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Virgil van Dijk says Mohamed Salah's omission from Liverpool's team for a second successive match shows no player at the club has "unlimited credit".The Egypt international was an unused substitute for Sunday's win at West Ham and was on the bench for the 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland on Wednesday.It was the first time in his Anfield career that he had not started in back-to-back league matches.The forward was brought on for the second half against Sunderland but struggled to make an impact and is now goalless in five matches. Salah has scored just four Premier League goals for the struggling defending champions this season, in stark contrast to his haul of 29 last season.Liverpool captain Van Dijk was asked after the Sunderland draw whether Salah's omission had sent a message to the dressing room. "That's always been the case," he said. "It's not like you have unlimited credit, everyone has to perform. Mo has been doing that but the manager made that decision in the last two games. We all want the best for the club. I am pretty sure Mo will still be a big part of what we are trying to achieve because he is an amazing player and he has shown it consistently."Van Dijk praised playmaker Florian Wirtz, whose shot deflected in off Sunderland defender Nordi Mukiele for a late Liverpool equaliser that left them eighth in the table. The German, who joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer transfer window for £116 million ($155 million), is showing encouraging signs after a tough start to life at Anfield."There's a very good reason why a club like us bought him," said Van Dijk. "He's an outstanding, world-class player, in my eyes, who can only become even better but it will take a bit of time. For him he has to stay level-headed. Don't get dragged into the outside world of when it's very good or very bad and don't get dragged into the numbers game. Nowadays there are a lot of eyes on you if you score goals or have an assist or keep clean sheets but it is also about what you see and the contribution you have for the team."Arteta fears injury woes will hamper Arsenal title chargeMikel Arteta fears Arsenal's mounting injury problems will hamper their bid to win the Premier League title after Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera limped off in Wednesday's 2-0 win against Brentford. Arteta's side moved five points clear of second-placed Manchester City thanks to goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners extended their unbeaten run to 18 matches in all competitions with an eighth successive home victory.But Arteta, already without first-choice centre-backs Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba through injury, was dealt a blow when Spanish defender Mosquera was forced off just before half-time. Even more alarmingly, England midfielder Declan Rice appeared to be nursing a calf injury when he was substituted 10 minutes from full-time."Obviously it's never good news. Declan had to come off. We don't know. We have to see tomorrow what he's got," said Arteta, who is also without Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard due to injuries. "Declan can walk. He cannot play. The thing is, he's played a lot of minutes but as well, now we played Wednesday night and we have to play Saturday morning as well."With Arsenal having battled through a gruelling week featuring wins over Tottenham and Bayern Munich and a draw with title rivals Chelsea, Arteta had taken the opportunity to give a rest to Saka, Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze against the Bees. But all three were eventually needed off the bench, leaving Arteta to bemoan Arsenal's injury curse and question the Premier League fixture schedule ahead of a testing trip to in-form Aston Villa for Saturday's early kick-off. 

