68 2GM Wednesday February 23 2022 | the times
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Football
Sky Bet Championship
Bristol City (0) 1 Coventry (1) 2
Martin 62
Att: 19,192
Maatsen 25
Gyokeres 89
Hull (0) 0 Barnsley (2) 2
16,421 Styles 27
Morris 45+2
M’brough (0) 2 West Brom (1) 1
McNair 60
Tavernier 69
Molumby 28
21,646
Preston (0) 0 Nottm For (0) 0
12,598
Reading (0) 2 Birmingham(0) 1
Lucas Joao 67
Swift 73 (pen)
McIntyre (og) 82P WD L FA GD Pts
Fulham.................31 19 7 5 79 28 51 64
Bournemouth...30 17 7 6 49 26 23 58
Blackburn...........32 15 9 8 45 33 12 54
QPR.......................32 15 8 9 47 37 10 53
Huddersfield......33 14 11 8 42 35 7 53
Middlesbro.........32 157 10 41 32 9 52
Sheff Utd..............31 14 8 9 43 33 10 50
Coventry.............32 148 10 42 37 5 50
Nottm Forest.....32 139 10 43 33 10 48
Luton.....................31 13 9 9 43 36 7 48
West Brom.........33 12 10 11 35 30 5 46
Preston................34 11 13 10 37 38 -1 46
Stoke.....................31 128 11 40 34 6 44
Millwall.................31 11 10 10 33 33 0 43
Blackpool............32 119 12 35 38-3 42
Bristol City.........34 117 16 45 61 -16 40
Swansea...............31 108 13 32 43 -11 38
Birmingham....... 34 9 10 15 40 53 -13 37
Cardiff..................32 10 6 16 39 51 -12 36
Hull....................... 349 7 18 27 39 -12 34
Reading*.............33 105 18 41 63 -22 29
Derby*................ 32 10 12 10 33 35-2 21
Peterboro............ 315 6 20 23 61 -38 21
Barnsley.............. 324 8 20 21 46 -25 20
Deducted six points; **deducted 21 points
League One
Bolton (0) 3 Lincoln City(0) 1
Johnston 53
Sadlier 76
Bakayoko 83
Bramall 66
13,841Cambridge Utd (2) 2 Plymouth (0) 0
Smith 5
Lankester 43
5,286Charlton (0) 0 MK Dons (1) 2
Watson 41
Hayden 59
Crewe (0) 0 Oxford Utd (0) 1
3,968 Brown 65
Doncaster (0) 2 Accrington (0) 0
Martin 68, Olowu 88 5,396
Gillingham (0) 0 AFC Wimbledon(0) 0
4,151
Ipswich (0) 0 Cheltenham(0) 0
21,318
Rotherham(2) 2 Morecambe(0) 0
Ladapo 4, 30 8,376
Shrewsbury(1) 1 Portsmouth(1) 2
Leahy 14
Sent off: Vela
5,862Hume 29
Thompson 84Sunderland(0) 1 Burton Albion (0) 1
Stewart 90+3
30,237Borthwick-Jackson 53Wycombe (1) 1 Wigan (0) 3
Kaikai 22 Naylor 70
Lang 78, 82
4,826P WD L FA GD Pts
Rotherham.........33 22 6 5 60 19 41 72
Wigan....................31 20 6 5 56 29 27 66
MK Dons.............34 18 9 7 55 35 20 63
Oxford Utd.........34 17 8 9 61 41 20 59
Plymouth............32 16 8 8 54 38 16 56
Sunderland........34 168 10 58 4711 56
Wycombe...........33 15 10 8 53 43 10 55
Sheff Wed...........32 15 10 7 45 35 10 55
Ipswich................34 14 10 10 52 38 14 52
Bolton..................34 156 13 55 45 10 51
Portsmouth........31 138 10 40 32 8 47
Cambridge.........33 11 11 11 44 45 -1 44
Burton..................34 128 14 42 45-3 44
Accrington Stanley 3312 7 14 41 51 -10 43
Cheltenham 33 9 14 10 43 54 -11 41
Charlton..............33 116 16 41 45-4 39
Lincoln City........ 329 8 15 37 44-7 35
Shrewsbury........ 33 8 10 15 29 35-6 34
Fleetwood Town 31 711134453-932
AFC Wimbledon 33 6 14 13 37 51 -14 32
Morecambe....... 33 7 9 17 43 63 -20 30
Doncaster........... 358 4 23 26 66 -40 28
Gillingham.......... 34 5 12 17 26 55 -29 27
Crewe................... 335 7 21 26 59 -33 22League Two
Bradford 1 Harrogate 3; Colchester 1
Hartlepool 2; L Orient 0 Bristol Rovers 2;
Rochdale 1 Port Vale 1; Scunthorpe 0
Northampton 0; Swindon 5 Walsall 0.
