Liverpool manager Arne Slot insists that defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is “fully committed to us” amid speculation over his future.
The England right-back is out of contract in the summer and BBC sources have said that Real Madrid have made an approach – but no offer – about signing him in January, which the Reds rebuffed.
Spanish media have also reported that Real are willing to buy the 26-year-old this month, but Slot is confident he will not be distracted and confirmed that Alexander-Arnold will remain in Liverpool’s starting line-up against Manchester United this weekend.
“I can tell you that he’s playing on Sunday and hopefully he’ll bring the same performances as he’s brought in the last half year,” said Slot.
“I think everybody saw how great a first half of the season he had, how much he is here, how much he wants to win here.
“I see him on the training ground, working every day. He is fully committed to us and he will play on Sunday.”
There has also been speculation over the future of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk as they too are into the final six months of their contracts at Anfield.
Slot added: “If it would destabilise players at Liverpool if other people talk about them, then we would really have a problem.
“If you play at one of the biggest clubs in the world, everybody always talks about you, sometimes in relation to other clubs. That happens so many times for our players.
“There were some talks about our players also in the last six months and I don’t think that destabilised them at all.”
Liverpool thrashed West Ham United 5-0 at the London Stadium to stretch their Premier League lead to eight points with Mohamed Salah once again in irrepressible form.
Salah scored one goal to take his tally for the season to 20 and assisted for two others as Liverpool outclassed their hosts.
Liverpool had to wait 30 minutes for their opener but once Luis Diaz gave them the lead they were unstoppable. Salah set up Cody Gakpo for his side’s second and then made the result a formality with a close-range shot to make it 3-0 at halftime.
At a weightlifting competition in Taipei for seniors aged 70 and above, 90-year-old Cheng Chen Chin Mei confidently waves to a cheering crowd before deadlifting 77 pounds.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deflected shot extended Liverpool’s lead and Salah then produced a silky run and pass to feed Diogo Jota to round off a great day for Arne Slot’s side.
Liverpool have 45 points from 18 games with surprise package Nottingham Forest behind them on 37 having played a game more.
Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points with a dominant but chaotic 6-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur thanks to doubles from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.
Diaz met Trent Alexander-Arnold’s beautiful cross with a diving header to open the scoring before Alexis Mac Allister nodded home from close range to double Liverpool’s lead.
James Maddison pulled one back four minutes before half-time after Mac Allister was dispossessed in midfield by Dejan Kulusevski to give the hosts a route back into the contest.
But Dominik Szoboszlai scored in first half added time to restore the Reds’ two-goal lead and give Spurs a mountain to climb.
Salah netted twice in seven second-half minutes, passing Liverpool great Billy Liddell on the club’s all-time scoring list with his 14th and 15th league goals of the season, to make it 5-1 and send some Spurs fans heading to the exits.
“I’m happy and proud, I’ll just keep working hard,” said Liverpool’s now fourth most prolific scorer.
Dejan Kulusevski’s volley was followed by Dominic Solanke’s 83rd-minute goal to give Spurs hope of an unlikely comeback, before Diaz made it 6-3 two minutes later and finish a madcap contest that could have had even more goals.
“We were quite good up front but defensively we need to improve as a team,” added Salah to Sky TV. “It’s quite good the result, and hopefully we just keep going.”
Liverpool are top with 39 points from 16 games, four points above second-placed Chelsea who have played a game more. Spurs remain 11th, with 23 points from 17 games.
The Reds constantly threatened in attack and Salah ought to have put them ahead inside three minutes when Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who made two costly errors in midweek, passed straight to him in the box, but Salah dragged his shot wide.
Salah then hit the bar after beating three defenders with some silky footwork, but the visitors deservedly took the lead in the 23rd minute with Diaz heading home at full stretch.
A second looked an inevitability and it came in the 36th minute after Andy Robertson’s cross to Szoboszlai bounced kindly for Mac Allister, who nodded past the onrushing Forster.
Mac Allister was at fault for Spurs’ first goal, however, which came out of nowhere and ought to have given Spurs a platform to drag themselves back into it.
But Szoboszlai made it 3-1, running onto Salah’s through ball and nutmegging Forster at the end of a sweeping move
The Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park has been postponed because of adverse weather during Storm Darragh.