Liverpool’s miserable season hit another low on Wednesday when they slumped to a 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, their first loss in their last 14 games at Anfield in the group stage of Europe’s elite competition. Couhaib Driouech bagged a double, while Ivan Perisic – from the penalty spot – and Guus Til also scored to leave PSV 15th in the Champions League table with eight points. Liverpool, who have lost nine of their last 12 games across all competitions, dropped to 13th on nine points. The Reds got off to the worst possible start when a bizarre handball from captain Virgil van Dijk led to a PSV penalty in the sixth minute, with Perisic sending Giorgi Mamardashvili the wrong way and slotting home.The goal seemed to spark Liverpool into life and Dominik Szoboszlai tapped in a leveller in the 16th minute after keeper Matej Kovar saved Cody Gakpo’s shot but palmed the ball into the path of the Hungarian. Til restored PSV’s lead in the 56th minute with a perfectly timed run on to Mauro Junior’s through ball and just ahead of Milos Kerkez to poke it into the net past Mamardashvili. Substitute Driouech gave PSV a two-goal cushion in the 73rd after Ricardo Pepi launched a shot off the post and Driouech stroked in the rebound. Driouech completed his double in injury time when he easily tapped home a cross from Sergino Dest. “We went one-nil down but until halftime I thought we played a very good game,” Liverpool manager Arne Slot told TNT Sports. “At halftime, I don’t think anyone expected us to lose this game 4-1.” Liverpool had been hoping the European match could provide relief from their miserable domestic campaign as they had won three of their first four Champions League games to put themselves in position for a top-eight finish and a berth in the knockout rounds. They had 26 attempts to nine for the visitors on Wednesday, including a Van Dijk header that hit the underside of the crossbar. Gakpo also missed a sitter from the back post and Hugo Ekitike was denied by a fine save from Kovar. But the Reds looked nothing like the team who roared to the Premier League title last season and countless disgruntled fans left before the final whistle sounded on another loss, with Liverpool having already lost more games at Anfield this season than they did during the entire 2024-2025 campaign. “The only way is to go through it. We have to face where we are and fight really hard,” a despondent Slot said. “It would help if we don’t always get the same blow of conceding (an early) goal, because it’s not just the goal, it’s also the feeling. “After 45 minutes, I think everyone felt we should be ahead. And then instead, five minutes after halftime, we concede again,” he added. Results In Limassol: Pafos (CYP) 2 Monaco (FRA) 2 In Copenhagen: FC Copenhagen (DEN) 3 Kairat Almaty (KAZ) 2 In London: Arsenal (ENG) 3 Bayern Munich (GER) 1 In Madrid: Atletico Madrid (ESP) 2 Inter Milan (ITA) 1 In Frankfurt: Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) 0 Atalanta (ITA) 3 In Liverpool: Liverpool (ENG) 1 PSV Eindhoven (NED) 4 In Piraeus, Greece: Olympiacos (GRE) 3 Real Madrid (ESP) 4 In Paris: Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) 5 Tottenham (ENG) 3 In Lisbon: Sporting Lisbon (POR) 3 Club Brugge (BEL) 0 

Former Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp says it is "theoretically possible" he could return to the Anfield hot seat one day, but he is convinced current boss Arne Slot will guide the club through the rough patch they are going through.Klopp left Liverpool at the end of the 2023-24 season after leading the Merseyside club to almost every major honour during his nine-year spell, including Champions League and Premier League triumphs. The 58-year-old German was succeeded by Slot, who became the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League."I said I will never coach a different team in England so that means if (I go back), then it's Liverpool. So yeah, theoretically it's possible," Klopp said. However, he said he is content in his current role as head of global soccer for Red Bull."I love what I do now. I don't miss coaching. I do coach but it's just different, it's not players," Klopp said. "I don't miss standing in the rain for two-and-a-half or three hours. I also don't miss going to press conferences three times a week ... I don't miss being in the dressing room... I'm 58. From your perspective that might be old, but from other perspectives, it's not that old. That means I could make a decision in a few years. I don't know."Liverpool have suffered four consecutive defeats for the first time since November 2014 following Sunday's 2-1 home loss to Manchester United but Klopp was confident Slot will turn things around with players like Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike at his disposal. "Wirtz, you all will eat your words if you use the wrong words. He's an incredible talent," he added. "Ekitike, incredible player. Just the offensive players ... it's a really, really good squad. So you don't have to worry about Liverpool, they will be fine."Liverpool 'better team' despite losing streak, says Frankfurt coachEintracht 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 Wednesday.Reigning Premier League champions Liverpool are in the midst of surprising slump given that they bolstered their squad over the close-season to the tune of nearly £450mn ($604mn) 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, 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. "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."