P WD L FA GD Pts
Forest Green......31 19 9 3 61 25 36 66
Northampton....32 16 8 8 38 2513 56
Tranmere............33 16 8 9 34 2311 56
Exeter..................30 14 11 5 45 30 15 53
Swindon..............32 14 10 8 54 38 16 52
Sutton United....32 14 9 9 46 38 8 51
Mansfield...........30 14 8 8 40 33 7 50
Newport .............32 13 10 9 50 42 8 49
Bristol Rovers....31 138 10 44 39 5 47
Port Vale............30 12 10 8 43 31 12 46
Salford City.........31 128 11 35 29 6 44
Hartlepool..........32 128 12 33 40-7 44
Harrogate ...........31 118 12 50 49 1 41
Crawley...............30 11 7 12 37 41 -4 40
Bradford.............. 33 9 13 11 37 41 -4 40
Rochdale............ 30 7 149 38 40-2 35
Walsall................. 329 8 15 32 44 -12 35
Leyton Orient... 30 7 12 11 38 31 7 33
Stevenage.......... 33 7 12 14 30 50 -20 33
Barrow.................. 31 7 10 14 30 39-9 31
Colchester.......... 32 7 10 15 29 46 -17 31
Oldham............... 30 7 8 15 30 46 -16 29
Carlisle.................. 31 6 10 15 23 45 -22 28
Scunthorpe........ 33 4 11 18 23 55 -32 23
National League
Aldershot 0 Dover 0; Barnet 0 Kings Lynn 0;
Chesterfield 0 Wrexham 2; Dag and Red 1
Woking 1; Eastleigh 1 Southend United 1;
Maidenhead United 1 Yeovil 1; Notts County 1
Halifax 1; Solihull 2 Wealdstone 1; Torquay 0
Boreham Wood 0; Weymouth 2 Bromley 2.
P WD L FA GD Pts
Stockport C........29 19 4 6 59 27 32 61
Chesterfield.......29 15 10 4 52 29 23 55
Boreham Wd.....26 15 8 3 36 17 19 53
Solihull Moors...28 15 7 6 46 26 20 52
Wrexham............28 15 7 6 46 27 19 52
FC Halifax...........27 15 6 6 42 22 20 51
Bromley..............28 15 6 7 45 33 12 51
Notts County.....27 14 7 6 50 30 20 49
Grimsby..............28 14 4 10 42 2913 46
Dag & Red..........28 13 4 11 50 38 12 43
Torquay..............29 12 6 11 44 43 1 42
Southend............28 11 6 11 31 38-7 39
Yeovil...................28 10 8 10 27 28 -1 38
Eastleigh............. 29 9 7 13 29 42 -13 34
Woking................29 10 3 16 43 45 -2 33
Barnet.................. 29 8 8 13 34 55 -21 32
Aldershot............ 29 8 7 14 32 44 -12 31
Wealdstone....... 28 8 7 13 29 41 -12 31
Maidenhead ..... 278 7 12 31 48 -17 31
Altrincham......... 29 8 6 15 40 54 -14 30
Weymouth......... 29 5 7 17 30 53 -23 22
Kings Lynn ........ 274 4 19 24 51 -27 16
Dover Athletic.. 29 1 5 23 21 63 -42 -4National League North
AFC Fylde 1 Darlington 2; Chester FC 0
Spennymoor Town 2; Chorley P York City P;
Curzon Ashton 3 Hereford FC 0; Gateshead 3
Farsley Celtic 1; Gloucester City 0 Alfreton
Town 0; Guiseley P Brackley Town P;
Kettering Town 2 AFC Telford United 2;
Kidderminster Harriers 3 Boston United 1;
Southport 2 Blyth Spartans 3.
