CCHAMPIONHAMPIONS LLEAGUEEAGUE | Page 2 GGULFULF CCUPUP | Page 7 Klopp relaxed Holders Oman over Salah’s hope to ride fi tness ahead of momentum Napoli clash against Bahrain Wednesday, November 27, 2019 Rabia I 30, 1441 AH GULF TIMES SPORT FOOTBALL / ARABIAN GULF CUP Mabkhout hat-trick wins it for UAE Forward’s hat-trick enough as Yemen’s search for their first Arabian Gulf Cup victory continues By Sports Reporter superior goal diff erence after the as Yemen had nothing much to Doha latter beat Qatar 2-1. show for. The 29-year-old forward Yemen had a chance in the scored in the 21st, the 38th and 59th minute when Abdulwasea AE’s Ali Mabkhout the 55th minute of the game for al-Matari found some space scored the first hat- the three-time champions. along the right side in the UAE trick of the 24th Ara- Mabkhout was the hero of box and drove hard at the goal- bian Gulf Cup as his UAE’s come-from-behind 2-1 mouth only for defender Khalifa Uside defeated Yemen 3-0 in victory against Malaysia in their al-Hammadi to thwart with a their first Group A match at 2022 World Cup qualifi cation sliding effort. Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium campaign opener, which was also Yemen has never won a game yesterday. coach Bert van Marwijk’s fi rst in seven previous appearances UAE’s all-time leading goal- match in charge, in September. in the tournament and last beat scorer, Mabkhout, who plays Mabkhout had netted both the the UAE in a 2006 World Cup for Pro-League club Al-Jazira, goals for his side. qualifi cation game in September led the charge as he scored in Yemen’s Ahmed al-Hifi , who 2004. each half of the game to give his plays in QNB Stars League for Van Marwijk side will face Iraq youthful side three easy points to Al Kharaitiyat, received a yellow in their second game on Novem- start with. card in the 67th minute. ber 29 and lock horns with hosts The Whites are at par with Iraq UAE dominated their rivals Qatar in their fi nal game on De- UAE’s Ali Mabkhout (second from right) celebrates his goal with his teammates during the Arabian Gulf Cup match against Yemen at Abdullah on points, but lead Group A on in all departments of the game cember 2. Bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed Gulf Times 2 Wednesday, November 27, 2019 FOOTBALL FOCUS SPOTLIGHT Batshuayi seeks central role for Chelsea Klopp relaxed over his struggles have led to specu- AFP London lation that he might be in line for a move in the January transfer window. ichy Batshuayi can But the Belgian recently de- boast an impressive clared his “love” for the Premier goalscoring record. League club despite his frustra- But the forward is tions. Salah’s fi tness ahead Mfi nding it tough to convince “I don’t know why, because I Chelsea boss Frank Lampard have never been a full-fl edged that he deserves a place in his starter, but Chelsea is my club, ‘We know in the long starting line-up. that’s where I feel at home,” he The Belgium international told Belgian broadcaster RTBF. term what we have to has netted eight goals for club “It’s a club I love deeply.” and country this season but has The forward made 20 Premier do, we know that’s all set’ not been trusted to start a single League appearances for Chelsea of Napoli clash game in the Premier League or during his fi rst full season with the Champions League. them, scoring fi ve league goals. Today, Chelsea travel to play But he started just once match. Valencia, where Batshuayi spent His late winner against West a few months on loan from Brom towards the end of that August 2018 to January 2019, season clinched the Premier though he only found the net League title but he was again on three times during his time in the periphery during the follow- Spain. ing campaign and was shipped Chelsea will be through to the out on loan to Dortmund in Jan- Champions League knockout uary 2018. phase if they win but Batshuayi LOAN SPELLS will be lucky to feature from the More loan spells followed, in- start. cluding a productive stint last Nicknamed ‘Batsman’ due to year at Palace before he returned his name and love of the super- to Chelsea for the start of this hero Batman, he joined Chelsea season, hoping to catch the eye for around £33mn ($43mn) from of the new manager. French side Marseille in 2016 as Batshuayi has played 12 times then-manager Antonio Conte’s for Chelsea this season and has fi rst signing, with a reputation scored fi ve times, including a as a sharp fi nisher. goal against Manchester United But from the start he has been in the League Cup and the win- forced to play