the queue of clubs hoping to sign out-of-favour Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo, reports Calciomercato. Arthur has also been linked with Lazio.

- Fenerbahce are set to swoop for Luuk de Jong, who is on loan at Barcelona from Sevilla, claims Mundo Deportivo. Barca are eager to let him leave from his loan.

- Barcelona have set an asking price of €90million (£77m) for Frenkie de Jong according to Fichajes, amid interest from Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp believes more transparency over COVID-19 cases would be helpful as the Premier League heads into a hectic festive period.

Two games – Brighton and Hove Albion against Tottenham and Manchester United's trip to Brentford – have been postponed in the past week due to coronavirus outbreaks at Spurs and United.

Spurs had 13 members of their camp contract the virus last week, while United shut their Carrington training ground on Monday after a number of positive results.

On Monday, the league announced 42 positive test results from players and club officials had been returned, a record for a single week since testing began.

The league's 20 clubs have agreed to step up with extra measures in a bid to avoid further postponements, with daily testing introduced for all players and training ground staff.

Klopp is happy with the measures, but is confused as to why there cannot be more transparency when it comes to who has tested positive.

"In the Premier League, it would be helpful to understand exactly what it is. I don't understand why we are not more open," he said during a news conference on Wednesday.

"A lot of people catch COVID. If I catch it, hopefully not, I would be completely fine to say so. Why do we hide players, and nobody knows the number of players who have it. Come on, say, then everybody can understand why you are not able to play.

"I would prefer that but I'm not sure if that’s possible from a legal point of view, but it would be helpful. When we play Tottenham on Sunday, okay if they play tomorrow night we might have an idea but we have no idea currently of who can play or not.

"It's different to usual preparations for games. It's not the most important subject but it shows the information could be different, but I don't know if it's possible.

"We are all in the same situation as human beings, I don't know why we should hide it. A bit more transparency would be helpful."

Klopp, who revealed most of Liverpool's squad have already had a third booster vaccination dose, was also asked if the vaccination status of players may come into play when deciding whether to sign a player in the future.

"Who knows what situation we will be in when we start signing players again," he answered.

"The whole thing, the vaccination thing for me is a question of solidarity, loyalty and togetherness. We have the chance to help not only ourselves but others as well. There are not two possible answers, there is one answer, so you do it, that's how I understand it.

"It's not only the squad. Everybody who is working here at the training ground is at least double vaccinated and will get a booster as soon as possible. I really don't know, don't get me wrong, whatever I say now you could make the headlines of 'Klopp will only sign vaccinated players'.

"I didn't think about it. Not a second. If you sign a player you sign them for plenty of reasons. If that will be one of them, I don't know yet."

Reports on Wednesday also claimed the Africa Cup of Nations, planned to take place in Cameroon over January and February, may be postponed due to rising cases of the virus in parts of Europe and Africa, attributed to the Omicron variant.

Key players Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are due to appear in the tournament, but Klopp has received no word on whether it will go ahead.

"There's nothing to say, the authorities have to decide," he said.

"We don't know when exactly [the players might go]. There will be a moment when the national coaches announce their plans. We try to be in the conversations but the decisions will be made elsewhere."

Jurgen Klopp said Sergio Aguero is one of the best players he ever managed against after the ex-Manchester City forward announced his retirement.

Aguero, who joined Barcelona from City earlier this year, confirmed his decision to retire on Wednesday at an event featuring president Joan Laporta and the Blaugrana's first-team players, while representatives of the 33-year-old's other clubs – including Pep Guardiola – also attended.

The Argentina international suffered chest pain in a LaLiga match against Deportivo Alaves on October 30, which Barca confirmed was down to a heart arrhythmia.

Further tests resulted in Aguero being ruled out for three months to undergo a "diagnostic and therapeutic process". After consultations with specialists, he was told it would be too great a risk to continue playing.

Aguero scored 260 goals in his 10 years at City, with 184 of these coming in the Premier League, making him the highest-scoring overseas player in the competition's history.

Having scored league goals at a rate of one every 108 minutes, the best frequency of any player to net at least 20 in the competition, Aguero could play another 2,520 minutes of Premier League action (the equivalent of 28 full games) without scoring and he would still have the best minutes-per-goal ratio of any player to have scored 20 times or more.

Aguero scored seven league goals against Liverpool, with his last such strike a thumping opener in a crucial 2-1 win in January 2019. City edged out the Reds by a single point in that season's title race.

Asked about Aguero's impact on the Premier League, Klopp – whose side face struggling Newcastle United on Thursday – told a news conference: "Massive, massive.

"I really feel for the boy. He obviously made a move to Barcelona not to retire but for another exciting move in his career, he was not able to contribute because of his issues and I really feel for him.

