Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has warned his side that they must raise their game if they are to progress to the Carling Cup final at the expense of Manchester City, you can also pick up the latest Euro 2012 Odds from the tournament this year.

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Dalglish’s men lead 1-0 from the first-leg, but they have suffered two disappointing Premier League performances since the game at the Etihad Stadium.

First, there was a frustrating 0-0 draw at home to Stoke City, before an unthinkable 3-1 defeat at relegation threatened Bolton, after which Dalglish publically criticised his players.

This will potentially be worth it though if he gets a positive response from his players on Wednesday evening, something he is calling on them to do against the might of Manchester City.

Ahead of the second-leg, the Scotsman said: “We have a slight advantage, we just need to go into the game and compete. It’s not going to be a game that’s going to be anything other than really difficult for us.”

“They got a fantastic result on Sunday against Tottenham which keeps them at the top of the league, so I’m sure they’ll be well up for it.

“For us it’s important to do our own job, and if we do that then a wee bit of luck as well wouldn’t go amiss.”

“Hopefully it will be a fantastic occasion for everyone. The punters will be turning up, there’ll be loads of support for us but we need to do something that’s going to get the supporters on our side.”

Dalglish then called on his players to lift the crowd, rather than relying on the crowd to lift them. Quite simply, he wants his team on the front foot from the very first whistle.

Roberto Mancini will want the same from his Manchester City side though, especially considering that they must win the game in order to progress. This should make for an open, attacking game of football.

Looking at the team news, Liverpool could make a couple of changes after the poor display at Bolton, while City will be without the suspended Vincent Kompany and African Cup of Nations participants Kolo and Yaya Toure.

Overall, whoever wins this game will be overwhelming favourites to capture the Carling Cup trophy, so this is a massive night for both sides and it should be quite the contest.

The second-leg gets underway at Anfield from 7.45pm on Wednesday evening.

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Ahead of facing Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open on Sunday, Rafael Nadal has spoken of his delight at going into such an important match injury free.

The Spaniard has had his injury problems recently and two weeks ago he feared a pinched tendon would end his tournament before it even began.

Instead though, he has made it through to the final – with an excellent victory over Roger Federer in the last four – and is in no pain or discomfort, something which he is extremely happy about.

Speaking before competing for the first Grand Slam of 2012, he said: “Sunday afternoon, 24 hours to play my first match, I was in my room crying because I believe I didn’t had the chance to play Melbourne. So it was a very, very tough situation for me.”

“Two weeks later I am here in the finals, so is a dream for me because having very bad expectations 24 hours before the first match, and now two weeks later I am playing well.”

“To play in a grand slam final is always very good news. Last four grand slams I have been in the finals, so is a great effort, I think.”

As for the man Nadal will be facing, it will be the current World No.1 Djokovic who came through an epic semi-final encounter with Andy Murray on Friday.

This means the Serb could be mentally drained by the time the final gets underway, but speaking after the win over Murray, he was simply happy to have made it to another Grand Slam final.

He said: “There are not the words to describe how I’m feeling now. Another final and I’m extremely delighted. What can be a bigger challenge than playing against Rafael Nadal who plays so great on this court?”

It really should be a classic final between the top two players in men’s tennis.

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With holders Manchester City already out, there are a number of teams that will fancy their chances of lifting the FA Cup trophy at Wembley in May and this is where the journey continues.

The weekend’s football actually begins on Friday evening with two games taking place. First of all, Watford host Tottenham at 7.45pm, before Everton host Fulham at 8pm.

There are then 12 games taking place on Saturday, with the two stand out fixtures getting underway at lunch-time. This includes QPR v Chelsea at 12pm and Liverpool v Manchester United at 12.45pm.

It is the away teams in these two fixtures that will be slight favourites, but QPR – backed by a passionate crowd – will look to cause Chelsea no end of problems to continue their resurgence under new boss Mark Hughes.

Then at Anfield, Liverpool – who reached the final of the Carling Cup this week after knocking out Manchester City – will fancy their chances against the Premier League Champions, especially with Steven Gerrard leading the way.