Liverpool slumped to a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time in 11 years as Manchester United won 2-1 Sunday to end their near decade-long wait for victory at Anfield.Harry Maguire’s 84th minute header secured back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time in Ruben Amorim’s tenure as United boss. Twelve minutes from time, Cody Gakpo had cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo’s opener after just 61 seconds.Defeat leaves Liverpool four points adrift of Arsenal at the top of the table and Arne Slot still searching for answers in how to get the right blend after splashing out nearly £450 million ($604 million) on new players in the transfer market.United close to within two points of their historic rivals and up to ninth in the table to ease the pressure on Amorim after his biggest win in nearly a year in charge.Liverpool had only lost one of the previous 14 Premier League meetings between the sides and United had not tasted victory at Anfield since the early days of Jurgen Klopp’s reign in January 2016.However, the Reds are in a state of flux after transforming the squad that stormed to the title last season and the tragic loss of Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident in July. After three consecutive defeats for the first time in Slot’s reign, Liverpool could barely have imagined a worse start.Mbeumo sped past Virgil van Dijk with ease before firing past Giorgi Mamardashvili from Amad Diallo’s pass after barely a minute.The home side and support were furious that play was not stopped in the build-up after Alexis MacAllister went down with a head injury, inflicted by his own captain Van Dijk.Slot left £100mn signing Florian Wirtz on the bench for the second consecutive game as he looked in vain to find the right balance between defence and attack.Gakpo should have levelled for the defending champions when he hit the post from Mohamed Salah’s through ball in Liverpool’s one flowing move of the first half.However, it was United who should have been further in front by half-time.Bruno Fernandes spurned a glorious chance to double the Red Devils’ lead when he hit the outside of the post when unmarked from the edge of the area.At the other end, Senne Lammens was rarely troubled in the first 45 minutes, but produced a big save when called upon to deny Alexander Isak his first Premier League goal since joining Liverpool for a British transfer record £125mn. A Gakpo deflected cross then came back off the post and the Dutchman rattled the woodwork for a third time early in the second half.Slot turned to his near £200 million in forward options off the bench as Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike were introduced on the hour mark to join Salah, Gakpo and Isak in a five-man attack.Salah has scored more goals than any other player in this fixture, but his lack of form showed in a wild finish to slice wide with just Lammens to beat at the back post. Liverpool’s wealth of attacking talent finally broke the door down when Federico Chiesa, who had replaced Isak moments earlier, drilled in a low cross that Gakpo converted from point blank range.Yet, their defensive frailties meant parity only lasted six minutes as Maguire was left unmarked to head in Fernandes’s looping cross. Gakpo should still have rescued a point when he headed wide with the goal gaping from Jeremie Frimpong’s inviting delivery.Rogers and Buendia inspire Aston VillaMorgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendia inspired Aston Villa’s fightback to win 2-1 against Tottenham Sunday as the north Londoners suffered more misery on home turf. Rodrigo Bentancur put Thomas Frank’s side ahead early in the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.But Rogers equalised with a superb strike before the interval and Buendia came off the bench to seal the points in the closing stages.Tottenham’s woeful home form in the Premier League – 11 defeats and just three wins in 18 league games – has proved a major issue for Frank since he replaced the sacked Ange Postecoglou in the close-season.While the majority of those home losses came under Postecoglou last term, Frank’s short tenure has produced mixed results at the club’s 62,000-seat stadium, with boos audible after a defeat to Bournemouth in August and a 1-1 draw with lowly Wolves last month.The end of Tottenham’s seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions left them in sixth place after the second defeat in Frank’s eight league games.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot said “results don’t lie” after a three-game losing streak as he called for defensive improvements ahead of Manchester United’s visit to Anfield Sunday.The Premier League champions won their opening seven games of the season in all competitions, but poor performances were masked by a series of late goals. Liverpool suffered defeats to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray in the Champions League and Chelsea before the international break, leaving them to fall one point behind title rivals Arsenal.After romping to the title last season, Liverpool splashed out nearly £450mn ($604mn) on new signings, paying club-record fees for Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, neither of whom have yet scored a Premier League goal.At the other end of the pitch, Slot’s men have conceded two or more goals in four of their seven Premier League games. “We’ve played 10, won seven and lost three. The three loses were by close margins,” Slot said at his pre-match press conference. “But as I keep saying, we should not be dependent on such margins. Results don’t lie – if you lose three in a row then you have to do better. We are aware of that and we have to react.”Mohamed Salah’s sensational form propelled Liverpool to the title last season, but the 33-year-old Egyptian has so far struggled to adjust to the changes made to the side during the transfer window. Slot pinpointed a lack of game-changing moments from his star-studded forward line and problems at set-pieces.