Dutch soccer superstar Dirk Kuyt has retired from football.

He helped his boyhood club Feyenoord to this season’s Eredivisie title then he decided to call time on football.

His farewell was an emotional and worthy one. Kuyt scored a hat trick in the win over Heracles that secured the title by a point over a young Ajax side.

This is the first time the Dutch side would win the Eredivisie title since 1999. He inspired the team to the title in his second spell at the club, writing his name in gold in the annals of the club’s history. His final hat trick earned him a new record. OptaJohan claims Kuyt has scored more goals in 147 and more hat trick in 9 than any other Eredivisie star this century.

His first spell with Feyenoord was a successful one. He exited in 2006 to move to the Premier League. He scored in the 2-1 defeat of AC Milan to help Liverpool to the UEFA Champions League final. He impressed in his time at Anfield, winning the Carlings Cup in 2012.

He returned to his native in 2015, teaming up with his Giovanni van Bronckhorst. The 36-year old would later captain the side to the league title despite the odds. He said winning the title was “the best moment of [his] career.”He said he was always optimistic of winning the title even though he was laughed at. He retires a legend in Dutch football.

Sadio Mane is currently, the top goal-scorer of Liverpool as the 24 year old Senegalese player has scored 13 goals in 27 appearances which is more than any other player in the squad of JurgenKlopp.

The former Southampton player has played a huge role in Liverpool’s current journey of snatching the Premier League title and his contributions cannot be overlooked. Unfortunately for Liverpool, the Senegalese player has recently picked up a knee injury which could leave him out of the pitch for the remainder of the season.

It still remains unsure as to how long Sadio Mane will be on the sidelines trying to recover but any amount of matches that the Senegalese is forced to spend outside of the 1st team is not going to be positive news for Liverpool as they are currently making a memorable campaign in the top spots of the English Premier League.

There are less than 10 league matches remaining in this season and this is a period of time when every single club wants to add as many points as possible and finish on a high note but this might not be possible for Liverpool to accomplish as their top goal-scorer has a knee injury which he sustained on April 1st when Liverpool faced off with Everton and emerged victorious with a 3-1 triumph.

When JurgenKlopp was questioned about Sadio Mane’s current situation, the German manager replied by saying: “Unfortunately that is possible but why should I say it now when I don’t know?” said Klopp when asked at his eve of match press conference whether Mane could miss the rest of the season.

“The knee is swollen and we have to wait for the final assessment. It is not 100 percent clear.The only thing I can say for sure is that he will not be available for tomorrow Wednesday.It is not very positive when it is like this. I cannot say at this exact time so we have to wait.”

Questions are flying around if former Liverpool Star, Steven Gerrard can be tempted into his first managerial role after retirement into Hartepool United.

The club recently sacked Craig Hignett, the former manager of Hartepool on Sunday with pools languishing 19th in League Two, just four measly points above relegation.

Chairman Gary Coxall and his board have been beckoned upon by a fan of the club to pull out all the stops in a bid to tempt Gerrard to Victoria park. Gerrard retired from playing Victoria Park late last year.

Arguments have been thriving, but the major one put forward is that Gerrard might have a similar impact on the club as Brian Clough did while he managed the Pools between 1965 and 1967 before he proceeded to being one of the bests with the likes of Nottingham Forest and Derby County.

One Pools fan, Ole Stidal regrets that things didn’t work out well with Hignett. And while he is doubtful of Sam Collins – Hartepool caretaker manager – is good enough for the job, he still has questions to ask about Steven Gerrard. He asks: “Can Steven Gerrard be an option for his first manager job after retirement?” he believes that Gerrard has the charisma and might be as good as Clough was.

Meanwhile, the former Liverpool captain and legend will be made a Freeman of the city of Liverpool. The former England captain is to receive freedom from his home city as he has been nominated for the civic award by Liverpool’s mayor, Joe Anderson, a recognition of the 36-year old’s contribution to national and international football as wel as his charity work on Merseyside.

Gerrard said: “I was stunned and overwhelmed when I heard my name was being put forward by the mayor to receive this honour. Liverpool is my home city and so to be acknowledged in this way makes me speechless.”

Gerrard ended his playing career last December, finishing off strong with LA Galaxy. He made more than 700 appearances for Liverpool – most of them as team captain – and also earned 114 caps in the England national team over 14 years.

