The Hard Tackle brings to you a round-up of all the news regarding Premier League giants Liverpool.
Liverpool found out who they will be facing, should they progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a win away at Plymouth Argyle. If they do manage to beat The Pilgrims, Jurgen Klopp’s side will be rewarded with a visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield, it was revealed at the draw earlier today.
Liverpool got off to a frustrating start to their FA Cup campaign this season, as a young Reds side were held to a goalless stalemate by Derek Adams’ team on Sunday afternoon, despite dominating proceedings throughout the match at Anfield.
The two sides will meet again in the return leg at Home Park on January 18, and that fixture will decide the outcome of the 3rd round tie. Should Liverpool beat Plymouth later this month, they will host Championship side Wolves on the weekend of January 28.
Talking of the FA Cup encounter against Plymouth, Joe Gomez made a return to the first team on Sunday as manager Jurgen Klopp finally handed him a first start since the young Englishman’s return from knee injury earlier this season.
Speaking on his return and his first FA Cup start for the club to Liverpool’s official website, Gomez couldn’t hide his delight at fulfilling a dream. He said, “It meant a lot to me after being out for such a long time. It’s something I dreamt of.”
“Coming back out to that crowd at Anfield was something in the back of my mind the whole time. It was important for me to get back to this point but now [I need to] keep pushing on and try to get back playing and [be] regularly involved. It was a big moment for me to be back involved again but it’s about pushing forward and [to] keep learning.”
Gomez was playing his first game in well over a year, having recovered from a cruciate kneee ligament injury he sustained in October 2015. And while it wasn’t a winning return to the first team, the match will definitely remain memorable for Gomez on personal grounds.
Moving on to some transfer talk, and it looks like Liverpool have completed their first deal in the January transfer window.
Sky Sports have reported that Tiago Ilori has agreed to a move to Reading after Liverpool accepted a bid of £3.75 million for the defender earlier this week. The young Portuguese expected to complete his transfer to the Madejski Stadium within the next 24 hours.
Ilori was signed from Sporting Lisbon in 2013 as a promising 20-year-old, but he struggled to establish himself under either Brendan Rodgers or Jurgen Klopp. The 23-year-old centre back managed just three appearances in more than three years at Anfield and was sent on loan moves to Granada, Bordeaux and Aston Villa.
The move away from Anfield will see Ilori joing Jaap Stam’s side which is placed third in the Championship table currently, and he could possibly make a first appearance for the Royals this weekend against Queens Park Rangers.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the Reds will demand a fee of £20 million from any side that makes a move to sign out-of-favour defender Mamadou Sakho. Liverpool want to sell the Frenchman in the January transfer window, and Sevilla have reportedly made an approach to sign the centre back.
Finally, Liverpool are ready to offer Adam Lallana a huge pay hike in order to retain the services of the in-form Englishman, to fend off interest from Tottenham Hotspur. And it has been revealed that the offer on the table of the England international is set to be a double-your-money contract.