Elsewhere on Saturday afternoon, League Two Crawley Town travel to Hull City, while non-league Stevenage host Notts County for a place in the fifth round. There is then, amongst plenty of others, a fascinating tie between Brighton and Newcastle at 5.15pm.

Rounding off the weekend’s action, there are two FA Cup fourth round ties on Sunday afternoon, both of which are worth keeping an eye on.

First up, North East rivals Sunderland and Middlesbrough lock horns at the Stadium of Light before Arsenal – who could really do with a win to boost morale – take on Premier League rivals Aston Villa at the Emirates.

It is an action packed weekend of football and anything could happen! Stay tuned!

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Ahead of his Australian Open semi-final clash with Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray has spoken of the need to improve his serving.The British No.1 came through the quarter-final clash against Kei Nishikori relatively comfortably, winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. He knows that he must raise his game once again if he is to move past Djokovic and book a place in the final.

Speaking about the win over Nishikori and looking ahead to his third successive semi-final appearance at the Australian Open, Murray admitted that he needs to continue improving.

The Scotsman said: “It was tough. I didn’t serve well but the returning was good. t was a good match, a lot of fun points, most of them he was winning so I was trying to keep them as short as possible.”

“But I need to serve better. My game has been getting better each match and I am moving better and I am going to be fresh going into the weekend.”

There is no doubt of course that Murray faces his toughest challenge of the tournament against Djokovic and the World No.1 is in excellent spirits ahead of this semi-final.

The Serb did pick up a hamstring injury during the quarter-final victory over David Ferrer, but he says he has ‘no worries’ about this harming his progress.

Ahead of the clash with Murray, he said: “I have no concerns of recovering for the next match. I am not too concerned about that at all. I’m really fit.”

“Andy is playing great. He has showed he is in great shape and he has Ivan Lendl on his side. You can feel he is physically fit and eager to win his first Grand Slam.”

These two players certainly have respect for each other’s ability and it should be a fantastic semi-final in Melbourne.

Djokovic will be the favourite, but Murray – who is fresh after a relatively comfortable path to the semi-final – will back himself to cause problems.

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Ahead of his Australian Open quarter-final tie against Kei Nishikori, Andy Murray has revealed that he is extremely wary of his opponent and will not be taking him lightly.

Murray would have expected to take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at this stage, but Nishikori knocked out the Frenchman, becoming only the second Japanese player to make it to the quarter-final stage of an Open-era Grand Slam.

This means that Murray is the overwhelming favourite to progress of course, but the British No.1 is aware of Nishikori’s ability, saying that he is capable of ‘dictating’ games from the back of the court.

Speaking ahead of tonight’s contest, Murray said: “Kei is playing really, really well. He’s very good, very deceptive. For somebody who is not the tallest, he creates a lot of power.”

“He was dictating all the points from the back of the court against Tsonga.”

“When I worked with Brad (Gilbert) and spoke to him about Kei a little bit, he was saying he needs to learn to love the gym. I’ve seen him in there a lot doing good work. He is in better shape.”

This means that Murray’s endurance could be tested to the maximum. Even if he does progress, it will be far from easy as Nishikori will fight until the very end.

As for the Japanese hopeful, he has been speaking positively about the clash with World No.4 Murray, saying that he will do everything he can to play his ‘best tennis’.

The 22-year-old said: “We played at the end of last year. He kind of destroyed me. But, you know, I have no pressure now. He’s one of the players I have to play like.”

“I learned a lot of things from him. Yeah, it’s going to be tough, but I will try to play my best tennis.”

It will certainly be a fascinating match as these two young players fight it out for a place in the Australian Open semi-finals. Murray is of course the favourite, but so was Tsonga, so who knows what could happen.

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Indeed it is Palace who hold the advantage midway through the tie, having beaten the Bluebirds 1-0 at Selhurst Park two weeks ago, leading Freedman to suggest that his opponents would be haunted by their past failures in important games.