Adam Lallana said that Liverpool is learning to play without Phillipe Coutinho and he believes that the good form of Firminho is helping the team.

Brazilian forward player Phillipe Coutinho is set to miss four games for Liverpool and will only be back for the game against Manchester City. Many pundits feared that Liverpool’s attacking game would be affected by the absence of the Brazilian player but so far Liverpool has managed to cope with his absence.

Adam Lallana said that any team in the world would miss a player such as Phillipe Coutinho, but he feels that Roberto Firminho is doing his best to help the team. He said that the latter is sacrificing himself and is playing out of position in order to help the team create chances. He believes that this is the main reason why Liverpool is not struggling at the moment and that they are still winning games.

Adam Lallana said that he is surrounded with talented footballers at Liverpool and that they have a good squad that can allow them to go all the way. He said that Jurgen Klopp is a manager that demands a lot from his players and at the moment he feels that the players are responding well.

Adam Lallana said that it was a disappointment to have lost Phillipe Coutinho through injury, but it is the job of the other players to step up and make sure that they continue to win games despite his absence.

He believes that Liverpool can become better and that they need to continue to work hard in training. He said that the manager would assess their performance against Middlesbrough and prepare the next game against Everton. He believes that this will be a tough Merseyside derby and that they should be ready for it.

Daniel Sturridge is one of the those players that is consistently being highly rated and considered to be as someone who has everything needed to excel in the world of football but as time passes by, there has not been a season where he has truly made an impact and this start of the 2016-17 season of the Premier League is no different as the English attacker has not scored a single goal in any of the 6 league matches that he has appeared in so far.

According to the former Manchester United player Ryan Giggs, one of the main reasons of why Daniel Sturridge is going through such a hard time in scoring consistently goals and in making any kind of memorable performances is because the English player is making too many mistakes as Ryan Giggs said:

“I played with Sturridge at the Olympics. He has everything. He’s got a good touch, good finisher, he’s quick, and he can run the channels but to be a top, top player… decision-making.You have to make the right decisions. You have to make the right decisions more often than you make bad decisions. Today there were just too many bad decisions.”

That was the statement released by Ryan Giggs on October 8th as he talked about Daniel Sturridge following England’s 2-0 triumph over Malta in which Sturridge scored a goal.
It seems like Sturridge has only been able to score goals at the international stage in recent times. Things with Liverpool are a completely different story as he has been struggling to score goals and has been dropped to the sidelines on a more regular basis.

This lack of goals is a serious problem for Daniel Sturridge as there are other players in the squad of JurgenKlopp that have been stepping it up and scoring goals, this is the case of James Milner who has scored 4 goals in 6 matches while Roberto Firmino, Adam Lallana, Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho have all scored 3 goals so far.

There is a chance that Sturridge might start getting even more time on the sidelines if he continues to struggle while some of his other teammates begin take up the offensive role of Liverpool, there might even be a chance of him making his way out of Anfield road in the near future.

Former Inter Milan, Manchester City and AC Milan striker, Mario Balotelli is set to witness more misery as a report from The Sun link the Italian player with a move to the Football League.

The report says Balotelli might be in action for Wolves or Port Vale as those are the options before him. Coach of Liverpool – his parent club, Jurgen Klopp says he doesn’t want the player this season, especially as his form has dropped. He was offered to a lot of clubs in Italy but they all rejected him citing his infamous indiscipline as part of the reasons for rejecting him despite his wealth of experience playing in different countries.

The report adds that Balotelli is even considering a move to lower division so he could get the chance to prove himself again as a top striker. The only issue that may arise would be his wages but the report has confirmed that the clubs would be willing to take a gamble on him if they reach an agreement regarding his wages. Jurgen Klopp would be eager to offload him from his burden as far as any club steps up to bid for him. Aside Balotelli, Cadena Ser reports that Liverpool are set to cash in on interests in 23-year old midfielder Luis Alberto. Valencia, Benfica and Sevilla are reportedly interested and Klopp would be willing to let the player go as doesn’t rank high on his squad requirements. Alberto returned to the club and was expected to remain permanently after two seasons out on loan to Malaga and Deportivo La Coruna.

