Tag: Liverpool

Arne Slot admitted on Tuesday that “superhuman” Mohamed Salah was unhappy about being omitted from Liverpool’s team for their vital 2-0 win against West Ham, but praised his attitude.

The Egypt forward was an unused substitute at the London Stadium on Sunday as Liverpool boss Slot made changes following a terrible run of nine defeats in 12 games in all competitions.

Misfiring Salah, 33, has scored just four Premier League goals this season — in stark contrast to his haul of 29 last season, a tally that won him the Golden Boot.

Slot told reporters that during his reign as manager at Anfield, Salah had been a “superhuman being” but that he had not been at his best in recent weeks.

“As with all players around the world, there are also phases in your time at the club that you are human,” he said. “But he’s scored so many goals for us, and I’m sure he will in the future.”

Slot, whose eighth-placed team hosts high-flying Sunderland on Wednesday, said he was not surprised by Salah’s reaction to being left out, praising his professionalism.

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“That’s a normal reaction from a player that’s good enough to play for us,” he said. “And I say it mildly, because he’s been so outstanding for this club for so many years, and will be for us in the future.

“So, yeah, of course, a player isn’t happy when they’re not playing. He wasn’t the only one who wasn’t happy that he wasn’t starting, I can tell you.”

The Dutchman said that Salah had been supportive of his teammates.

“You cannot be a player that’s available every three days and play on that high standard if you go with your emotions,” he said.

“But Mo is so disciplined, knows what to do to stay fit, and no matter if he plays well, doesn’t play well, if he plays or if he doesn’t play, he will always be that top professional.”

Slot said that Salah was scheduled to leave for the Africa Cup of Nations on December 15.

“As always in these situations, there’s a player involved, there’s the nation involved — Egypt in this situation — and the club. And there are always talks about what is best for all three of us,” he said.

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Mohamed Salah’s 250th Liverpool goal ended the Premier League champions’ losing streak in a 2-0 win against Aston Villa, while leaders Arsenal beat Burnley to surge seven points clear on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Manchester United were held to a 2-2 draw at struggling Nottingham Forest, and Chelsea won 1-0 at London rivals Tottenham.

After losing their previous four league games and six of their last seven in all competitions, spluttering Liverpool finally showed signs of life at Anfield.

Arne Slot’s troubled team were gifted their opening goal in first-half stoppage time when Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez’s wayward pass was intercepted by Salah, who slotted into the empty net for his fifth goal this season.

The Egyptian forward’s milestone 250th goal in all competitions for Liverpool was followed by Ryan Gravenberch’s 58th-minute deflected strike, wrapping up the Reds’ first league victory since they beat Everton on September 20.

Liverpool’s win, which leaves them third but seven points behind Arsenal, was well-timed ahead of a crucial week featuring clashes with Real Madrid and Manchester City.

Arsenal eased past Burnley 2-0, creating a five-game winning streak in the league to position themselves as firm favourites to end their painful two-decade wait to be crowned English champions.

Viktor Gyokeres headed the Gunners ahead following a Declan Rice corner in the first half at Turf Moor for his first league goal since mid-September — yet more joy for the set-piece specialists.

England midfielder Rice himself headed home to double the visitors’ lead in the 35th minute and put them in total control.

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Arsenal, who have now won nine games in a row in all competitions, have enviable options in attack, but their team is built on a rock-solid defence that has conceded just three league goals in 10 games this season.

Manchester United, seeking their fourth straight league win, led 1-0 at the City Ground courtesy of Casemiro’s first-half opener.

But Forest, who had not scored a league goal since September 20, roared back after the break as their confidence flooded back.

Morgan Gibbs-White headed the home side level in the 48th minute before Nicolo Savona tapped in just two minutes later to complete a dramatic turnaround.

But Amad Diallo levelled with a sweet volley in the 81st minute to rescue a point for United, who have been much improved in recent weeks after a poor start to the season.

Ruben Amorim, marking a year since his appointment as United manager, was disappointed to drop points but encouraged by his team’s mentality.

Forest, who last month appointed Sean Dyche as manager to replace the sacked Ange Postecoglou, remain in the relegation zone, four points behind 17th-placed Burnley.

Chelsea maintained their impressive record against Tottenham, winning 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Joao Pedro for a fifth straight Premier League victory over the north Londoners.

Enzo Maresca’s fifth-placed side trails fourth-placed Tottenham on goal difference.

Rock-bottom Wolves, reduced to 10 men in the first half following the dismissal of Emmanuel Agbadou, are eight points from safety after a miserable 3-0 defeat at Fulham.

Crystal Palace beat Brentford 2-0 and Brighton pummelled Leeds 3-0.

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Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal could miss more than two months after the La Liga leaders said Monday he needed further knee surgery.