second fi ddle at ner in the Champions League Stamford Bridge to forwards match away to Ajax. such as Diego Costa and Alvaro He has also scored three times Morata. for Belgium, twice against San The 26-year-old has been Marino in a 4-0 win and once farmed out on loan to Borussia against Kazakhstan. Dortmund, Valencia and Crys- After the Kazakhstan match tal Palace over the past couple Belgium manager Roberto Mar- of years after being deemed him tinez hinted the forward should surplus to requirements. fi nd a new club if he did not get The departure of Eden Haz- more opportunities at Stamford ard in June depleted Chelsea’s Bridge. forward resources, seemingly “He doesn’t play enough at opening the door to Batshuayi, Chelsea,” the ex-Everton boss but now he fi nds himself behind told Belgian newspaper Het 22-year-old England striker Nieuwsblad. “I think that’s a Tammy Abraham in the pecking shame, even though he scores a order. lot with the national team. Despite Batshuayi’s eye for “I hope he plays more, be- a goal, Lampard appears to see cause we really need him.... But him as more of an impact sub- then he has to play. Otherwise a stitute rather than a starter and solution must be found.” Liverpool’s English midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain attends a training session at Melwood in Liverpool, north west England, yesterday. (AFP) AFP press conference yesterday. “I’m Cup, mean Liverpool have been “We know in the long term son but are currently seventh in Liverpool not worried about it.” forced to play two games with- what we have to do, we know Serie A. “The biggest mistake we Klopp also provided an update in 24 hours of each other, over that’s all set. The athletic part could make is that we have won on the fi tness of defender Joel 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometres) of the sessions, we try to adapt it already and what would hap- iverpool manager Jur- Matip, who has been sidelined apart in mid-December. to the specifi c situation of the pen if we win it,” Klopp said. gen Klopp says he has no with a knee injury. “We have plans for every- players. The tactical things de- “These things are not in our concerns about Moham- “Joel is improving but is some thing, as you can imagine, and pend on the games we play.” mind. Of course we try to win ed Salah’s fi tness ahead time away. There will be a scan we change them constantly. I Victory over Carlo Ancelotti’s the game, it would be massive Lof their Champions League clash this week and then we will see have two smartphones and when side on Wednesday would en- for us after the start we had. Na- with Napoli. how it is.” one of them is ringing it is really sure defending champions Liv- poli are a dangerous opponent. Salah was an unused substi- Klopp said he had plans to rare it is good news,” said Klopp. erpool fi nish top of Group E with “There are two weeks between tute in the 2-1 win at Crystal cope with Liverpool’s fi xture “You only get the messages a game to spare but Klopp said he tomorrow night and the Salz- Palace on Saturday after missing pile-up over the next few weeks. when a player is not fi ne, so could not aff ord to look past the burg game (fi nal match of the training with an ankle problem. Their involvement in the FIFA then we have to make new plans match. group) and we have three games “Mo Salah looks really good,” Club World Cup in Qatar, plus and we don’t know exactly how Napoli are the only side to in between. Why should I think Klopp said at his pre-match their progress in the League many players we’ll have to train. have beaten Liverpool this sea- about the Salzburg game now?” COMMENT Chelsea’s Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi (left) joins teammates at a training session at Chelsea’s Cobham training facility in Stoke Barcelona being asked to give a D’Abernon, southwest of London, yesterday. (AFP) Napoli back at fateful Anfi eld masterclass in every game: Valverde amid internal strife Potentially devastating internal the post. Ignoring the good Reuters ball masterclass in every game tension hangs over Napoli when showing, club president Aurelio Barcelona and sometimes we are not able they visit holders Liverpool De Laurentiis ordered a retreat to.” tomorrow, a year after a narrow at the training camp but faced Valverde, who has a knack and bitter elimination in the mutiny three days later with the arcelona coach Ernesto of keeping his cool in the face group stage of the Champions squad going home after drawing Valverde knows his side of pressure, advised his play- League.