20-goal striker is coming to Liverpool soon — and more

There's an exciting attacker who is going to be heading to Liverpool's first-team soon.

Let's face it, these last few months have been difficult for Arne Slot. Alexander Isak's injury has not made things easy for the Dutchman.

Slot has had to rely on Hugo Ekitike and at times use Cody Gakpo or Federico Chiesa out of position. Even the back-up academy forwards during this time have been injured. Jayden Danns is yet to come back from the knock he suffered earlier on in the season.

Will Wright is still just coming back and getting to grips with playing week in, week out at U21 level.

Thankfully, this headache may be a worry of the past for Slot soon.

Not only because Isak will be back before the end of the season, but also because there is an exciting 20-goal forward who will be training with the club's first-team very soon, and who has the potential to become the third choice option behind Ekitike and the Swedish forward.

For a brief moment, Liverpool were elite at producing forwards in the 1990s. In the space of a few years Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen both walked through the ranks at the Kirkby academy centre and blew the first-team away.

They have become iconic names in English football.

But they have also become Liverpool's only forward academy graduates who have really made it. Since then the likes of Adam Morgan, Jerome Sinclair and Rhian Brewster have come close but none of them have been able to live up to their prolific nature at academy level.

This academy curse might be coming to an end very soon. There's a young striker who is way more prepared and has way more skills under his belt than any of the forwards who have come before him.

Josh Sonni-Lambie is a special player. Not only because he has 20 goals for Liverpool's academy this season, and 27 goal contributions in 30 matches.

Sonni-Lambie is special because he is a different type of striker. The likes of Morgan, Sinclair and Brewster were purely goal poachers.

They thrived inside the box. Sonni-Lambie is a player who thrives both inside and outside the box. He doesn't just score goals but he links up play. He drops back and he likes to take players on in one vs one situations.

In many ways, Sonni-Lambie is a typical Liverpool striker. Very much in the mould of a Hugo Ekitike, or Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge.

The flair that Sonni-Lambie has combined with his vision makes him tailor-made for the way Liverpool's first-team want to play.

At 18-years-old, the world is at his feet. He really has it all.

And having scored 20 goals already this season, it won't be long until he's with the first-team. At this point it feels like Sonni-Lambie is already on his way there.

It will be a better of time until he starts training with Slot, and making his debut at senior level.

The highest-rated players of the 2025–2026 Champions League group stage

Youssef Obama/@Pyramids

Several players stood out during the group stage of the 2025–2026 CAF Champions League.

The top honor goes to Youssef Obama, the playmaker for Pyramids FC, who received the highest average rating from sofascore, clocking in at an impressive 7.8/10.

Hot on his heels is his compatriot Mahmoud Trézéguet, Al Ahly’s dynamic winger, with a score of 7.7/10. Third place goes to Moroccan goalkeeper Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti of AS FAR, who earned a strong average of 7.68/10.

Top-rated players ranking (group stage)

Youssef Obama (Pyramids FC/Egypt): 7.8/10

Mahmoud Trézéguet (Al Ahly FC/Egypt): 7.7/10

Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti (AS FAR Rabat/Morocco): 7.68/10

Nasser Maher (Pyramids FC/Egypt): 7.63/10

Djigui Diarra (Young Africans SC/Mali): 7.57/10

Osama Galal (Pyramids FC/Egypt): 7.55/10

Mounir Chouiar (RS Berkane/France): 7.45/10

N'Golo Traoré (Stade Malien/Mali): 7.45/10

Marouane Louadni (AS FAR Rabat/Morocco): 7.45/10

Abdelrazig Omer (Al-Hilal Omdurman/Sudan): 7.43/10

Ahmed Atef (Pyramids FC/Egypt): 7.42/10

Ahmed Samy (Pyramids FC/Egypt): 7.42/10

Soumaila Sidibe (RS Berkane/Mali): 7.40/10

Ismaila Simpara (Stade Malien/Mali): 7.36/10

Ibrahim Hamad (Young Africans SC/Sudan): 7.33/10

Marcelo Allende (Mamelodi Sundowns/Chile): 7.30/10

Esdras Kabamba (FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo/DRC): 7.30/10

Marwan Attia (Al Ahly FC/Egypt): 7.28/10

Neo Maema (Simba SC/South Africa): 7.27/10

Mahmoud Marei (Pyramids FC/Egypt): 7.26/10

A direct transfer from Liverpool that would be historic

Manchester United interested in Alexis Mac Allister

A direct move between Liverpool FC and Manchester United would be an exceptionally rare event. The last time it happened was back in 1964, when Phil Chisnall left United to join the Reds. Since then, no player has crossed that fierce divide.

But according to the Daily Mirror, this unwritten rule could soon be put to the test. Manchester United are reportedly weighing up a summer swoop for Alexis Mac Allister. The 27-year-old Argentine midfielder is among the profiles being considered to strengthen the Red Devils’ midfield.

With two assists in 25 Premier League appearances this season, he remains a key figure at Liverpool. If the interest becomes concrete, this transfer would make huge waves across England, given the fierce rivalry that still burns between the two clubs.

Real Madrid visit Benfica in the first leg of the Champions League’s Round of 32. Mbappé is expected to return to the lineup and the biggest question mark for Arbeloa will surely be who to deploy in the center of the defensive line now that Rudiger is also back.

Real Madrid predicted XI: Courtois; Trent, Rüdiger, Huijsen, Carreras; Tchouaméni, Valverde, Camavinga; Güler; Vinicius, Mbappé.

Benfica predicted XI: Trubin; Dedic, Otamendi, T. Araújo, Dahl; Aursnes, Barreiro; Prestianni, Sudakov, Schjelderup; Pavlidis.

Given that Asencio has been playing through pain for a while, Rudiger and Huijsen might start.

HOW TO WATCH, STREAM CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Date: 02/17/2025

Time: 21:00 CET, 03:00pm EST.

Venue: Estadio Da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal.

Available TV: Movistar Liga Campeones (Spain)

Available Streaming: Paramount+, DAZN, Amazon Prime Video (USA)

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