Real captain Carvajal came back from injury to play as a substitute in Madrid’s 2-1 win over Barcelona on Sunday.

But the 33-year-old defender will miss the Champions League trip to Liverpool next week, and is likely to be sidelined for Manchester City’s visit to the Santiago Bernabeu on December 10.

“Following tests carried out on our captain, Dani Carvajal, by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with the presence of a loose body in his right knee joint. Carvajal will now undergo an arthroscopy,” said Madrid in a statement.

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The club did not specify his expected absence period; however, it is believed that the right-back’s absence will last upwards of six weeks, potentially sidelining him until January 2026.

Dani Carvajal suffered a severe knee injury in the same leg in 2024 and had an operation, which kept him out for most of last season.

Spanish media reports suggested the Spanish right-back could miss between six and 10 weeks, meaning he will not feature in his country’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers in November.

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Liverpool slumped to a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat as Brentford bullied the defending champions in a 3-2 win on Saturday.

Goals from Dango Ouattara, Kevin Schade, and Igor Thiago secured victory for the Bees, who climb to 10th in the table.

Liverpool slip to sixth and could be seven points adrift of leaders Arsenal by Sunday as their title defence has collapsed in spectacular style over the past month.

The Reds have lost five of their last six games in all competitions as Arne Slot appears lost for answers in how to develop a cohesive team from a Premier League record spend of nearly £450 million ($600 million) in the transfer window.

Liverpool struggled to deal with the flight of Michael Kayode’s throw-ins all night and one was the source of the opening goal.

Kristoffer Ajer flicked on the Italian’s wicked delivery and Ouattara volleyed in.

Despite Brentford’s lack of possession they continued to pose the greater goal threat.

Giorgi Mamardashvili tipped over Mikkel Damsgaard’s dipping strike.

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Damsgaard then created Brentford’s second with a brilliant through ball that saw Schade leave Ibrahima Konate trailing before firing low past Mamardashvili.

Liverpool have conceded at least twice in six of their nine league games this season.

Milos Kerkez’s struggles since a £40 million move from Bournemouth have played a major part in Liverpool’s implosion.

The Hungarian made amends for another shaky display when he turned in Conor Bradley’s cross five minutes into first half stoppage time.

Brentford were furious as the referee had signalled for only three minutes to be added.

However, the home side benefitted when a VAR intervention awarded a penalty for Virgil van Dijk’s kick on Ouattara on the hour mark.

A free-kick had initially been given, but replays showed the Liverpool captain made contact just inside the area.

Thiago sent Mamardashvili the wrong way and there was no way back for Liverpool after another disjointed and dispirited display from the defending champions.

Salah was denied by Sepp van den Berg’s desire to throw his body in the way of his shot with the chance to pull a goal back immediately.

The Egyptian did eventually end his six-game goal drought at club level in spectacular fashion by controlling Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross and smashing in off the underside of the bar in the 89th minute.

But it was too little, too late to slow Liverpool’s dramatic decline since the disruption of a squad overhaul in the summer and the grief caused by the shock death of Diogo Jota in a car accident in July.

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Arne Slot said Friday the “last thing” he is worried about is Mohamed Salah finding his scoring touch again after the Liverpool forward’s barren run for the club extended to six games.

The Egypt international has not scored a Premier League goal from open play since the opening weekend of the season and was dropped from the starting line-up for Liverpool’s 5-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League in midweek.

He was also substituted late in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Anfield last week after missing two big chances, even as the home team desperately chased an equaliser.

Liverpool manager Slot, whose team face Brentford on Saturday, said he did not know why Salah, who won the Premier League Golden Boot last season, was struggling.

“In general, in football, players miss chances, and Mo is a human being as well,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“So we’re not used to him missing chances, let alone a few games in a row, but these things can happen.”

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But the Dutchman said he was confident that Salah, who has scored just two Premier League goals in eight matches this season, would re-discover his cutting edge.

“The last thing I worry about is Mo starting to score goals again,” he said.

“Because that’s what he’s done his whole life, and that’s what I expect him to do in the upcoming weeks and months for our club as well.”

Liverpool romped to the Premier League title last season and then splashed out around £450 million ($600 million) on new players in the summer transfer window.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure to Real Madrid combined with injuries has resulted in a number of different players being used at right-back, including midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.

Slot admitted his team were taking time to adjust, including 33-year-old Salah, who plays on the right of Liverpool’s attack.

“He’s been in promising positions often enough for him to score goals, but maybe with Trent even more, I don’t know,” he said.

“But I think in general, for every player, if you have quite a few changes in your squad during the summer, then everyone needs to find new connections again, and that goes normally like this a little bit.

“Mo is not an exception to this.”

Liverpool, who started the season with seven straight wins in all competitions, have lost their past three matches in the Premier League and are fourth in the table, four points behind leaders Arsenal.

