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Ricardo Pietreczko defeated World Champion Luke Littler 10-6 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Players Championship in Minehead.

Littler, 18, set up a meeting with fellow Englishman Chris Dobey at Butlin’s on Sunday after going 5-3 up against the German.

Everyone is aware that I haven’t won this, Littler told ITV.

Littler threw six maximum 180s to Pietreczko’s two, an average of 102.67, and he threw six maximum 180s.

When I lose, I’m never happy. I then went back to 5-5 at 3-2, and I just had to kick on there, Littler said.

“It was done,” I thought. Even though I didn’t do my doubles tonight, I can improve tomorrow afternoon.

Littler defeated Englishman Ross Smith 6-3 to advance to the last 16 earlier on Saturday.

To advance to the quarter-finals, Wales’ Gerwyn Price defeated Sebastian Bialecki from Poland 6-1 and German Martin Schindler from Germany 10-6.

What’s wrong with Liverpool, exactly?

The defending champions have now lost six of their previous seven league games following Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat at home against Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool lost 11th in the Premier League with their joint-heaviest home defeat of the previous two teams, placing them 11th overall.

Forest capitalized on Liverpool’s inconsistent form this season from set pieces to open the scoring.

Without penalties, Slot’s team has conceded nine league goals from setpieces this year, more than they did last season.

Liverpool only had two players in the six-yard box for the first goal, including goalkeeper Alisson, while the visitors did so cleverly for the visitors.

While their other player duelled with Virgil van Dijk, he was hampered by one of these players’ light pressure on Alisson, who was unable to move.

The real fight took place in the middle of the box, where Forest and Liverpool faced off against Liverpool’s four, including Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Mohamed Salah.

Salah gestured to Mac Allister and demanded that the Argentine pick up Murillo, one of Forest’s most dangerous players, at the beginning of the routine.

Because he was being preoccupied with the player he was supposed to mark, Mac Allister was unable to accomplish this. He remained close to his player throughout the corner, giving Murillo a spare hand.

Gibbs-White narrowly missed heading the ball unmarked at the near-post as the cross was being played in.

Byproducts of van Dijk’s occupation of another Forest player and Szoboszlai picking up Salah’s man instead of Gibbs-White included him being free.

In the end, Forest scored thanks to poor communication between Salah and the four Liverpool players in the middle of the box.

Salah’s defensive contribution to Forest’s second goal was once more tapped.

On the left flank, the visitors discovered three players. Salah, Curtis Jones, and Szoboszlai were numerically equal to them by Liverpool.

Ryan Gravenberch was cleverly drawn out by Gibbs-White’s movement from the center of midfield out to the left wing.

In this situation, Neco Williams’ run from the touchline to the middle was not followed.

As Forest moved closer to the goal, they dumped a number of players into the box, causing them to also drop deeper.

Nicolo Savona could enter and score in front of the back line thanks to this opening.

Two main themes emerge, despite the lack of overlap between the first and second goals.

First of all, Salah lost track of his man for both goals as Liverpool aimed to defend in a man-to-man manner.

Second, ahead of a Liverpool defensive line that had dropped deep without any cover in front of it, space appeared for the scorer.

Omari Hutchinson was found in space on the wing for Forest’s third goal thanks to a quick switch.

With the ball in hand and with enough room to move forward with momentum, Hutchinson took it in front of the goal.

This notion was also evident in Manchester United’s first goal against Liverpool this year.

Amad Diallo separated the ball on that occasion. Amad could dribble at the defender unopposed before helping Bryan Mbeumo because of the distance between him and his full-back.

Because they give the winger complete control of the situation, these situations are incredibly challenging to defend against.

Hutchinson’s individuality was evident when he defeated Alisson and shot Andy Robertson in the inside.

The position of Mac Allister is what stands out in this instance. The Argentina midfielder attempted to block the shot, but did so again from the central position in front of the defensive line.

Gibbs-White entered unopposedly into this space.

Liverpool will have to address this issue as well, which also includes other issues that came up for all three goals in the same way.