An amber weather warning for strong winds was issued for Merseyside on Saturday morning amid the threat of disruptive conditions.
Everton said the game was called off on safety grounds after a meeting between both clubs and representatives from Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council.
“Whilst we appreciate this will be deeply disappointing for supporters, the safety of fans, staff and players is of paramount importance,” an Everton statement read.
The match was due to kick off at 12:30 GMT and be the final league derby between the two teams at Goodison before Everton move into a new stadium in 2025.
Liverpool are seven points clear of Chelsea and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, with both those teams set to play on Sunday – at Tottenham and Fulham respectively.
Sean Dyche’s Everton are 15th in the top flight, five points clear of the relegation places.
Storm Darragh has already caused disruption to numerous sporting events this weekend.
Two Championship fixtures – Cardiff v Watford and Plymouth v Oxford – have been postponed, as has the League One game between Bristol Rovers and Bolton Wanderers.
Race meetings at Chepstow and Aintree have also been abandoned.
Millions of people in parts of Wales and south-west England have been told to stay at home to avoid danger during Storm Darragh.
Forecasters have warned of winds of up to 90mph in some parts, while the Met Office issued its highest-level red warning to cover areas of western and southern Wales.
Tens of thousands of homes are without power in south Wales and western England.
Liverpool overawed arch-rivals Manchester City in a 2-0 win with goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah to take a commanding nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League and extend their opponents’ slump to seven games without a win.
The result was City’s first four-game losing streak in the Premier League since 2008 and pushed Pep Guardiola’s struggling side down to an unfamiliar fifth in the table, 11 points behind their greatest rivals of recent years.
Buoyed by a midweek Champions League win over Real Madrid, Liverpool came out flying and could have wrapped the game up by halftime with a hatful of chances including two thundering Virgil van Dijk headers, one of which hit the woodwork.
The first goal came in the 12th minute after a sumptuous long pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold to Salah on the right wing. His low ball eluded Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega for Gakpo to nudge in at the back post.
Salah scored Liverpool’s second with a 78th -minute penalty, after fellow striker Luis Diaz was brought down by Ortega in the box, sending the Anfield crowd into delirium.
“The fans were behind us from the first minute, and I’m glad we managed to win the game … I’m enjoying every minute here,” said Salah, acknowledging, however, that it could be his last game at home to City amid speculation over his contract renewal. “It’s very special and I don’t take it for granted. It’s always special to score at Anfield and win games.
The result was manager Arne Slot’s 18th win in 20 games in a wonderful start at Liverpool where he has managed to add defensive steel and calm control to the furious attacking style of predecessor Juergen Klopp.
Slot’s team are top of the Champions League after a flawless start in that competition and have now taken an intimidating lead in the Premier League on 34 points after 13 games, nine points above both Arsenal and Chelsea.
Dominant from the off on Sunday, Liverpool had 18 shots including seven on target throughout the game, compared to City’s eight with only two on target.
It was the first time in Guardiola’s illustrious coaching career that he has lost four successive league games.
Liverpool fans delighted in taunting him with the chant: “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” which the Spaniard took in good spirit, raising six fingers for the number of Premier League titles he has won.
The stumbling champions meet the scintillating challengers in Sunday’s Premier League headline act, as Liverpool and Manchester City engage in a battle of the behemoths at Anfield.
Victory for Arne Slot’s side would see them increase their already unassailable lead over the Citizens in the top-flight table to 11 points, potentially extinguishing the visitors’ hopes of a fabulous five-peat with just a third of the season gone.
Warming up for the visit of the English champions by conquering the European champions, Liverpool ended their Real Madrid hoodoo in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, where the collector’s item of a missed Mohamed Salah penalty proved inconsequential.
Alexis Mac Allister’s slick finish, Cody Gakpo’s well-placed header and Caoimhin Kelleher’s sensational stop from Kylian Mbappe’s own unsuccessful spot kick prolonged Liverpool’s 100% start to the 2024-25 competition, meaning that Slot’s crop remains on top of the country and the continent.
A routine beating of the 15-time European champions succeeded a gargantuan effort in last weekend’s top-vs.-bottom battle at Southampton, who threatened to hand Slot his first away defeat as Liverpool boss before South Coast saviour Salah arrived with a pivotal second-half brace.