"He had a great career, there will be a moment where he will see that as well and see that 33 is an age where other players retire but for other reasons, but of course for him at the moment he is of course in shock, that's what you get when you have to announce something like this.

"The impact he had on the Premier League, on football, I think was incredible. The whole time at City, even before Pep arrived there, the goals he scored, the importance of the goals he scored.

"Since I'm here, when we played against City, even if he was not too busy scoring against us, he was massive. He scored a very important one I remember. I don't know him as a person but as a player I can say he's one of the best I ever faced."

Could Bayern Munich really part with Robert Lewandowski?

The 33-year-old talisman has broken all kinds of records in Munich, but he is not getting any younger.

With Erling Haaland the face of a new era, Bayern may be tempted for the Borussia Dortmund star to lead the way.

 

TOP STORY – LEWANDOWSKI OUT, HAALAND IN?

Bayern Munich could sell Robert Lewandowski to raise funds for in-demand Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland, according to Sport Bild.

Bundesliga champions Bayern are planning with Lewandowski for the future, though they have reportedly not written off the idea of bringing in Haaland, who has been linked with Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Should Bayern and Lewandowski not agree to a new deal, the Poland international is believed to be interested in a switch to the Premier League or PSG.

As for Bayern, they feel cashing in on Lewandowski for around €60million would help in landing Haaland, who has a release clause of €75m.

Bayern are also eyeing Barca's Ousmane Dembele, while Inter's Lautaro Martinez, Fiorentina forward Dusan Vlahovic and Juventus star Federico Chiesa are among their alternative options.

 

ROUND-UP

- Eurosport claims LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid want to bring in wantaway United forward Anthony Martial in a swap deal.

Barca and Atletico are interested in Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta, says Sport. Azpilicueta is a free agent at the end of the season. Chelsea team-mate Antonio Rudiger is also set to become available on a free transfer.

- Calciomercato reports PSG are eyeing a move for Bayern forward Kingsley Coman. The 25-year-old Frenchman made three appearances for PSG before leaving the capital in 2014.

- Salzburg sensation Karim Adeyemi is wanted by Barca, Inter and Liverpool but the Germany international wants a move to Dortmund, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain each have four nominees in the 23-man shortlist for the FIFA FIFPRO Men's World 11 for 2021.

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson and full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold are also included, although there is no place for Mohamed Salah.

PSG's attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are among the forwards, as is Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Veteran Dani Alves also won enough votes to make the list, even though the 38-year-old, who recently rejoined Barcelona, only played 16 times in domestic competition in Brazil this year.

Professional footballers across the world were asked to vote for the three players they considered to have the best seasons during the 2020-21 season among goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards.

FIFPRO said: "For the first time in 17 years, FIFPRO is updating the announcement about the most-voted players, reducing the shortlist from 55 to 23. This has been done to resemble a real-life 'squad' which, usually for international competitions, is the number of players involved. 

"The three goalkeepers, six defenders, six midfielders and six forwards with the most votes earned a place in the 23-men World 11 'squad'. To complete this elite selection, the two remaining outfield players with the most votes were added."

The keeper, three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards with the most votes will be chosen for the World 11, with the remaining spot assigned to the outfield player with the next highest number of votes.

The final 11 will be announced at The Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony on January 17.

 

FIFA FIFPRO MEN'S WORLD 11 23-PLAYER SHORTLIST:

Goalkeepers:
Alisson (Liverpool, Brazil)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan/Paris Saint-Germain, Italy)
Edouard Mendy (Chelsea, Senegal)

Defenders:
David Alaba (Bayern Munich/Real Madrid, Austria)
Jordi Alba (Barcelona, Spain)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool, England)
Dani Alves (Sao Paulo/Barcelona, Brazil)
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus, Italy)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City, Portugal)

Midfielders:
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona, Spain)
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Portugal)
Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona, The Netherlands)
Jorginho (Chelsea, Italy)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea, France)

Forwards:
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Manchester United, Portugal)
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, Norway)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland)
Romelu Lukaku (Inter/Chelsea, Belgium)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, France)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Paris Saint-Germain, Argentina)
Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil)

Fiorentina's Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic is attracting a long list of suitors.

Vlahovic is under contract at the Stadio Artemio Franchi until June 2023.

Fiorentina are hoping to convince him to extend amid increasing interest in him.

 

TOP STORY – FIORENTINA SET €100M VLAHOVIC PRICE TAG

Fiorentina have set a whopping €100million (£85m) price tag for Vlahovic according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

Arsenal, Tottenham, Juventus and Manchester City are all keen on the Serbian striker.

