Manchester United and Newcastle United legend, Michael Owen, predicted that Liverpool would win the encounter against Villarreal CF.

The game played much earlier this week saw The Reds defeat their Spanish opposition by three goals to nothing.

Liverpool played Villarreal at Anfield in the second leg of the Europa League semi-final tie on Thursday evening after having lost by a lone goal in Spain. They played with the mindset of going all out for the victory, attacking the Yellow Submarine from the onset.

The former Liverpool striker Owen had said that The Reds will get the better of Villarreal at home and progress to the final of the Europa League.

He wrote on Betvictor.com:

“Liverpool, despite the changes in personnel, disappointed me on Sunday at Swansea but there is something magical about .

“If the Yellow Submarines score Liverpool have to get at least three but they got four against Dortmund in the last round and I expect the Kop to play its part.”
The talented pundit also added in the footnote:

“Michael’s recommendation: Liverpool to qualify at 5/4.”
Many had hoped for an early goal from the Spanish club to set the path difficult for Liverpool at home just like the match against Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. The Merseyside outfit did not underestimate Villarreal as they scored in the first half before going on to add more goals that eventually crushed the spirits of the Spanish side. Daniel Sturridge had a hand in the three goals during the encounter. Liverpool will face Sevilla in the final at St Jakob Park.

Former Liverpool striker and pundit Michael Owen has declared that Daniel Sturridge might consider Liverpool if he is not the first choice striker.

Sturridge was left out of the game against Villarreal in the Europa League.

The England striker was replaced by Firmino as Jurgen Klopp favored a more defensive approach to the game but this move has fanned news that Daniel Sturridge might be leaving in the summer.

Owen insists that Daniel Sturridge considers himself as a world-class striker and would want that the manager gives him the starting role every match. He added that if he decides to leave Liverpool, there will be no shortage of teams that will be interested in signing him. Owen added that Klopp will have to make a decision about Sturridge’s future soon.

Daniel Sturridge did feature in the team that played against Swansea on Sunday, but there were clear signs of disappointment on his face when he headed directly to the tunnel after being replaced. However, Michael Owen believes that this is not a good indication, and we will have to wait for the remaining games of the season.

Michael Owen believes a lot will depend on whether he is selected this Thursday for the return match against Villarreal. With Liverpool, who have to attack Villarreal, it will be interesting to know whether Klopp will pick Daniel Sturridge in his starting line-up. If he is not selected for the game, then it would be a confirmation that he is no longer a valuable member of Klopp’s team.

Indeed, since his arrival, the German manager has always favored DivockOrigi ahead of Daniel Sturridge, and it is only because of injury that Sturridge is being considered for the striker role.

Former defender Michel Salgado claims that his former club Real Madrid are making the mistake of being too dependent on pace in order to win matches.

The Spanish club have been disappointing this season and things have not improved much even after the arrival of Zinedine Zidane. This has led to questions about the squad not being good enough to win the league title. Even though Madrid have some of the best players in the world like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, there seems to be a balance missing from the squad on several occasions.

Salgado feels that the club has made a mistake in terms of buying players, as there have been too many purchasers focused on speed and other attacking qualities. Salgado also played in a team that was highly imbalanced. This led to Barcelona sweeping up a number of trophies during the glory days of Ronaldinho. The two giants of Spanish football will be coming together for the latest El Clasico this weekend. Madrid have an opportunity to reduce Barcelona’s advantage in the league title to just seven points. Even though it does not improve their chances of winning the league, it will help preserve some pride going into the summer.

“If we beat them it’s going to be good for our state of mind, for the collective belief ahead of the Champions league. It would bring great belief to the team. Sometimes one game changes everything in a season – it’s happened to me before and I hope it comes against Barcelona. Real Madrid have the players but it is not just now that they are missing something, it has been a long time. We know our style of football in last four years has been counter attack, and we lose control of games for long periods which is really bad for our team,” said Salgado.

Roy Hodgson is expected to call up a number of young players from Everton and Tottenham for his England squad at Euro 2016.

The former Liverpool manager seemed quite confident about utilising young players during the qualification status. They repaid his faith quite brilliantly after getting England to the competition with a 100% record. As a result, Hodgson is likely to continue the policy of developing the team for the future. This would mean calls for the likes of Ross Barkley, Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and John Stones. Two players from each team came up against each other in the recent meeting at Goodison Park.