Safe in the knowledge that they will retain an insurmountable lead at the summit no matter what transpires on Sunday, Liverpool host the champions on a six-game winning run across all competitions, scoring multiple goals in all of those successes and keeping clean sheets in their last three Anfield affairs versus Real Madrid, Aston Villa and Bayer Leverkusen.
Already joining Carlo Ancelotti and Guus Hiddink in the exclusive club of Premier League managers to win 10 of their first 12 games, Slot now endeavours to continue a positive Liverpool trend; none of the Reds’ last six bosses has lost their first Premier League match against the reigning champions of England.
As Slot masterminded a triumph over the Champions League holders with his current club, the Dutchman’ former employers Feyenoord were ostensibly resigned to a heavy beating at the hands of a rejuvenated Man City, who had three goals to their name by the 53rd minute.
However, the unpredicted plight of Guardiola’s men arguably hit its lowest ebb yet, as they became the first team ever in the Champions League to blow a three-goal lead in the final 15 minutes, where Slovakian defender David Hancko completed a monstrous comeback for the Rotterdam giants.
Entering the press conference room with a cut on nose and visible scratches on his head, Guardiola – who quickly had to clarify comments he made about wishing to harm himself – oversaw a sixth straight game without victory for the crumbling champions, who have not triumphed in any tournament since late October.
Last weekend’s embarrassing 4-0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur means that the Citizens are at risk of being expelled from the top four entirely this weekend – Arsenal, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion are all just one point worse off at the time of writing – and each of City’s last four matches on the road has ended in defeat.
If there is any shred of comfort for the Sky Blues faithful, it is their side’s outstanding attacking record on rival turf; Guardiola’s men have scored in 26 consecutive matches away from home, last being shut out on the road by Aston Villa nearly exactly 12 months ago.
Man City have also strung together a four-match unbeaten sequence versus Liverpool since last going down at Anfield in October 2022, with both meetings in Jurgen Klopp’s farewell campaign ending 1-1. However, Guardiola’s 27% win rate (6/22) against the Reds is his worst percentage versus any team he has taken on at least five times as a manager – yet another bad omen for a crestfallen Citizens contingent.
Madrid, who are 18th in the 36-team Champions League table, travel to Anfield on Wednesday to face table-topping Liverpool.
The club released a statement on Monday to confirm the player had suffered “an injury to the biceps femoris in his left leg”.
According Spanish newspaper Marca, external, the Brazil international could be sidelined for around three weeks but Madrid are not commenting on the severity of the injury.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah says he is “disappointed” by the club’s failure to offer him a new contract – and looks more likely to leave than stay.
The 32-year-old, Liverpool’s top scorer this season with 12 goals in all competitions, is out of contract at the end of the season.
Salah scored twice in the 3-2 win against Southampton on Sunday, including the winner from the penalty spot, to take Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Egypt forward, who joined the Reds from Roma in 2017, told reporters, external after the win at St Mary’s: “We are almost in December and I haven’t received any offers yet to stay in the club.
Asked if he was ‘disappointed’ that he is yet to receive an offer to extend his deal, Salah said: “Of course, yeah.
“I’m not going to retire soon so I’m just playing, focusing on the season and I’m trying to win the Premier League and hopefully the Champions League as well. I’m disappointed but we will see.”
Liverpool boss Arne Slot is not surprised by his team’s fine start to the season, saying he was well aware of the strength of the side he was inheriting when he arrived at Anfield as Juergen Klopp’s successor.
Slot’s team, who have won 14 of 16 games across all competitions since he took charge, look to remain top of the Premier League table when they host Aston Villa today. Liverpool have a two-point lead over holders Manchester City.
They also top the Champions League table as the only team with four wins in four games.
“I don’t think surprise is the right word to use because I knew the quality of our team,” Slot told reporters. “But quality is one thing and consistency is another. I am not surprised because I saw the energy my players put in on a daily basis.
“Sometimes a bit of luck comes with that as well. Most of our results were deserved but some have been a close call,” he added. “(Also) when I started working with them I saw how much effort they put in to get these results.”
Slot does not expect forward Diogo Jota, who has not played since Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Oct. 20 due to injury, to return until after the international break, but would not divulge any details about his injury, saying: “There is privacy about this.
