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Kane Believes England Can Challenge For 2026 World Cup Trophy

TIRANA (Albania): England captain Harry Kane is confident the country’s current squad is ‘the best we’ve ever had’ after finishing the World Cup qualifying campaign with a brilliant record, winning 2-0 over Albania, early this morning.

The Bayern Munich striker scored two goals late in the game in Tirana, helping Thomas Tuchel’s side secure eight wins in Group K.

The 32-year-old was once part of the England squad that finished runner-up in the European Championship twice and also reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.

However, Kane believes that Tuchel has formed the best squad in his 10 years of experience with England, besides labelling the team as among the favorites to win the World Cup next year.

“I think it’s the best we’ve ever had,” Kane said. “If you look at the starting line-up and the reserves, we’re going into the tournament as one of the favourites.

“We have to accept that. We’ve been at this level for the past few tournaments.”

England became the first European team to play at least six matches in a World Cup qualifying campaign and win every match without conceding a goal.

They scored 22 goals in total in the World Cup qualifiers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Kane, who has now scored 78 goals for the national team, is aware of the real challenge awaiting him at the World Cup.

However, Kane is confident England can provide competition in their quest for their first World Cup trophy since 1966.

“We’ve built this squad, had a great year with a new coach, and now we look forward to 2026 with confidence,” said Kane.

“I think we’ve set a new standard now, especially in the last few camps and we’ve continued to maintain that.

“It was an important win. You don’t want to end it with a loss at the end of the year and then have to wait until March to play again.

“Now, we can relax and enjoy it,” he said.

Liverpool Bought The Wrong Player – Fowler

LONDON: Former Liverpool sensation Robbie Fowler believes the Reds’ summer transfer window spending strategy is the main reason for their sudden decline in form this season.

Liverpool, the defending Premier League champions, were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium thanks to goals from Erling Haaland, Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku, recording their sixth defeat in their last seven league matches.

Last summer, Liverpool spent big – around 446 million pounds including twice breaking the British transfer record when signing midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for 116 million pounds and striker Alexander Isak from Newcastle for 125 million pounds.

However, their performance has declined compared to last season. Fowler, who scored 183 goals throughout his career with Liverpool, said the defeat proved that Arne Slot’s squad had now dropped out of the championship race.

“Before the game, I was asked if Liverpool had come out of the slump. I said don’t get too excited.

“They won against Aston Villa, but they only played well for 45 minutes. For me, they’re out of the title race,” Fowler said on The Good, The Bad & The Football programme with Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt.

Scholes also admitted that he previously still believed Liverpool could win the league, but changed his mind after seeing how they lost at the Etihad.

Fowler then slammed the club’s transfer approach which he said was not in line with the Slot system.

“(Jeremie) Frimpong is the most obvious example. He was bought to replace (Trent) Alexander-Arnold, but he’s actually a defensive winger, not a traditional right-back.

“So is (Milos) Kerkez. He was a big favourite last season, but playing for Liverpool is not the same as playing at Bournemouth or Brentford – the pressure is a lot different,” said Scholes.

Frimpong and Kerkez joined Liverpool for 29.5 million pounds and 40 million pounds respectively.

Also bought were Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike for 85 million pounds and young defender Giovanni Leoni from Parma for 30 million pounds.

Liverpool are currently eighth in the league, eight points behind leaders Arsenal and four points behind second-placed Manchester City.

Nicky Butt described City’s victory as a “revelation” that they are back to their best, while Scholes added: “Arsenal may be four points ahead, but with the experience City have compared to Arsenal, I still see City as the favourites to win.”

Chelsea Have The Chance To Beat Qarabag

BAKU: Chelsea are expected to face an easy task against Qarabag in the Champions League in Baku tomorrow (early Thursday morning).

Both teams have now collected six points from three matches, making this clash at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium crucial in the fight for a place in the knockout round.

After defeating Benfica and FC Copenhagen in the first two matches, Qarabag’s perfect run came to an end on October 22 when they lost 3-1 to Athletic Bilbao.

Leandro Andrade’s early goal gave hope to Gurban Gurbanov’s squad, but two goals from Gorka Guruzeta and another from Robert Navarro capped their brilliant night.

That was Qarabag’s only defeat in their last 11 matches in all competitions, giving them confidence to face Chelsea.

