Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has warned his team they will face tougher tests than Monday's at West Ham United before the end of a season in which they hope to be crowned champions.
The Premier League leaders drew 1-1 at the London Stadium, where they were largely outplayed and perhaps fortunate to avoid defeat, when victory would have taken them five points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
Klopp remains without influential players including Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold, but he regardless insists his squad can handle the pressure of a title race following their latest setback.
"If you want to be at the top of the table at the end of the season, you have to deal with much tougher situations than we had [at West Ham]. That's the truth, that's always clear," he said.
"But of course you need players fit and available, that helps a bit.
"We have to fight, it's not about pressure, it's about enjoying the situation. We have 62 points, lost one game in a full season so far, which is very positive.
"I have seen your faces already, you feel a bit sorry with us, you don't have to, we are fine, everything is good. Tonight was just a tough game."
After posting a perfect record against opposition outside the top six in their first 23 league games, Liverpool have now slipped up twice in as many matches to mount the tension in their chase for a first title in 29 years.
However, Klopp played down suggestions it is the pressure and the weight of history that has dragged his players down over the past week.
"It's not about pressure, it's about enjoying the situation you are in," added Klopp. "We have 62 points, have lost one game in the whole season so far which is very positive.
"I think from your faces already you [the media] feel sorry for us. We are fine. Tonight was just a tough game."
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini claimed it was "impossible to play worse" after his side's 3-0 capitulation to Wolves last week that followed a deeply disappointing FA Cup exit to League One AFC Wimbledon.
Even without the injured Marko Arnautovic, Pellegrini got the response he wanted in West Ham's performance if not their end product and the Chilean was angered that Liverpool's opener was allowed to stand despite Milner clearly being offside when he crossed for Mane to score his 12th goal of the season.
"They have two clear chances, one that is one-and-a-half metres offside where they score a goal, and one in the last minute with [Divock] Origi in front of the linesman again one metre offside.
"Of course, you must be disappointed," added Pellegrini, who recalled a series of controversial calls that went in favour of Klopp's Borussia Dortmund when they beat Pellegrini's Malaga in the 2012/13 Uefa Champions League quarter-finals.
"Klopp is used to win with offside goals. He beat me against Malaga with Borussia Dortmund with a goal seven metres offside, so he can't complain about nothing."
Klopp is used to win with offside goals. He beat me against Malaga with Borussia Dortmund with a goal seven metres offside, so he can't complain about nothing.
Liverpool's lead lasted just six minutes as the visitors switched off from a well-worked free kick and Antonio drilled Felipe Anderson's pass in off the far post.
More lax set-piece defending should have cost Liverpool again three minutes before the break when Rice headed wide another wicked Anderson free kick delivery wide when completely unmarked 10 yards out.
Anderson continued to create problems in the second period and another positive break from the Brazilian should have created the winner when Noble fired over.
Origi replaced the ineffective Roberto Firmino 15 minutes from time and the Belgian had a huge chance to make himself a hero as he did with a last gasp Merseyside derby winner against Everton in December.
This time, though, Origi shot meekly into Lukasz Fabianski's grateful arms with the final action of the match.
The specs
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Persuasion
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The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
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Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