P WD L FA GD Pts
Gateshead..........28 20 3 5 62 32 30 63
Brackley Town.26 17 6 3 34 1717 57
Kidderminster..26 17 5 4 52 20 32 56
AFC Fylde...........26 14 5 7 45 27 18 47
Chorley................ 25129 4 45 27 18 45
Southport...........27 12 8 7 44 32 12 44
Hereford FC....... 2812 5113535 041
Kettering ...........27 11 7 9 40 32 8 40
Curzon Ashton..25 10 9 6 36 29 7 39
Boston United...26 11 4 11 40 40 0 37
York......................24 113 10 35 33 2 36
Darlington.......... 28 9 712 44 43 1 34
Spennymoor .... 259 5 11 37 40 -3 32
Alfreton Town.. 26 9 5 12 36 43 -7 32
Leamington....... 28 8 8122837 -932
Bradford (PA).... 26 8 6 12 34 45 -11 30
Chester FC.......... 28 7 7 14 46 52-6 28
Blyth Spartans.. 278 3 16 26 50 -24 27
Gloucester City. 28 5 10 13 26 42 -16 25
Guiseley.............. 256 5 14 21 36 -15 23
AFC Telford ...... 274 8 15 31 48 -17 20
Farsley Celtic.... 26 4 6 16 23 60 -37 18
National League South
Hemel Hempstead Town 0 St Albans City 2;
Hungerford Town 2 Dartford 1.
P WD L FA GD Pts
Dorking 27 18 3 6 67 3631 57
Maidstone .........26 16 6 450 24 26 54
Dartford..............27 14 8 5 46 27 19 50
Oxford City........27 13 8 6 48 30 18 47
Ebbsfleet ...........26 14 2 10 53 40 13 44
Dulwich ..............27 11 8 8 51 4011 41
St Albans City....25 12 5 8 40 33 7 41
Eastbourne .......27 11 7 9 53 4211 40
Chippenham .....28 10 9 9 44 35 9 39
Hungerford .......26 12 3 11 45 39 6 39
Hemel H’pstead 2810 6 12 35 50 -15 36
Slough Town 26 9 7 10 38 44-6 34
H & W’ville.......... 26 9 6 11 35 42-7 33
Chelmsford ....... 26 7 109 31 32 -1 31
Concord ............. 26 8 6 12 35 50 -15 30
H & Richmond.. 26 8 5 13 40 43 -3 29
Bath City............. 279 1 17 29 51 -22 28
Tonbridge ......... 256 7 12 27 36-9 25
Braintree............. 25 5 10 10 27 41 -14 25
Welling................ 27 7 4 16 27 61 -34 25
Billericay Town 26 4 7 15 22 47 -25 19
Scottish Championship
Partick Thistle 0 Greenock Morton 1.Results
There are some Liverpool players, such
as Fabinho and Andrew Robertson,
who had to wait patiently for their
chance to impress under Jürgen Klopp.
Others, like Mohamed Salah, hit the
ground running and have never
stopped. Judging by initial impressions,
Luis Díaz seems intent upon taking up
residency in the latter group.
The rewards for the 25-year-old
could be swift. Tonight’s Premier
League game with Leeds United offers
Liverpool the chance to move within
three points of Manchester City at the
top of the table while, on Sunday, the
Colombia forward could end his first
month at the club with a winners’
medal if they can get the better of
Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final.
No Liverpool player is ever likely to
make his mark quite as quickly as the
goalkeeper, Adrián. He was signed as a
free transfer on August 5, 2019, made
his debut four days later and, another
five days on, was the hero in the Uefa
Super Cup penalty shoot-out success
over Chelsea in Istanbul.
John Arne Riise also won the Super
Cup, when Liverpool defeated Bayern
Munich in August 2001, having made
his debut only 12 days previously. Yet
Riise had joined from Monaco earlier
that summer and had a full pre-season
working under Gérard Houllier.
Where the impact of Díaz has been
so striking is that no acclimatisation has
been needed for a player who has so far
fitted Liverpool like a glove, picking up
their patterns of play seamlessly since
his £37.5 million arrival from Porto.
Within 48 hours of arriving on
Merseyside, Díaz’s counterpressing
helped to create a goal in the FA Cup
fourth-round win over Cardiff City.
There had been brief conversations
with the assistant manager, Pepijn
Lijnders, and the elite development
coach, Vitor Matos, both of whom
worked at Porto previously and so
spoke Portuguese, but no playbook
with the secrets of Liverpool’s success
was presented to the new arrival.
“We wanted the player because we
saw him playing and thought it’d be
easy to fit him in,” Klopp said.
“The things he is doing — he is obvi-
ously a really talented player with an
incredible workrate on top of that.”Díaz’s first goal for the club followed
in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Norwich City,
with his effort ending a sequence of
34 uninterrupted passes, the most for
any Liverpool goal in the Premier
League since Opta started supplying
the data in 2006-07.
His eye for a goal should not surprise
anyone. At Porto this season, he
claimed 16 goals and six assists in 27
appearances (41 and 19 in 125 appearan-
ces during his three campaigns with the
Portuguese side) and that desire to
directly influence matches is evident
since moving to England.
