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Sports
LIVERPOOL DETER-MINED TO STAY TOP
The Premier League reaches the halfway mark on Boxing Day with Liverpool holding a narrow lead at the top.
Liverpool, who face Bolton at Anfield, have not won the title since 1990 but are one point ahead of Chelsea.
Rafael Benitez’s team might have had a more substantial lead but have drawn their last three home games.
“It has been so long since Liverpool won the title, I was a 12-year-old Everton fan the last time it happened,” said Reds defender Jamie Carragher.
“We have had a few draws and we have to start turning those into wins but we are still top.”
Liverpool assistant manager Sammy Lee took charge for the 1-1 draw with Arsenal last weekend with Benitez in hospital recovering from kidney stones, though Benitez is expected to return to the dug-out for the visit of Bolton.
And Lee, who had a brief spell as Bolton manager in 2007, is adamant that Liverpool can maintain their title charge.
“I know that at the start of the season no-one else thought we could be top of the table, but we did,” Lee told the club’s website.
“We don’t prepare for failure, we believed we could be top, and we believe we can stay there. We’re not surprised at the position we’re in.”
Chelsea would have moved to the top of the table had they defeated Everton on Monday - a game that finished goalless and saw John Terry dismissed.
Terry will now miss the Blues fixture at home to bottom side West Brom, as well as Sunday’s game against Fulham and the FA Cup tie against Southend.
The draw against the Toffees also ended Chelsea’s sequence of 11 successive away victories.
But manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is boosted by the news that central defender Ricardo Carvalho is close to a return from a knee injury.
“It’s the first time Ricardo has trained with us normally and I think after seven days - 10 days maximum - he’ll start to play,” said Scolari.
Surprise package Aston Villa are five points behind Liverpool in third - and Martin O’Neill’s team take on fifth-placed Arsenal in what could be Boxing Day’s most significant fixture.
The Gunners can move level on points with Villa if they win, but Arsene Wenger’s team go into the fixture without injured skipper Cesc Fabregas, who is out for several months after damaging his medial knee ligaments.
Wenger’s team are also without striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who is suspended, while Theo Walcott (shoulder), Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky (hamstring tendon) remain sidelined. - BBC
To Be Continued
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