Spurs and Everton played out a 1-1 draw. One of the former Tottenham players Aaron Lennon opened the scoring for Everton before Alli came up with the equaliser. Even though these were two dropped points for the top four chasing Spurs, it was always going to be a difficult place to get a win. Everton’s form in recent weeks has been inconsistent and they have been struggling for a top six finish. Despite the poor defensive record,Stones has been praised for his performances. The defender continues to be linked with a move to Chelsea after Everton resisted any lure to sell him in the summer.

Martinez reckons that the quartet could be the face of the national team in the future.”It was a joy to see so many English and British players in both sides with young ages with a lot of big roles in the game: Ross [Barkley], John Stones, Deli Alli and Harry Kane.It was a really good game between two teams not afraid to invest in young players.I think there is now such a good young group of players such as Ross Barkley, John Stones, Dele Alli and Harry Kane and they all offer something that is very, very different,” said Martinez.

Arsene Wenger has rejected suggestions that his club could not compete with Manchester City for the signing of Raheem Sterling.

Instead, the Frenchman has stated that the former Liverpool winger was never really needed at the Emirates stadium. Only a few months ago, Wenger had stated that he is a huge fan of Sterling and that he regards the 20-year-old to be a top-class player. While he maintained the same words yet again, Arsenal’s failure to even enter into contention for the player will be a source of disappointment for the fans. The club has only signed Petr Cech so far in this summer transfer window.

Sterling has moved to City in a deal that could eventually be worth around £ 49 million. The Manchester outfit will initially pay £ 44 million and this figure could increase depending upon the successes of the former QPR trainee. Sterling broke through at Liverpool and has even become a first team regular for the England national team. However, this figure has raised a few eyebrows given that he is yet to win a major trophy in his career. He is expected to play alongside Sergio Aguero in the City game while some feel that Sterling has been signed only to increase the homegrown quota at City.

“For me Sterling is a top-class player. It’s a good buy for Man City. An expensive one, but they can afford it. Personally I like him.I didn’t make a bid because he plays in an area where we have plenty of players. We have Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott, AlexOxlade-Chamberlain. Alexis Sanchez. Jack Wilshere can play there, Serge Gnabry.We knew Manchester United wouldn’t be happy with finishing outside the top three, they will respond. They have made some interesting signings,” said Wenger about Sterling and the signings made by Manchester United.

Former Real Madrid striker Michael Owen says that he expects Gareth Bale to improve a lot in the upcoming season.

The Welshman has had to receive bulk of the criticism for the club failing to win any major end of season honours. His season’s statistics did not match up to those from his first season at the club, but they were not poor by any means. However, it was made to look poor by the impressive Cristiano Ronaldo, who once again ended up with a haul of more than 50 goals for the season. Even though it meant little in terms of trophies, fans did not complain.

Owen has come to the rescue of Bale by saying that the Welshman has the capability to return to his best even as early as in the coming campaign. The arrival of Rafa Benitez as the new Real Madrid manager puts some uncertainty into the situation. It could be helpful for Bale, who started out as a defender and is known to offer much more in both sides of the game. This is especially opposite to that of Ronaldo, who is known as being extremely focused on scoring goals. Benitez could like the defensive nature of Bale and make him feel wanted once again.

“Real Madrid have a great team right now. Maybe they need a little more to be better than Barcelona at the moment, but they have a fantastic squad. I spent very little time with Rafa at Liverpool, but I can say that he is a very good coach. I thought that Bale had a decent start to his career at Real Madrid. He’s quiet and shy by nature, but I think that the more fit and confident he is, he’ll improve even more. He’s a world class player,” said Owen.

Michael Owen and just about every single other figure in the world of football have been disappointed with what RadamelFalcao has accomplished with Manchester United after the Premier League club signed the Colombian forward on a loan deal which is worth €6 million. This transfer fee is not as high compared to what United has spent in signing other players but what is incredibly huge is the salary that Falcao is receiving as he is paid £265,000 each week.

£265,000 every week is a steep price for a player who has only managed to score 4 goals and provide 4 assists for Manchester United in 22 Premier League appearances in this current season.

“I’ve been disappointed with Falcao because I really rated him when he was at Athletic Madrid. I thought he was top class and I was quite excited about him coming’’ Michael Owen said.

There are defenders in the Premier League who have been able to score more goals and accomplish more things than what RadamelFalcao has done with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Michael Owen continued on by saying that he is starting to get concerned about the attacking force of Manchester United which consists of: Wayne Rooney, RadamelFalcao and Robin van Persie.