Cardiff have come close to gaining promotion to the Premier League on a number of occassions in recent years, only to slip up at the final hurdle. And having made it to the FA Cup final in 2008, they just missed out on an historic triumph as they were beaten by Portsmouth.

Mackay says that the mind games being used by Freedman are unlikely to work on his side, and insists that all they have served to do is write his team talk for him.

He said: “My team talk’s done. That’s all I want to say.”

And Cardiff winger, Craig Conway weighed into the argument by suggesting that Freedman’s words were nothing new.

Conway said: “He (Freedman) is obviously trying to build his team up like every manager does, but we’ve just scored three goals at home and we’re playing well.

“We’ve obviously got a 1-0 deficit to make up, but I feel we’ve got good enough players to create enough chances to overturn that.

“I would rather quietly go into the game confident, prepare right for the game and take it from there.”

The two sides lock horns again on Tuesday at the Cardiff City Stadium, with the home side knowing they will have their work cut out to progress to the final at Wembley.

What awaits is a clash against either Manchester City or Liverpool, with the Reds holding the first leg advantage in their game.

Bookmakers have Cardiff as the odds-on favourites to win the game at 5/6, with Palace priced at 4/1. Both sides find themselves at 5/6 to qualify, with bookies clearly undecided on what might happen in Wales on Tuesday.

In all competitions, it is Cardiff who are in the better form, having won three of their last six and drawn once. Palace on the other hand have lost three of their six, winning only twice, which included the first leg win over the Bluebirds.

It all sets up a fascinating tie, with both sides knowing that qualification will almost certainly guarantee them a place in Europe next season, with Liverpool and Manchester City both likely to qualify for through the Premier League.

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Despite making it through another Australian Open match in straight sets to reach the last 8, Rafael Nadal has stated that things have been far from easy for him and that he is simply taking one match at a time.

The Spaniard hasn’t dropped a set in his opening three matches down under, with the latest straight sets victory being achieved over Lukas Lacko.

Speaking specifically about the victory over the Slovakian qualifier, Nadal said: “I did well. I played three matches at very good level. Today was one of the best, solid, without mistakes, comfortable with the serve and good returns.”

“Nothing is easy. Everything is difficult. Every match you have your problems. But I played solid all the match, so that’s why I won.”

Next up for Nadal on Tuesday is a fascinating clash against seventh seed Tomas Berdych. With the reward for winning this one a place in the semi-finals, this is without doubt the toughest challenge for Nadal so far.

The other highlights on Tuesday include Juan Martin Del Potro taking on Roger Federer. These two have had some epic battles over the years and this has the potential to be one of the most entertaining contests of the 2012 Australian Open so far.

Then, on the women’s side of the draw – which is also at the quarter-final stage – Victoria Azarenka takes on Agnieszka Radwanska, before number one seed Caroline Wozniacki goes head to head against defending Champion Kim Clijsters.

There are also several doubles matches taking place, including a fascinating legends clash that sees Pat Cash and Goran Ivanisevic take on Wayne Arthurs and Thomas Muster.

As for British hope Andy Murray, he will take on Kei Nishikori on Wednesday in his quarter-final clash. It was expected that the Scotsman would take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but Nishikori pulled off one of the shocks of the tournament to progress.

Overall, another fascinating couple of days await for those watching the Australian Open as several semi-final participants are decided across the variety of draws.

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Southampton boss, Nigel Adkins has admitted defeat in his pursuit of Celtic forward Gary Hooper, ahead of their Monday night clash with Leicester in the Championship.

Adkins says he had been keen to bring the former Scunthorpe striker to St Mary’s having worked alongside him at Glanford Park in the past.

But Celtic have stood firm and made it clear that they are not interested in selling their star player, who has helped them to overtake Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premier League.

“Celtic say they don’t want to sell him,” the Saints boss, Adkins admitted. “So that is it, end of story.

“I know Gary and I’m delighted he’s doing so well. He’s a top-class striker, but we have other good strikers here, so we move on.”