Vlahovic netted 21 Serie A goals last season and has already got 15 to his name this term, making him hot property.  

ROUND-UP

- Marseille defensive midfielder Boubacar Kamara is on Manchester United's radar with a view to sign him as a free agent, reports The Athletic.  Wolverhampton and Newcastle are also believed to be interested in Kamara.

- Real Madrid are in the box seat to sign Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger following positive discussions, according to The Guardian. Rudiger is set to exit Chelsea as a free agent at the end of this season.

- Tottenham are set to allow Dele Alli to exit the club in January, claims The Athletic. England international Alli has made eight league appearances for Spurs this season and is understood to not be in new manager Antonio Conte's plans.

- Fichajes claims that Manchester United will join Liverpool and Manchester City in the race for Porto winger Luis Diaz.

- Newcastle wants to sign Lille's 21-year-old defender Sven Botman in January, reports The Guardian.

Salzburg starlet Karim Adeyemi says he would love to one day join Barcelona but the player's agent has ruled that out in the near future.

The 19-year-old German striker has been linked with several clubs, including Barcelona along with Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund.

Adeyemi attended the Golden Boy ceremony in Turin on Monday where he claimed the web-voted prize, with Pedri winning the major award.

"Barca is a great club, it is a source of pride that they love me and of course I can see myself playing there if given the option," Adeyemi told reporters after the Golden Boy ceremony.

"Now they are feeling the departure of Messi but they will always be in the Champions League."

Adeyemi also clarified that he had not spoken to Barcelona president Joan Laporta who attended the function.

However, Adeyemi's agent Thomas Salomon came out after his player's comments, ruling out a Barcelona move in the near future.

"A few days ago we said 'no' definitively to Barca's proposal for Adeyemi," Salomon said according to Sport. "Barca is no longer an option for Karim. The best thing for him is a German club."

He continued: "They [Barcelona] made a proposal to us, but they never came to present anything to Salzburg."

Salomon did clarify that Adeyemi could potentially move to Camp Nou at another point in his career, keeping his options open.

"In two or three years we will see what can happen," he said.

One title race ended in controversial fashion this past weekend, but the Premier League's charge to the top is only just clicking into gear.

Lewis Hamilton will not be the only one left feeling harshly penalised after events over the last few days, after eight spot-kicks were awarded across the latest round of top-flight fixtures.

Chelsea were a major benefactor, as their win over Leeds United saw them keep pace with title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.

Ralf Rangnick's Manchester United also scored from the spot in a win over Norwich City, while Conor Gallagher inspired Crystal Palace to a victory over Rafael Benitez's Everton.

Benitez's former club Newcastle United, meanwhile, suffered another damaging defeat in their quest to make it to the January transfer window with a fighting chance of staying up.

With all that and more, here are some of the weekend's quirky stats from the Premier League...

 

Penalties galore

The season of giving is approaching and it seems Premier League referees were more than willing to hand out goalscoring gifts.

Brentford beat Watford thanks to a last-gasp penalty on Friday, when the fun started. Bryan Mbeumo's resultant strike saw the Bees become the first team in Premier League history to have each of their first 10 home goals in the competition scored by different players.

Champions City then needed a spot-kick to defeat 10-man Wolves, with Raul Jimenez receiving his marching orders for blocking a free-kick from being taken, just 31 seconds after he had received his first booking. Raheem Sterling put it away, scoring his 100th goal in the Premier League. He is the 32nd player to reach that landmark in the top flight.

Chelsea's clash with Leeds really boosted the penalty numbers, with three awarded at Stamford Bridge. Antonio Rudiger became only the second Chelsea player to win two penalties in a single Premier League match, after Yuri Zhirkov against Aston Villa in March 2010. Jorginho put away both penalties to secure a 3-2 win, with Raphinha having put Leeds ahead from 12 yards.

Cristiano Ronaldo made no mistake at Carrow Road and Youri Tielemans was also on target for Leicester City in their demolition of Newcastle. Mohamed Salah converted a penalty he won in order for Liverpool to see off Aston Villa and club legend Steven Gerrard at Anfield.

Each penalty at Stamford Bridge resulted in a side taking the lead, a Premier League first, while Saturday was the first matchday to have three 1-0 wins all settled by spot-kicks.

Seven penalties awarded eitiher on Saturday and Sunday ranks second in Premier League history across a single weekend, after September 13-14 in 2003 (eight). Last season saw 125 spot-kicks given, the most ever in the competition, at a rate of 0.33 per game. The count for 2021-22 so far stands at 41.

Records set to go

Sterling's goal for City was the 499th scored in the Premier League under Pep Guardiola, in what was his 206th top-flight match in charge.