With Mac Allister lacking defensive midfield partners, Slot’s substitutions led to a heavily skewed performance from his team when the third goal came in.

Because of this, he cannot bear the entire charge alone.

The lack of balance, intensity, and chemistry that have been the driving force behind Liverpool’s continued success are what the goals conceded against Forest do, though.

All of this is not to diminish Forest’s performance either.

Eddie Howe tried everything.

Prior to now, the head coach of Newcastle United had sent out rival teams to Manchester City. He confronted backstanders. He tried a number of formations without success.

On the eve of Saturday’s game, Howe said, “We don’t have any new left,” and it was to the point where he was only half-joking.

He did, however.

After a harrowing defeat at Brentford before the international break, Howe and his team devised a strategy to finally defeat Manchester City in the Premier League when Newcastle most needed a result.

And it paid off with Howe’s 17th attempt, which included a 2-1 victory over Pep Guardiola’s side at St James’ Park, as he first tasted victory against Pep Guardiola’s side in the top flight.

Howe spent countless hours looking through footage, reviewing training, and trying to figure out what to do with this odd campaign.

Despite having a smaller training group, Newcastle attempted to rediscover “their energy and athleticism” during the international break.

And Manchester City’s visit had some notable adjustments.

Sandro Tonali has resided in the middle of the middle of the year in the central midfield three, where Captain Bruno Guimaraes has been playing, while returning full-backs Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento have both started their first games together since September and have made a significant difference.

In place of center-back Sven Botman, Fabian Schar made his first top-flight start in two months.

However, Howe chose to stick to his preferred 4-3-3 system over making drastic changes, and Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon both missed out due to injury.

The majority of those Brentford fans, and indeed those who gathered there, received the opportunity to make amends as a result of their efforts.

Howe said, “I don’t like ripping things up.” “Unless you’re in absolute panic mode, which we’re not, and I don’t think that kind of leadership is any good.”

I believe I have a very clear picture of our stronger players, and I want to try to give them every chance to showcase it by supporting and developing them.

However, something had to change.

Prior to this game, only Leeds United and Wolves, who were struggling, had scored fewer goals than Newcastle in the top flight.

Nick Woltemade, a record signing, cut a lonely figure with little to feed off, especially on the road.

Woltemade was away with Germany during the international break, but Newcastle worked on different forward movements, such as Barnes and Jacob Murphy, to try to get the best out of him when he returned.

Woltemade, who had three chances foiled by Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, had a lot of chances on Saturday for the Newcastle.

However, others have started to step up, just as Newcastle were once overly dependent on Woltemade.

Barnes, perhaps?

The forward admitted that he was not “the most popular man” at the break and had a few big misses in the first half, even going too far with the goal gaping.

Barnes opened the scoring in the second half with a superb effort from the edge of the area, but he also added a winner moments later when Ruben Dias gave Manchester City the lead.

Before losing, Newcastle had previously dominated Arsenal, Brentford, and West Ham.

However, they did not fall apart when Manchester City equalized or, in fact, eight minutes into added stoppage time.

Newcastle made more blocks than the visitors on an evening where they won more tackles and aerial duels.

Newcastle stood up, made nearly twice as many clearances as Manchester City, which naturally skews the figure, and capped their season with just four shots on target.

Former Newcastle defender Jonathan Woodgate was able to identify that defensive move.

Out of possession, he claimed, “weren’t they top-notch and made it so difficult when City attempted to find those tiny pockets in between the lines.”

Should St. James’s results under the lights not necessarily come as a surprise?

In 2025, only Manchester City (13) and Howe’s team (11) have won more Premier League home games.

In all competitions, Newcastle have won eight, drawn two, and lost just two of their home games since the start of the year against Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham.

Newcastle haven’t, however, won in the top flight since April when they were away from home.

Before Saturday’s historic victory, this side was just one point above the relegation zone because of this.

The crowd, in my opinion, has no bearing on how much the pitch’s players are changed by it, Howe said.

When we don’t have the audience present, we must find a way to inject some positive energy into our performances.