There had been speculation that Southampton were preparing a third bid for Hooper, having seen their two previous ones rebuffed. But Celtic boss Neil Lennon shot down those rumours by insisting that the Englishman will be staying in Scotland for now.

Lennon said: “The stance hasn’t changed. The retention of all my key players is key to winning the title and Gary certainly comes into that bracket.”

Southampton now have to pick themselves up and concentrate on what is bound to be a tough encounter against Leicester tonight.

The Saints know that they cannot afford to slip up in this one, with West Ham having overtaken them at the top of the Championship with their convincing win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

But with a game in hand, Southampton have a better goal difference over their title rivals, and know that they can go back to the summit tonight.

And the Saints will go into the game with great confidence, knowing they have won 12 of their 14 home games this season.

When these two met back in August, though, it was Leicester who ran out 3-2 winners at the King Power Stadium.

Historically, Southampton have had the upper hand when facing Leicester, having won 30 and lost 22 of their 77 meetings.

It all sets up an intriguing fixture with much to play for. Tonight’s game could well turn out to be one of they key moments in this season’s Championship title race.

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Safety Antrel Rolle believes the New York Giants 19-14 win over the New York Jets back in December marked the turning point for his team’s season that sees them just one victory away from a Super Bowl appearance.

The Giants looked to set for season of disappointment after accumulating a 7-7 record, but the win over the Jets marked an unbeaten run that has now taken them past the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional play-offs and set up a NFC Championship Play-off final against the 49ers.

Rolle believes that the game against the Jets helped his team figure out who they were, before adding they feel as though ‘they can’t be beat’ such is their confidence in their own game.

“We found our identity against the Jets,” Rolle said. “And we are going to keep that identity.”

He added: We wouldn’t say we’re unstoppable, but our mindset is extreme at this point. We’re not going to be denied. … I might be a little biased, but in our minds, we can’t be beat

“We’re extremely confident and we’ve given ourselves the reasons to feel that way. We have to continue to give ourselves those reasons, and we will. We have no doubts. It’s right there at the tip of our tongues.”

If the Giants emerge victorious this weekend it would mark their first appearance in the Super Bowl since 2008, but first they must get past a San Francisco side that snatched a 27-20 win when the two sides met during the regular season.

Both sides caused huge upsets in ousting two of the favourites to make it to the Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints, in the Divisional Play-offs and will look to keep the fairy tale going this weekend

Eli Manning has been in exceptional form for the Giants during the play-offs, and will look to trigger flying duo Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks over the line on their way to yet another unlikely victory.

After resting his shoulder earlier in the week, Brady returned to training on Thursday and is now ready to help his team achieve success on Sunday.

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Speaking about the significance of the injury, Brady said: “It’s not the first practice I have missed over the years.”

“When coach feels its best that you do other things to get yourself ready, that’s what you do, and you still use all that time very wisely.”

“When your coach feels it is best to do other things to get yourself ready, that is what you do. It’s just a matter of ultimately we’re trying to be as prepared as we can for Sunday.”

As for the Baltimore Ravens, linebacker Ray Lewis has been speaking about how the blend between experience and youth could prove to be key this weekend in the crunch AFC Conference clash.

Lewis – who has played for the Ravens since 1996 – said: “You need that veteran presence and you need enough young people to run around and make the plays.”

Jarret Johnson echoed these thoughts, saying: “We’ve got veteran experience, guys that have been around a long time, and young, raw talent. When you mix those together, it’s a great combination.”

“You’ve got your veteran guys that do things right, good guys that are also good football players. Then you bring in good talent and they watch and learn, then pretty soon those guys are the old veteran players and they’re bringing in a new batch of young guys.”

Overall, all of this makes for a fascinating clash between the Patriots and the Ravens on Sunday evening. The battle between Baltimore’s solid defence and New England’s constantly dangerous offense should be one to watch from the very start.

You can find out who the AFC Conference representative in the 2012 Super Bowl will be from 8pm on Sunday evening.