However, history has not been on the Azerbaijani club’s side – they have lost twice to Chelsea by an aggregate score of 10-0.

Chelsea returned to Azerbaijan for the first time since winning the 2019 Europa League after defeating Arsenal 4-1 in Baku.

Enzo Maresca’s side are currently in top form, after a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend – their sixth win in their last seven matches in all competitions.

In the European campaign, they bounced back from an opening defeat to Bayern Munich with consecutive wins over Benfica and Ajax.

With a big clash against Barcelona coming up later this month, victory in Baku is crucial to ensure the pressure on the group leaders remains high.

Interestingly, Chelsea have scored the opening goal in eight consecutive matches, while Qarabag have only failed to open the scoring twice during the same period.

Chelsea are without defender Levi Colwill for the rest of the season, while Benoit Badiashile is also sidelined with a muscle injury.

Cole Palmer has not returned to action since September 20 due to a groin injury, while Dario Essugo has not made an appearance this season after suffering a thigh injury while with Portugal Under-21.

For Qarabag, Abdellah Zoubir is the main backup after scoring four goals in the last seven matches. Jonathan Montiel, who has just recovered from injury, is expected to start on the bench.

Expected starting lineup:

Qarabag (4-2-3-1): Kochalski; Cafarquliyev, Medina, Mustafazada, Matheus; Borges, Bicalho; Zoubir, Andrade, Duran; Akhundzade.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Jorgensen; Cucurella, Chalobah, Acheampong, Gusto; Caicedo, Lavia; Gittens, Enzo, Estevao; Peter.

Palace Adds To Liverpool Misery

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool, playing with a second-string, lost 3-0 to Crystal Palace in the League Cup, with two goals by Ismaila Sarr ensuring the London club’s progress to the quarter-finals and adding to the suffering for Arne Slot’s squad.

Defending champions Newcastle United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0, Arsenal beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0, Manchester City came from behind to beat Swansea City 3-1, while Chelsea beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-3 in other fourth-round action.

The slot resting of most of the key players – as is customary for several other top Premier League clubs – saw Liverpool suffer their sixth defeat in seven games in all competitions.

The match at Anfield started evenly before Sarr opened the scoring in the 41st minute after Liverpool defender Joe Gomez’s attempt to pass the ball to the Senegalese striker, who then fired a powerful shot past goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.

In heavy rain that seemed to reflect the frustration of the home fans, Sarr doubled the lead just before half-time when he received a delightful pass from Yeremy Pino.

Liverpool played with 10 men after Amara Nallo was sent off in the 79th minute for bringing down Justin Devenny – his second red card in two senior appearances.

Pino then added to the home team’s misery with Palace’s third goal in the 88th minute.

Newcastle advanced to the last eight thanks to goals from Fabian Schar in the first half and Nick Woltemade in the second half to see off Spurs at a St James’ Park that was roaring with cheers.

Arsenal confirmed the victory through 18-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, who opened the scoring in the 57th minute after receiving a pass from Myles Lewis-Skelly before Bukayo Saka doubled the advantage in the 76th minute.

Chelsea almost ended the match with a landslide victory after taking a 3-0 lead through goals from Andrey Santos, Tyrique George and Estevao, but Wolverhampton fought back with two late goals from David Moller Wolfe after Tolu Arokodare opened the scoring.

Eze Helps Arsenal Stay At The Top

LONDON: Eberechi Eze scored his first Premier League goal for Arsenal against his former team, Crystal Palace, helping the Gunners maintain their grip on the top of the league after a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.

The 26-year-old midfielder, who played five seasons with Palace before moving to Arsenal in August, scored the winning goal in the 39th minute.

The goal came after Gabriel Magalhaes’ header fell right in front of Eze who calmly pushed it in past goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

The victory allowed Arsenal to extend their unbeaten run to six league games and 10 games in all competitions this season.

Mikel Arteta’s men now have 22 points after nine matches, four points ahead of second-placed Bournemouth.

The second half saw Arsenal continue to press for additional goals with several opportunities presented, including one where Bukayo Saka almost pushed the ball into the goal, but Palace defender Marc Guehi acted quickly to clear the ball on the goal line.

The narrow victory maintained Arsenal’s positive momentum in their quest for a first Premier League title since the 2003-04 season.