Guardiola is set be the Premier League manager to have seen his side score 500 goals in the fewest games, with Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp the current record-holder on 234.

Staying with City, they have already won 32 league games in 2021, one shy of Liverpool's top-tier record for a calendar year, set back in 1982. With four games remaining before the turn of the year, that is surely another record the champions are set to take.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are now on 1,999 top-flight victories, and will become the first team to reach the 2,000 milestone with their next success.

Benitez on thin ice?

It was always going to be a difficult task for Benitez to win over the Everton faithful. Given the chants directed his way by the travelling support at Palace on Sunday, he is as far away as he ever was from achieving that. A 3-1 defeat at Selhurst Park means Everton are on a run of one win in 10 league matches.

The wonderful Gallagher was their downfall, scoring twice either side of James Tomkins bundling home from a corner. The on-loan midfielder has now scored six goals and laid on three assists, contributing to nine of Palace's 22 league goals this season (41 per cent).

That ranks him eighth in the league when it comes to goal contributions for a side, and top among English players in the competition, and first for players aged 21 or under.

Everton have come from behind to claim 10 points this season, which already marks their best total since 2017-18 (14) and is the most in the competition this season, but based on the frustration directed Benitez's way, the former Liverpool boss might be in need of a Christmas miracle.

Howe's that defence staying up?

One place Benitez would certainly feel the love is St James' Park. Newcastle finally claimed their first win of the season by beating Burnley, but they were on the end of a 4-0 pasting at Leicester.

Newcastle's defence is the primary course for concern. They have already conceded 34 goals, the worst in the league. After 16 top-flight matches, they have conceded as many goals on eight other occasions, the last being in 1977-78.

Newcastle went down in that season, as they did in the 1960-61 campaign, but Eddie Howe might at least take some solace from the fact that the Magpies survived on the other six occasions.

Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos will come up against Real Madrid after Paris Saint-Germain were paired with Los Blancos in the Champions League round of 16, which had to undergo a re-draw.

PSG were initially drawn against Manchester United on Monday, throwing up a tantalising encounter between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, a technical error meant the draw had to take place again and while Messi will not meet Ronaldo just yet, the Barcelona great will go up against his former club's Clasico rivals.

Having finished second in Group A behind Manchester City, who were handed a favourable tie against Sporting CP, PSG will host Madrid in the first leg in February before visiting the Santiago Bernabeu in March.

That means Mbappe, who is a high-profile target for Madrid and could well have already signed a pre-contract agreement with Los Blancos by the time these fixtures roll around, will go up against his suitors.

It also sees Madrid legend Ramos go up against his old club, and it is the same story for Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, who coached PSG from 2011 to 2013.

United, on the other hand, will face Atletico Madrid, who had initially been due to play Bayern Munich. The Bundesliga giants have been drawn against Salzburg.

Liverpool may well lament their luck. Salzburg had been their original opponents, but Jurgen Klopp's team now have to prepare for a tie against Serie A champions Inter - albeit they made light work of the Nerazzurri's rivals Milan in the group stage.

Coincidentally, holders Chelsea were again drawn against Lille, having been set a tie with the Ligue 1 champions during the initial draw. 

Villarreal will take on Juventus and Ajax go up against Benfica.

Champions League last 16 draw in full:

Salzburg v Bayern Munich
Sporting CP v Manchester City
Benfica v Ajax
Chelsea v Lille
Atletico Madrid v Manchester United
Villarreal v Juventus
Inter v Liverpool 
PSG v Real Madrid

UEFA has confirmed the Champions League last-16 draw will have to be re-done after a technical error with the initial procedure.

Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain were set to face each other in the knockout stage, but that headline fixture and the other ties will have to be redrawn after what UEFA labelled as a "technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other."

United were initially drawn to face Villarreal, but the sides were unable to play each other as they had previously featured in the same group.

After complaints from affected clubs, including Atletico Madrid, UEFA later announced the draw would take place again at 1500 CET (1400 GMT).

UEFA's deputy general secretary, Giorgio Marchetti, spotted the mistake involving United's ball and ordered the tie to be drawn again. Manchester City were instead picked to go against Villarreal.

Yet United, due to the technical error, were subsequently blocked from being selected as one of the teams eligible to play the next team, which was LaLiga champions Atleti.

Bayern Munich were ultimately picked to face Atleti, while United were drawn in the glamour tie of the round against PSG – a game that would have seen Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi meet in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since the 2010-11 semi-finals.

The re-draw could well benefit United, given the challenge of facing PSG. However, holders Chelsea and Liverpool were handed favourable draws against Lille and Salzburg respectively.

Inter had been due to face Ajax, while Sporting CP were up against Juventus. Real Madrid had been drawn against Benfica.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.