Liverpool ‘Calm’ Despite Scoring Struggle in Draw with Luton, Says Klopp 

Football - Premier League - Luton Town v Liverpool - Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain - November 5, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp with Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Luton Town v Liverpool - Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain - November 5, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp with Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister after the match. (Reuters)
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Liverpool ‘Calm’ Despite Scoring Struggle in Draw with Luton, Says Klopp 

Football - Premier League - Luton Town v Liverpool - Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain - November 5, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp with Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister after the match. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Luton Town v Liverpool - Kenilworth Road, Luton, Britain - November 5, 2023 Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp with Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister after the match. (Reuters)

Liverpool will not hit the panic button despite their forwards being in far from their best goalscoring form against lowly Luton Town, manager Juergen Klopp said after his team were held to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League on Sunday.

Colombian winger Luis Diaz came off the bench to rescue the Merseyside outfit, scoring an emotional 95th-minute equalizer at Kenilworth Road and dedicating it to his kidnapped father.

Liverpool dominated possession and could have won had it not been for a string of missed chances by Darwin Nunez. But the German coach looked at the positives the Uruguayan striker showed.

"The first chance he had was really well done, great pass, first touch top and then he nails it on the crossbar," Klopp told reporters.

"The whole team was not in a goalscoring mood today, obviously, and that's then not helpful. But Darwin, what makes him really different is that he's involved in pretty much everything, so that's good. We are calm.

"Even when we should have finished better, but I don't think our problem was really finishing. It was other things.

"We should have created more and then we would have finished one or two situations off, and I would have been completely fine with winning here 1-0, I would've been very, very happy. But for that we should have played better."

The result left Liverpool third on 24 points, three behind leaders Manchester City, while Luton inched out of the relegation zone to go 17th on six points, two off the bottom.

Liverpool next travel to Ligue 1 club Toulouse in the Europa League on Thursday before hosting ninth-placed Brentford in the top-flight on Sunday.



Georgian Teenager Salia's Dream Comes True with Newcastle Move 

Vakhtang Salia, a Georgian footballer who plays as a forward for Dinamo Tbilisi and will officially join Newcastle United on his 18th birthday in August 2025, controls the ball during a match against Samgurali Tskaltubo in the Georgian top football league, in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)
Vakhtang Salia, a Georgian footballer who plays as a forward for Dinamo Tbilisi and will officially join Newcastle United on his 18th birthday in August 2025, controls the ball during a match against Samgurali Tskaltubo in the Georgian top football league, in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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Georgian Teenager Salia's Dream Comes True with Newcastle Move 

Vakhtang Salia, a Georgian footballer who plays as a forward for Dinamo Tbilisi and will officially join Newcastle United on his 18th birthday in August 2025, controls the ball during a match against Samgurali Tskaltubo in the Georgian top football league, in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)
Vakhtang Salia, a Georgian footballer who plays as a forward for Dinamo Tbilisi and will officially join Newcastle United on his 18th birthday in August 2025, controls the ball during a match against Samgurali Tskaltubo in the Georgian top football league, in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)

Georgian Vakhtang Salia may only be 17-years-old but he will soon be trading Dinamo Tbilisi's training ground for Newcastle United's famous St James' Park stadium.

The striker, known as Vakho, was with his friends when he heard he would be moving to Premier League Newcastle. He will relocate to England near his 18th birthday in August.

For the young prospect, who started playing aged four and debuted for Dinamo Tbilisi in Georgia's top flight only a year ago, signing for a Premier League club is a dream come true.

"I couldn't believe it. But I can't believe it right up until now. It's my dream to play there," he said.

Salia is part of a rising generation of young Georgian players who have given the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, a spot on the world football map.

Salia told Reuters that among the players he most admires are Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze, who shone during the Euro 2024 campaign, Georgia's first major tournament. They lost to eventual champions Spain in the last 16.

The Euros saw Georgia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, win 2-0 against a Portugal side captained by Cristiano Ronaldo, another of Salia's soccer idols, in the group stage with goals from Kvaratskhelia and Mikautadze.

Salia also hopes to play for Georgia one day.

"Football in Georgia now is getting bigger," he said. "It's every Georgian's dream for Georgia to play in the World Cup and the Euros. And I hope that I'll play one day in the national team, too."

Dinamo Tbilisi head coach Vladimer Kakashvili said that Salia has every chance of becoming as good a player as his more established countrymen, even if the Premier League is a step up.

"Undoubtedly, today English football is among the best in Europe, where there are very high speeds, very high physical standards, and Vakho will need a certain period to get used to that," he said.

Salia's career at Dinamo Tbilisi so far leaves him well placed to shine in England, added Kakashvili.

"When a footballer joins the main team at such a young age, it shows that he's undoubtedly talented, that he undoubtedly works on himself, and that he is a professional of the highest level," he said.

"I think with his talent, strong work ethic, and dedication, he can play in any competition. It won't be a problem."