Trent Alexander-Arnold showed that he remains focused on the job as he displayed his attacking qualities in Liverpool's 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley in the third round of the FA Cup.
One week back, his defending came in for fierce criticism in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United. There, manager Arne Slot defended Alexander-Arnold amid rumours surrounding his future at Anfield, having been heavily linked with Real Madrid.
On Saturday, Alexander-Arnold showed what he can do at the other end of the pitch with a brilliant goal at Anfield to help Liverpool eased past League Two (fourth-tier) side Accrington.
Diogo Jota and Alexander-Arnold's first-half goals and strikes from Jayden Danns and Federico Chiesa after the break secured a comfortable win.
The gulf in quality between the teams was apparent as the visitors, despite their best efforts, failed to keep the Premier League and Champions League leaders at bay.
Liverpool took the lead when Alexander-Arnold sent Darwin Nunez up the right just before the half-hour mark as Liverpool countered after an Accrington free-kick. The Uruguayan crossed to Jota in the box who scored with a tap-in.
The hosts doubled their advantage just before the break as Alexander-Arnold found the top corner with a perfectly placed shot from outside the box into the far top corner.
Rio Ngumoha, 16, who made history as the youngest Liverpool player to start a competitive match or make an FA Cup appearance for the club, was replaced in the 72nd minute by Danns, who netted four minutes later when Billy Crellin's save from Chiesa fell to the Liverpool-born forward.
Forward Chiesa then got his name on the scoresheet in the 90th by firing into the bottom corner, after an earlier shot hit the woodwork, marking the Italian's first goal for Liverpool.
Nunez's early misses from inside the box had prolonged Liverpool's wait for a breakthrough as he failed to connect with Harvey Elliott's headed cross and shot wide when Everton loanee Crellin's stop to deny Alexander-Arnold fell to him.
Accrington, who had no shots on target in the first half, almost got a goal back in the 57th minute but Josh Woods' shot rattled the crossbar at Anfield, the stadium where his father used to work as a matchday steward.
"They offered a lot and first team football is tough and they're big lads, but it was a good challenge," Danns told ITV. All three of the teenager's Liverpool goals have come in the FA Cup, including two last season against Southampton.
"Credit to them (Accrington), I think they showed their style of play, which is a big compliment," Liverpool boss Slot added. "In the end, of course, the difference in quality makes a big difference."
It was a significant day for Alexander-Arnold as the England international was named captain in the absence of Virgil van Dijk in a much-changed side.
Slot made eight changes after suffering just his second defeat in charge of the Reds in Wednesday's League Cup semi-final first leg against Tottenham.
The Dutchman had warned the Premier League leaders that a trip to Anfield would be Accrington's "Champions League final", and they performed accordingly.
Chelsea through
Chelsea booked their place in round four with a 5-0 hammering of a Morecambe side who are second from bottom in the fourth tier. Tosin Adarabioyo scored twice for Enzo Maresca's side who enjoyed a first win in five games.
Joao Felix also helped himself to a double late on while Christopher Nkunku was also on target for Chelsea.
Felix was the star of the show for Chelsea as he got a rare chance to deputise for Cole Palmer.
The Portuguese international and Adarabioyo were on fire, while Nkunku made up for missing an early penalty by netting his 13th goal of the season.
Also, Dango Ouattara's double helped ease Bournemouth to a 5-1 over West Brom with Jason Kluivert, Antoine Semenyo and substitute Daniel Jebbison also scoring after Caleb Taylor had headed the visitors in front.
Jamie Vardy celebrated his 38th birthday with a successful penalty as top-flight Leicester routed QPR 6-2.
Goals from Ryan Yates and Ramon Sosa saw high-flying Nottingham Forest progress with the minimum of fuss despite making 11 changes courtesy of a 2-0 home win over Luton.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Dir: Taika Waititi
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UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
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Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
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Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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