Despite playing the second-fewest
minutes of Liverpool’s regular forwards
since his debut, Díaz’s statistics are
comparable with those of Salah, Rober-to Firmino, Diogo Jota and Sadio
Mané.
Only Salah has had more touches in
the opposition box than Díaz (43 com-
pared to 29) and the Egyptian has
played almost an hour longer in the
period under scrutiny.
In terms of shots and chances
created, Díaz lags behind only Salah
while Mané is the only player in the
quintet to have been more successful in
his dribbles.
Yet an eye-catching number from
Díaz is related to the amount of times
he has won possession in the final third
of the pitch. At nine, that is not only
more than the rest of Klopp’s forward
options, but more than the rest of them
combined.Hard running and calculated
pressing is central to how Liverpool
perform and Díaz’s willingness to do
both has ensured he has been spared a
tongue-lashing from his manager in his
early days at Anfield.
“You can really see he is in there full
throttle,” Klopp added. “If you don’t
[counterpress] then you will hear the
coach pretty heavily all the time. You
don’t want to have that, so you just do it.
“There will be moments when we
talk longer, in more detail, but that is
not now because we want him like he is
and are not directly converting him in-
to what we think he can be in the future.
“There is time for that. We’re really
happy with what he is delivering now.”
Liverpool v Leeds United, tonight, 7.45pmP WD L FA GD Pts
Arbroath.............25 12 10 3 38 18 20 46
Kilmarnock........ 2614 4 8 34 19 15 46
Inverness C T....26 10 9 7 34 25 9 39
Raith Rovers...... 26 9 11 6 34 30 4 38
Partick Thistle...23 10 7 6 37^23 14 37
Morton................ 26 7 9 10 30 35-5 30
Hamilton ............ 26 7 9 10 28 40 -12 30
Ayr United.......... 26 7 8 11 25 39 -14 29
Dunfermline ..... 25 4 11 10 24 40 -16 23
Queen o t South 254 8 13 25 40 -15 20
Scottish League One
Falkirk 1 Peterhead 1.
Scottish League Two
Kelty Hearts 1 Cowdenbeath 0.Cricket
Oman Oman v Ireland, ICC Men’s T20 World
Cup Qualifier A, second semi-final
Al Amerat (Oman won toss): Ireland beat
Oman by 56 runs
Ireland: 165-7 (G J Delany 47, A R McBrine 36;
Bilal Khan 3 for 23); Oman: 109 (Shoaib Khan
30; S Singh 3 for 20).
The Hundred: retained players
Birmingham Phoenix: Women E Arlott; G
Davies; *S Devine; G Elwiss; R Fackrell; P
Franklin; K Gordon; A Jones; E Jones; *E Perry;
A Maqsood; I Wong. Men T Abell; M Ali; C
Benjamin; H Brookes; M Hammond; B Howell;
L Livingstone; *A Milne; W Smeed; C Woakes.
London Spirit: Women A Carr; F Davies; N
Dattani; C Dean; D Gibson; H Knight; A
Monaghan; G Scrivens. Men R Bopara; M
Crane; Z Crawley; B Cullen; D Lawrence; *G
Maxwell; E Morgan; A Rossington; B Wheal; M
Wood. Manchester Originals: Women G
Boyce; K Cross; S Ecclestone; C Griffith; L
Jackson; H Jones; E Lamb: *L Lee; E Threlkeld.
Men C Ackermann; J Buttler; C Harrison; T
Hartley; F Klaassen; T Lammonby; W Madsen;
J Overton; M Parkinson; O Robinson; P Salt.
Northern Superchargers: Women H
Armitage; A Davidson-Richards; *A Healy; B
Heath; B Langston; K Levick; K Moore; *J
Rodrigues; L Russell; L Smith; *L Wolvaardt.