Jose Mourinho is reported to have met with Balotelli to offer advice with more clubs turning him down. Both worked together when Mourinho was in charge at Inter Milan. The report from Calciomercato claim Mourinho advised him on changing his attitude so he could get a place to really impress before his career winds down completely. He didn’t propose a move to Manchester United but just offered advice informally.

Many feel that Loris Karius is an able goal keeper for Liverpool who would put the interests of the club ahead of the county as well.

This comment is justified as Louis Karius who is a goalkeeper for Liverpool from Germany U21 team, decided not to go for Olympics after he had a discussion with Jurgen Klopp. He decided that he would be the first choice for the team in the new season and opted out of his chance to play in the Olympics. Karius was guaranteed a starting place in the Olympics in Germany, but he decided that he would not go to Rio after having a discussion with his club manager.

The player who is 23 years of age, played the friendly match that Liverpool played last night and revealed that Klopp wanted him to be there for his club when they play the first matches of the Premier League.

He stated that he and the manager agreed that he would not miss out on the beginning games of the Premier League for the new season. He stated that he then agreed that he would not be going to Rio that would be starting next month. He also spoke with his manager with the German authorities who felt that Karius should be part of the Rio Germany team. He stated that his priority this time was the club and to be there for the club at the beginning of the season. Karius has come onto the team in May from Mainz. Simon Mignolet is the other goalkeeper for the club and he might be looking at competition from this younger player. He feels that the club would be offering more competitive games for him to hone his skills with this coming season.

Villarreal scored a goal in injury time to beat Liverpool 1-0 in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final.

The match was rather poor when it comes to chances created with both sides putting emphasis on defending. The only goal of the game came in the 92nd minute when Adrian Lopez scored from close range. He benefited from a good work from Denis Suarez.

In fact, it was Liverpool who started the match better and created the first chance of the game. Joe Allen’s shot was directed at the keeper following an Adam Lallana’s cross.

With Sturridge on the bench and with Liverpool deciding not to play a recognized striker, there were not many chances created from the English side and it will be Villareal who would take control of the game.

Former Spurs player, Roberto Soldado, will have a good chance to open the scoring for Villareal, but his shot will go wide. Then it would be Pina that will force Mignolet into a save.

Again Soldado will get another chance at goal, but his curling shot will only find the side netting.

The match reached half-time with the score 0-0, but Liverpool will lose Coutinho because of an injury.

After the restart, Villareal will have a great chance to open the score, but Cedric Bakambu will hit the post with a magnificent header.

On the 65th minute, it will be Liverpool turn to hit the post when Firmino’s shot will be deflected on the post by Asenjo.

In the last ten minutes of the match, the game became much more opened with both teams getting chances to score. Mignolet will again save a shot from Bakumbu to prevent Villareal from taking the lead.

Ultimately it will be Villarreal who will score with a great counter-attack by Suarez. The latter will find Lopez, who could not miss from close range.

As the semi final tie games come round, Liverpool is set to be up against Villarreal. Liverpool is considered to be favorites for many.

In the Europe League that will definitely work to their advantage. The Spanish side is felt to be losing steam and Liverpool will surely have a greater advantage. This is what most experts like Terry Gibson are speculating about. The opposing team has performed well this season. They are forth in the position as per La Liga fixtures. However, the three games of the league that they played previously resulted in defeat. These included the defeat to Real Madrid as well as to Rayo Vallecano. Sunday the team had a home game that ended with a draw against their opposing team Real Sociedad.

Liverpool looks to be in a strong position as now. The second leg that they played at Anfield has also been in their favor. Villarreal, who is set play against Liverpool, might be looking to attack the opposing team early in the game. Liverpool has formidable players like Fernando Torres, who has scored about five goals in a span of six games. This has definitely helped his side to maintain the title and keep up a formidable attitude that has helped them win several games this season. The player has been in top form that has been advantageous for Liverpool. Other players have also been working hard for Liverpool that includes Alvaro of Juventus, Morata and Aduriz.

With the upcoming final matches to look forward to, spring is definitely looking more exciting in the coming weekend for European football fans. With Liverpool being a clear favorite for many, they are looking to bet on that and the gain odds on their bets. With money rolling and players getting in form, it is defiantly an exciting week to look ahead to.