Jeremie Frimpong and goalkeeper Alisson Becker are out of the Brentford match with hamstring injuries, while Slot is awaiting updates on Alexander Isak, who sustained a groin problem in midweek, and midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.

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Eintracht Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmoeller said that Liverpool have been “the better team in every game” of their four-match losing streak, as his side prepares to take on the Reds in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Reigning Premier League champions Liverpool are in the midst of a surprising slump, given that they bolstered their squad over the close-season to the tune of nearly £450 million ($604 million) worth of new signings.

Arne Slot’s team lost 2-1 to arch-rivals Manchester United on Sunday, coming after defeats against Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, and Chelsea. Liverpool had not lost four in a row for more than a decade.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Toppmoeller said that Sunday’s game “could have been 4-2 for Liverpool”, adding that the Reds “are not in top form, only in the sense of their results.

“When you watch the games, which of course we did, you see that they seem to lack a bit of a spark at the moment,” the 44-year-old said.

“But in every game, they’ve been the better team and have had more chances at goal.

“We’re expecting a world-class team tomorrow,” Toppmoeller said, adding that the English champions would arrive in Frankfurt highly motivated.

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“You’ve got to be aware of what it does to a team to lose four in a row.”

Liverpool’s last four-game losing streak came in November 2014 under former manager Brendan Rodgers.

One of the team’s issues is the dip in form suffered by star forward Mo Salah.

But Toppmoeller said that the Egyptian “was probably among the top three players in the world over the past decade — and still is.”

Another Red not delivering his best is Germany’s £100 million midfielder Florian Wirtz, who is returning to his home country for the first time since moving to Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer.

Toppmoeller said that Wirtz’s performances were “quite decent, even if he hasn’t got the numbers he had in Leverkusen.

“He’s at a club where the spotlight is so bright and where people across the world are always watching.

“I’m incredibly convinced of his quality. I hope he doesn’t show that tomorrow, that’s something we should worry about.”

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Liverpool have reportedly agreed a British record fee of £125 million ($169 million) to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle, with the deal set to be completed on a frantic final day of the summer transfer window.

The Sweden striker is understood to have arrived at the club’s training ground on Monday, with a protracted saga nearing an end.

With the Premier League window due to shut at 1800 GMT, there are a number of big deals yet to be done as clubs scramble to boost their squads.

Sky Sports reported that Newcastle have agreed a deal to sign Brentford forward Yoane Wissa, while Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is set for a move to Manchester City after being told he was surplus to requirements at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Manchester United, meanwhile, have been heavily linked with Aston Villa’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez as they seek a solution to their goalkeeping crisis.

But all eyes will be on the expected finalization of Isak’s move to Liverpool.

The Anfield club had a £110 million offer rejected last month, and since then, the 25-year-old has not trained with or played for Newcastle.

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He is set to become Liverpool’s eighth first-team signing of the summer window, marking the second time they have broken their own transfer record following the capture of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial fee of £100 million.

The club’s outlay now stands at an eye-watering figure of around £416 million, though there have also been significant departures, including Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Arne Slot’s side, who beat Arsenal 1-0 on Sunday to maintain their perfect Premier League record this season, are also reportedly chasing Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi.

Newcastle last week signed German international striker Nick Woltemade for a club-record fee, reportedly worth up to £69 million.

That paved the way for the potential departure of Isak, who scored 27 goals for Eddie Howe’s team in all competitions last season.

Wissa, who has already been the subject of bids from Newcastle, urged Brentford to “keep their word” and allow him to leave before the transfer deadline on Sunday.

Now it appears the DR Congo forward, who scored 19 Premier League goals last season, has his wish, giving Saudi-owned Newcastle extra firepower as they prepare for their Champions League campaign.

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Liverpool needed a 100th-minute winner from 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha to beat Newcastle 3-2, after blowing a two-goal lead against 10 men, in a Premier League thriller on Monday.

Ryan Gravenberch and long-time Newcastle target Hugo Ekitike struck for the English champions, either side of Anthony Gordon’s red card for a wild lunge on Virgil van Dijk.

But amid a frenzied atmosphere at St. James’ Park, the Magpies battled back through Bruno Guimaraes and William Osula only to be denied by teenage sensation Ngumoha, who became the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history.

“This is also what makes the Premier League special,” said Liverpool manager Arne Slot.

“Maybe it wasn’t the best game in terms of tactics or in terms of playing football, but I think every fan everywhere around the world enjoyed watching this game of football.”

Victory takes Liverpool level on maximum points from two games with Tottenham and title rivals Arsenal, who travel to Anfield on Sunday.

Newcastle remain without a win as they miss their wantaway talisman, Alexander Isak.

The Swedish striker scored the winner when the sides last met in the League Cup final in March as Newcastle lifted their first domestic trophy for 70 years.

