Dalglish faces tricky choice

After triumphing twice against Chelsea in the past fortnight, Kenny Dalglish takes his Liverpool side – on an 11-match unbeaten run – to their west London neighbours Fulham tonight. "We've had some good results in London and let's hope it continues," the Anfield manager said.

Brazilian Lucas has been a main reason behind Liverpool's form and his absence for the rest of the season, with a knee injury picked up against Chelsea last week, leaves Dalglish to choose between Jordan Henderson and Jay Spearing to partner Charlie Adam in the centre of midfield. "The strength of your squad is the ability of the ones who don't play as often," Dalglish said.

Lennon praises Hooper's drive

Neil Lennon labelled Gary Hooper's winning goal "a thing of beauty" after his Celtic side won 1-0 at Dundee United yesterday to cut the gap behind leaders Rangers to four points.

Hooper scored in the 12th minute, taking James Forrest's pass and driving the ball low past goalkeeper Dusan Pernis. Lennon enthused: "That's him at his best. He's got quick feet and that change of pace which is very deceiving for defenders at times."

Despite the win, Celtic's manager saw room for improvement. "I'm a hard man to please," he added. "The intensity was there but we lacked something in the final third." Giles Lucas

Guardiola takes win in his stride

Pep Guardiola was left unmoved after his Barcelona team recorded an emphatic 5-0 league victory over Levante on Saturday. Midfielder Cesc Fabregas scored twice to help Barça prevail, while Guardiola, whose team sit three points behind leaders Real Madrid who they face next Saturday, said: "We've scored five goals against the fourth-placed team in the league, but nothing we do seems like much. Giles Lucas