‘’I think Manchester United might have a little problem in the coming seasons. You look at Rooney, Van Persie and Falcao, none of them are spring chickens and one of them, Falcao, has not been performing well and you would think that they aren’t going to keep him,” Owen added on.

Owen believes that his former club, Manchester United should start considering searching for younger attacking options that can replace Rooney, Van Persie and Falcao as all of those players are not as vibrant and energetic as they used to be a few years ago.

Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen says that he is expecting Arsenal to comfortably beat West Ham and get three points in the weekend’s league match.

The gunners have an upcoming Champions League match against Monaco just a few days away. Since they are trailing 3-1 from the first leg, it has been suggested that Arsene Wenger may rest some of his big names in anticipation of getting an early goal against Monaco. Owen says that this may not be the case, as Wenger will be wary of giving up on the third place in the league.

Unlike in the last couple of seasons, Arsenal appear to be the favourites to comfortably finish in the top four this season. They might have only a one-point advantage over Manchester United, but Arsenal have been playing much better football – at least in the league – than the Red Devils. The reason to dropped points for Manchester City has also given a lot of motivation for Arsenal to try and grab the second spot. Wenger recently admitted that he felt that winning the title was asking a bit too much of his team at this point, but he spoke with a lot of confidence about finishing in the second place.

“The Hammers were excellent at White Hart Lane last month, despite having to settle for a point, and they were unlucky not to get a draw against league leaders Chelsea at Upton Park last time. That said Arsenal will be desperate to maintain their challenge for a vital Champions League place and confidence will be high after their FA Cup success over Manchester United earlier in the week.Sam Allardyce has never managed a winning team at Arsenal in the PL in ten previous attempts and is unlikely to buck that trend at the weekend,” said Owen.

Real Sociedad managed a stunning victory over reigning champions Atletico Madrid to boost their chances of getting away from the relegation zone.

The 2-1 win does not mean opening a gap between the teams in the relegation zone like Levante, but Sociedad will take a lot of confidence from this victory. It is also looking likely that former Manchester United and Everton manager David Moyes may be appointed as the new manager in the next few days. The bookmakers have cut the odds of the Scot becoming the next Real Sociedad manager.

For the moment, players like Carlos Vela are enjoying the victory over Atletico, who proved the last season that they are incredibly tough to beat. This was only the second defeat that they suffered this season, while it was also only the second win for Real Sociedad. Carlos Vela said after the match that these kind of games give a lot of motivation to the players who are concerned about the threat of relegation. He is hoping to use this victory and propel the club out of trouble. Since the international break occupies the fixture list until the next fortnight, there is a danger of Sociedad once again losing momentum. Vela hopes this is not the case.

“These are the kinds of games that motivate us, the situation we’re in, we had to take a step forward if we didn’t want to go into the international break with this bad feeling.It’s not a matter of the coach, the players have to believe and follow this line to keep working and see what happens. It’s all we have left,” said Vela.

Meanwhile, he also insisted that his has no problems with Atletico forwarder Mario Mandzukic with whom he was involved in a light scuffle during the match on Sunday.

Steven Gerrard has been consistently making the headlines in the last few weeks due to several reasons. His future remains on the speculation because he is out of contract in the summer.

This coupled with the poor form shown by the 34-year-old since the start of the season has led to many believing that this may be Gerrard’s final season of the club. Michael Owen is one of the players who came through the ranks at Liverpool along with Gerrard. He is someone who knows the captain extremely well and he says that there is undeniable truth in the poor form of the 34-year-old.

However, he expects Gerrard to adapt once again to the new kind of football that he is expected to deliver.

Given his age, not many expect Gerrard to be the force going forward. This is evident from the fact that he has not scored a goal from open play for almost a year. He has primarily found the back of the net from set pieces and penalties. The former England international has played for Liverpool throughout his career, but he recently admitted that he would consider the prospect of leaving the club should he get a better offer elsewhere.

“He may not be the Gerrard of five years ago, but even if he’s slowed down a yard, he is the best midfielder at the club.Unfortunately, he’s reached the stage of his career whereby every bad game gets attributed to his age.I don’t think he needs to move.He can still have a huge effect on the Liverpool team,” said Owen, who had to retire much earlier than Gerrard due to a number of injury problems. The former Liverpool and United striker is now working as a pundit with the likes of BT Sport and write several columns.