Men H Brook; B Carse; *Faf du Plessis; A Lyth;
C Parkinson; M Potts; A Rashid; J Simpson; B
Stokes; D Willey. Oval Invincibles: Women A
Capsey; T Farrant; G Gibbs; D Gregory; *S
Ismail; E Jones; *M Kapp; *D van Niekerk: M
Villiers. Men S Billings; R Burns; J Cox; S
Curran; T Curran; W Jacks; S Mahmood; J Roy;
N Sowter; R Topley. Southern Brave: Women
L Bell; M Bouchier; S Dunkley; *S Mandhana;
*T Norris; C Rudd; P Scholfield; A Shrubsole;*A-J Wellington; D Wyatt. Men J Archer; *T
David; A Davies; G Garton; C Jordan; J Lintott;
T Mills; C Overton; *M Stoinis; J Vince; R
Whiteley. Trent Rockets: Women K Brunt; K
Bryce; A Freeborn; S Glenn; N Sciver. Men M
Carter; S Cook; *M de Lange; L Gregory; A
Hales; *R Khan; D Malan; T Moores; S
Mullaney; S Patel; J Root; L Wood. Welsh Fire:
Women H Baker; L Filer; K George; A Griffiths;
N Harvey; G Hennessy; *H Matthews; C
Nicholas. Men J Ball; J Bairstow; J Cobb; B
Duckett; L du Plooy; R Higgins; D Payne; O
Pope. *Indicates overseas playerTennis
Acapulco, Mexico ATP Abierto Mexicano
Telcel presentado por HSBC
First round (selected results): (2) A Zverev
(Ger) bt J Brooksby (US) 3-6 7-6 (12-10) 6-2;
(8) P Carreno-Busta (Sp) bt O Otte (Ger) 6-2
6-4; J Isner (US) bt F Verdasco (Sp) 7-5 6-7
(4-7) 7-6 (7-3); D Lajovic (Serbia) bt S Korda
(US) 6-4 4-6 7-5.
Dubai ATP World Tour Dubai Duty Free
Tennis Championships
First round (selected results): M McDonald
(US) bt (7) A Karatsev (Russ) 7-5, 6-3;
K Khachanov (Rus) bt A de Minaur (Aus) 6-3,
6-7 (7-1), 7-5; (5) H Hurkacz (Pol) bt A Bublik
(Kaz) 6-3, 6-1; (4) J Sinner (It) bt A Davidovich
Fokina (Sp) 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.
Doha WTA Qatar Open
Second round (selected result): C Gauff (US)
bt C Garcia (Fr) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).Fixtures
Football
Champions League round of 16 (both 8.0)
Atletico Madrid v Manchester United;
Benfica v Ajax.
Premier League
Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur (7.30);
Watford v Crystal Palace (7.30); Liverpool v
Leeds United (7.45).
Scottish Premiership
Dundee v St Mirren (7.45).
Sky Bet Championship (all 7.45)
Derby County v Millwall; Fulham v
Peterborough United; Huddersfield Town v
Cardiff City; Queens Park Rangers v
Blackpool; Sheffield United v Blackburn
Rovers; Stoke City v Luton Town.ANDREW POWELL/LIVERPOOL FC/GETTY IMAGESDíaz has proved he is well suited to Liverpool’s hard running and pressing tacticsInstant impact
Minutes
Luis Díaz
Mo Salah
Sadio Mané
Roberto Firmino
Diogo JotaTouches
Díaz
Salah
Mané
Firmino
JotaGoals
Díaz
Salah
Mané
Firmino
JotaChances created
Díaz
Salah
Mané
Firmino
Jota
Possession won in attacking third
of the pitch
Díaz
Salah
Mané
Firmino
Jota241
300285193199216248185115148112381 6 6 9 4 0 2 104Liverpool's attackers since Díaz's
arrival. All competitionsWhy Díaz at ‘full
throttle’ is perfect
fit for Liverpool
Paul Joyce
Northern Football Correspondent
How they stand
P WD L FA GDPts
Man City 26 20 3 3 63 17 46 63
Liverpool...........25 17 6 2 64 20 44 57
Chelsea..............25 14 8 3 49 18 31 50
Man United......26 13 7 6 44 34 10 46
West Ham.........26 12 6 8 45 34 11 42
Arsenal...............23 13 3 7 36 26 10 42
Wolves...............24 12 4 8 23 18 5 40
Spurs...................23 12 3 8 31 31 0 39
Brighton............ 25 7 12 6 25 28-3 33
Southampton. 25 7 11 7 32 37 -5 32
Leicester............ 23 7 6 10 37 43 -6 27
Aston Villa........ 24 8 3 13 31 37 -6 27
C Palace............. 25 5 11 9 32 36 -4 26
Brentford.......... 26 6 6 14 27 42 -15 24
Leeds.................. 24 5 8 11 29 50 -21 23
Everton.............. 23 6 4 13 28 40 -12 22
Newcastle......... 24 4 10 10 26 45 -19 22
Watford.............. 24 5 3 16 24 43 -19 18
Burnley.............. 22 2 11 9 20 29 -9 17
Norwich............. 25 4 5 16 15 53 -38 17