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Phil Thompson has high hopes of Liverpool finally ending their Premier League trophy drought this season, but says its too early to call them title contenders. The Reds currently sit top of the table but last won Englands top-flight in 1990, and have finished as runners-up three times since the Premier Leagues inception in 1992.Thommo appeared on Sky Sports Now on Wednesday morning to pick his Liverpool runners-up XI, made up of Liverpool stars from 2001/02, 2008/09 and 2013/14, as well as some from Jurgen Klopps current squad... Thommos XI comprises of Sami Hyypia and Michael Owen from 01/02, Pepe Reina and Xabi Alonso from 2008/09, Luis Suarez from 13/14 and Nathaniel Clyne, James Milner, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho (who also played in 13/14) from the current side.Also included are Jamie Carragher who played in 01/02 and 08/09, and Steven Gerrard who featured in all three Liverpool sides that have finished second in the Premier League so far. Steven Gerrard featured in all three Liverpool sides who finished second Thommo believes Liverpools impressive start gives them a chance of glory, but did move to play down expectations.I cant say Liverpool will win the title, he said. Theyve got as good a chance as anybody else but its only 11 games in. Hopefully by the time its 25 games we can sit here and say theres a real chance.Weve done extremely well so far, and its not only great to be top of the league, its also the quality of the football that this side has played which has been truly fantastic to watch. Thommo believes the Liverpool players understand how manager Jurgen Klopp wants to play [Klopp] has had plenty of time now to work on this high pressing and intensity game. They all understand what the manager wants and the signing of [Sadio] Mane has brought that extra pace which the team was lacking up front, hes been nothing short of sensational. [Roberto] Firmino has been truly magnificent as well.People say you need one player who will get you 25 goals and a secondary striker who will get you 15, but this side has players who are all chipping in, and weve also seen goals from the likes of [Jordan] Henderson and [Emre] Can. Its also how many chances theyre creating at times, against Watford they scored six but it could have been far more. Philippe Coutinho (R) has been one of the standout players for Liverpool so far Thommo also reckons that Manchester City and Chelsea, currently second and third in the table, will be Liverpools biggest threats this season.[City are] the best-equipped squad, he said. Ive been impressed with the manager and how hes handled the problems theyve had. I love Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva is great and [they have] Sergio Aguero as well.Chelsea also have a great chance but its a case of whether they get found out somewhere along the line. The one thing for [Antonio] Conte is his big players like Eden Hazard and Diego Costa are enjoying their football now whereas they werent last year. Liverpool 6-1 Watford Also See: Cresswells Liverpool rejection Klopp keen to create history Henderson hails world-class trio Liverpool-Chelsea top rankings . -- Aaron Rodgers looked fine on the practice field Thursday. . A quick first step to get to the hoop for a layup. A rousing dunk on the break off a high outlet pass saved by teammate Ramon Sessions. http://www.grizzliesbasketballpro.info/ ... es-Jersey/. A veteran of 16 NHL seasons, Prospals career was highlighted by him ranking fourth in points scored, third in assists and sixth in games played among all Czech Republic born players in NHL history. . While Minnesota takes aim at its eighth win of November, the Canadiens will try to post just their third victory in nine games this month. .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes hope to remain perfect at home in January on Friday night as they welcome the Vancouver Canucks to PNC Arena.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish let out a good yell and pumped both fists before catcher Chris Gimenez greeted him in front of the mound. The Texas ace wasnt necessarily celebrating his first complete game in the major leagues. His battery mate says he does that all the time. "He just kind of looked at me and goes, Yeah! Thats what I said back to him," Gimenez said. "He likes going Yes! all the time. We kind of goof around with each other about it." This was their best reason yet to have a little fun. Darvish struck out 10 in his six-hitter, Shin-Soo Choo broke a long hitless streak with a three-run double and the Rangers denied Miamis bid for a record interleague winning streak, beating the Marlins 6-0 Wednesday night. Darvish (7-2) struck out the side in the eighth to end a streak of one baserunner in each of the first seven innings for the Marlins. The Japanese right-hander wrapped up his 73rd career start by getting Garrett Jones to swing at a pitch in the dirt. Gimenez had to finish it off with a throw to first. The closest Darvish had come to a complete game were the two times he lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning. The first was a perfect game bid against Houston last year. The other was against Boston a month ago, although a scoring change a few days later altered that. "I wasnt really conscious of throwing a complete game," Darvish said through an translator. "I thought I was going to be out of the game after the eighth inning, but when (manager Ron Washington) told me that Im going in the ninth inning as well, I decided to go. And I also wanted to face (Giancarlo) Stanton again." Darvish gave up his final single to Stanton leading off the ninth, but Casey McGehee grounded into Miamis third double play before Jones whiffed. "I dont think we really have anybody like that," Miami manager Mike Redmond said when asked what NL pitchers compared to Darvish, who was facing the Marlins for the first time. The Marlins had to settle for tying the New York Yankees (2003-04) and Tampa Bay (2004) for the longest interleague winnning streak at 13 games.dddddddddddd It was Miamis first interleague loss since last Aug. 12 at Kansas City. The Rangers (32-34) snapped a four-game losing streak and avoided falling four games under .500 for the first time since 2008. Texas split the two-game set and is now winless in eight straight series at home. Choo was in an 0-for-18 slump when he pulled a line drive past Jones at first with the bases loaded in the third against Jacob Turner (2-4). When Stanton couldnt cut off the ball in right field, Elvis Andrus scored easily from first for a 3-0 lead. Choo had a single in the fifth that again brought home Andrus, who had three hits. "I needed just one hit, one good hard it," Choo said. "I tell myself every pitch, start over, start over, start over." Darvish, who won his fourth straight start for the first time in Texas, blew a 4-0 lead in his last start against Cleveland but still got the win in a 6-4 Texas victory. There were no such threats this time, and Darvish has allowed one earned run in 37 2-3 innings over his past five interleague starts. Marcell Ozuna helped Darvish by getting thrown out at second base by left fielder Michael Choice after a leadoff single in the seventh. Justin Bour followed with a walk, but Darvish started a double play on J.T. Realmuto to end the inning. Jones had one of the singles on a 59 mph curveball before Darvish struck out Ozuna looking on a knee-buckling slider. Darvish, who threw 116 pitches, got Stanton swinging on another slider in the sixth. Turner finished the fourth inning after getting hit on the right side by a line drive from Rougned Odour, but the right-hander didnt come out for the fifth. He gave up six hits and five earned runs. NOTES: This was the first meeting between the Marlins and Rangers since July 2011. They play two more in Miami on Aug. 19-20. ... The Rangers agreed to terms with top draft pick Luis Ortiz, a high school pitcher from California. The deal for the right-hander includes a $1.75 million signing bonus. He will report to the Arizona League after graduating from high school Saturday. ' ' '