But Isak is yet to feature for Eddie Howe’s men this season as he seeks an exit from Tyneside.

Liverpool are the likely destination if Isak does leave before the transfer window closes in a week’s time.

The Reds have reportedly had one bid of £110 million ($149 million) rejected as Newcastle want a British transfer record of £150 million.

Adding to the Magpies’ frustration is the fact that the Premier League champions also won the race to sign Ekitike, who Newcastle had lined up as a potential Isak replacement.

After failing to land a number of striker targets in the transfer market, Newcastle’s lack of a clinical number nine was exposed as they failed to break down 10-man Aston Villa in a 0-0 draw to begin their season last weekend.

And it cost them again during a dominant opening 30 minutes.

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Roared on by a ferocious capacity crowd of over 50,000, Newcastle penned Liverpool inside their own half without finding the final finish.

Instead, it was the visitors who took the lead completely against the run of play on 35 minutes.

Gravenberch took aim from well outside the area and powered an inch-perfect shot off the inside of the post.

It got even worse for Newcastle before the break as Gordon took out his frustration by charging late into Van Dijk and was dismissed after a VAR review showed his studs had raked down the Dutch defender’s Achilles.

Slot had not even taken his seat for the second half by the time his side doubled their lead 20 seconds in.

Ekitike scored two goals in as many Premier League games with a composed side-footed finish from Cody Gakpo’s pass.

Newcastle’s sense of injustice only increased when Ibrahima Konate escaped a second yellow card moments later for a push on Harvey Barnes.

But this time, the home players and crowd channelled their anger more positively.

Minutes after being booked for taking his protests too far, a fired-up Guimaraes outmuscled Milos Kerkez to head in at the back post.

Liverpool struggled to make their man advantage count for the entirety of the second half and were made to pay.

Despite his lack of forward options, Howe has been reluctant to field Osula, but the young Dane netted just his second Premier League goal when he bundled the ball beyond Alisson Becker from a Dan Burn flick-on.

Newcastle continued to charge forward in search of a memorable winner, only to be picked out by Liverpool’s attacking quality.

Mohamed Salah’s pass was brilliantly dummied by Dominik Szoboszlai to leave Ngumoha unmarked to curl calmly into the far corner just days before his 17th birthday.

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Liverpool defender Jeremie Frimpong faces several weeks out of action with a hamstring injury, Reds manager Arne Slot said Thursday.

Jeremie Frimpong suffered the setback during the Premier League champions’ 4-2 opening win over Bournemouth at Anfield last Friday.

The former Bayer Leverkusen full-back, a reported £29.5 million ($39.6 million) replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold, went off after an hour of his home league debut for Liverpool.

“The medical team were completely right about Jeremie to tell me to take him off because he is out until the end of the international break (September 10), and that happened during the game,” Slot told a pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s game against Newcastle on Monday.

“I think I got criticised for taking him off, didn’t I?,” the Dutch boss added.

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“It had nothing to do with how he played, but we felt he had an issue with his hamstring, and by we, I mean the medical staff. It was a good call to take him off; otherwise, he would have been out for longer. We expect to have him back after the international break.”

Conor Bradley, Liverpool’s other option at right-back, only returned from injury to training on Thursday.

The build-up to Monday’s Premier League match at St. James’ Park has been dominated by Liverpool’s pursuit of unsettled Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, with the Magpies reported to be demanding a British record transfer fee of £150 million ($202 million) for the 25-year-old Sweden international.

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Joao Felix said on Monday that Portugal team-mate and close friend Diogo Jota will “forever be a part of football history” following the Liverpool star’s death aged 28.

Jota was killed along with his brother Andre Silva when their Lamborghini went off the road in northern Spain on July 3.

Just 11 days prior to the accident, the Portuguese forward had married Rute Cardoso, the mother of his three children.

The Premier League remembered Jota over the weekend in a series of moving tributes.

Adding his voice to the outpouring of grief across the football world, Felix looked visibly moved as he spoke about his good friend and international colleague.

Felix, who was among the mourners at the brothers’ funeral, said: “Diogo to me was one of my best friends in the national team, he was always part of our mini group in the national team, those of us who were always together.

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“I knew his family, especially his parents, an incredible family.”

Speaking in Hong Kong, where Joao Felix is with his new team, Al Nassr, for this week’s Saudi Super Cup, the 25-year-old added: “I think he will forever be a part of football history, he will remain in the hearts of those who were already close to him.

“After that day, every time we go on the field, we will remember him and play in part for him.”

The attacker Felix joined fellow Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo at Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr late last month, moving from Chelsea in a reported deal worth up to 43.7 million pounds ($58 million).

Felix, who has also played for Benfica, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, and AC Milan, will reportedly earn $10 million per year.

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