“We haven’t created as many chances as last season and there’s a reason for that – the playing style of the opponent, and we have to find answers to that,” he said. “The first answer is not to concede as many goals as we did. If a team scores one or two goals then we need three goals. In the first half of last season we mainly got these goals from a special moment from one of our front three. The second half (of the season) we needed set pieces against a low block. This season we haven’t had those special moments and we haven’t scored from set pieces. It’s clear that conceding four goals from set pieces is far too much for a team that wants to compete.”Goalkeeper Alisson Becker remains out with a hamstring injury, but there was better injury news for Liverpool as Ryan Gravenberch is fit to face United despite coming off injured for the Netherlands during the international break.Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said the support of co-owner Jim Ratcliffe will mean little if he fails to turn around the club’s fortunes. In an interview last week, British billionaire Ratcliffe said Amorim has to “demonstrate he is a great coach over three years”.Amorim is approaching a year in the Old Trafford hotseat and is yet to win back-to-back Premier League games. Doing so away to Liverpool at Anfield tomorrow would be a major step in the right direction and the Portuguese knows he will be under intense pressure until results improve.“You know, I know and Jim knows that football is not like that,” Amorim said at his pre-match press conference, referring to Ratcliffe’s timescale. “The most important thing is the next game.”United ended the season 15th in the Premier League last term – their lowest finish for 51 years – and squandered a chance to qualify for the Champions League when they lost the Europa League final to Tottenham. They have fared little better this season, sitting 10th in the Premier League after losing three of their first seven league games and crashing to a shock League Cup defeat at fourth-tier Grimsby.Yet Amorim has so far retained the support of Ratcliffe, CEO Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox. “First of all, I can feel it. It’s not just that thing that people talk, I feel it every day. Sometimes the pressure that I put on the team, on myself, is so much bigger than them,” said Amorim. “I know that it’s going to take a while but I don’t want to think like that. I said that last year. I think it also helps our fans to understand that the leadership understands that it’s going to take a while. But, at the same moment, I don’t like that because it will give a feeling that we have time to work things out. I don’t want that feeling here in our club. It’s good to feel the support but we need to prove in football, and especially in big clubs, that in every weekend we are ready to win games.”A 2-0 victory over Sunderland before the international break eased the scrutiny on Amorim’s position.

Mohamed Salah wants to put a disappointing start to his season with Liverpool behind him Wednesday and help Egypt beat Djibouti and qualify for the 2026 World Cup.A win for the record seven-time African champions over one of the lowest ranked teams in the continent will give them an unassailable lead over second-placed Burkina Faso in Group A with one match to spare.A two-time African Footballer of the Year, Salah has lost his spark with the Premier League champions, scoring just three goals in nine appearances in all competitions this season. Last season, the 33-year-old netted 29 times in 38 league matches to win the Golden Boot award as Liverpool surged to a record-equalling 20th Premier League title.Salah has fond memories of playing against Djibouti, scoring four goals in a 6-0 Cairo romp in the opening round of World Cup qualifying two years ago.It does not help Djibouti that they do not have a FIFA-approved stadium, so their ‘home’ match against Egypt will be staged in the Moroccan commercial capital Casablanca.Three subsequent goals took Salah to seven in the qualifying campaign, one less than chart-topper Denis Bouanga of Gabon with two rounds remaining.Fellow Egypt forward Mostafa Mohamed, who plays for French Ligue 1 outfit Nantes, is not concerned about Salah, telling reporters the lack of goals is “a temporary setback”.“Mo is a big star, and we are lucky to have him in our team. He is the best player in the history of Egypt,” he told the FIFA website.“He is amazing. For me, he has a great personality. I love him a lot. He is a wonderful player,” added Mohamed, who also scored against Djibouti.Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has an embarrassment of attacking riches, Apart from Salah and Mohamed, he can call on Omar Marmoush, Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan and Ahmed ‘Zizo’ Sayed.Given Djibouti have lost seven of eight qualifiers and lie 158 places below Egypt in the FIFA rankings, it would be a shock if they prevent the Pharaohs sealing a fourth World Cup appearance.Algeria set to qualifyAlgeria and Cape Verde are the other two countries who can clinch places at the World Cup with matchday nine victories, and join already-qualified Morocco and Tunisia in North and Central America next year.Senegal, reigning African champions Ivory Coast and Ghana could also take unassailable leads, but they must win and hope other group results favour them.Group C, where Benin lead South Africa on goal difference and Nigeria and Rwanda are three points behind, is the one section where a qualifier cannot emerge before the final round, starting on Sunday.Like Egypt, Algeria can qualify if they secure maximum points against a much lower ranked opponent. The Desert Foxes have the added advantage of playing an ‘away’ Group G match against Somalia at home.Security concerns prevent Somalia staging matches in Mogadishu, and a 163-place rankings gap behind Algeria demonstrates the difficult challenge facing the Ocean Stars in Oran on Thursday.Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic has called up for the first time Luca Zidane, a 27-year-old goalkeeper with Spanish second-tier club Granada and son of French great Zinedine Zidane.Luca, who qualifies for Algeria because his paternal grandparents were born there, has switched international allegiance after representing France at youth levels.Algeria are seeking a fifth appearance at the global showpiece, while Cape Verde are hoping to qualify for the first time. They face Libya in Tripoli on Wednesday.A former Portuguese colony, Cape Verde is a group of islands off the west coast with about 550,000 inhabitants.Qualification would make them the African country with the smallest population to do so.Even if the Cape Verdeans fail in Libya, they will get a second chance on Monday to collect three points needed to finish above Cameroon when they host bottom team Eswatini in Group D.Ghana will win Group I Wednesday if they beat the Central African Republic and Madagascar do not collect maximum points against the Comoros.Senegal can qualify from Group B if they win in South Sudan on Friday and the Democratic Republic of Congo fail to win in Togo.Ivory Coast, who last featured at a World Cup in 2014, would return if they win away to the Seychelles and Gabon lose to the Gambia.Failure to win a group does not spell the end of the road, though. The four best-ranked runners-up enter African play-offs in November from which the winners go to intercontinental play-offs in March.

Brazilian wonderkid Estevao’s first Chelsea goal inflicted a third consecutive defeat on Liverpool Saturday, allowing Arsenal to go top of the Premier League after beating West Ham 2-0.After winning their opening seven games of the season in all competitions, Liverpool have suffered a nightmare week to leave Arne Slot plenty to ponder over the international break.Injury-hit Chelsea were well worthy of a dramatic 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge to end their three-game winless run in the Premier League.One-time Liverpool target Moises Caicedo blasted the Blues into a half-time lead with a blistering strike into the top corner on 14 minutes.Alexander Isak’s £125mn ($168mn) move to Liverpool last month broke Caicedo’s record as the most expensive Premier League player of all-time.The Swedish striker is still yet to score a league goal but his deft touch teed up Cody Gakpo to equalise just after the hour mark.However, Chelsea were not to be denied as Estevao slid in at the far post to meet Marc Cucurella’s cross deep into stoppage time, sparking wild celebrations from manager Enzo Maresca who was shown a red card for sprinting down the touchline.Liverpool now trail Arsenal by one point, while Chelsea edge up to sixth.Arsenal lose Odegaard In Mikel Arteta’s 300th match in charge, Arsenal proved far too strong for the struggling Hammers to further their ambitions of a first Premier League title for 22 years.Victory came at a cost for Arsenal as captain Martin Odegaard was forced off injured before half-time for the third time this season.However, the strength in depth now on offer to Arteta has made light of Arsenal’s injury troubles.“We dominated and fully deserved to win this,” said Arteta. “To go top of the table after some big fixtures over the last week and some injuries... we were able to respond.”Declan Rice, who left West Ham for £105 million in 2023, ended the visitors’ resistence by blasting high into the net on the rebound after Alphonse Areola parried Eberechi Eze’s drive.Bukayo Saka made the points safe midway through the second half from the penalty spot on his 200th Arsenal appearance after Jurrien Timber was brought down by El Hadji Malick Diouf.Breathing spacefor Amorim Manchester United handed Ruben Amorim some relief with a 2-0 win over Sunderland Saturday.The Portuguese had taken just 34 points from his previous 33 Premier League games in charge, but enjoyed a rare convincing win to give him some breathing space over the international break.“We were a competitive and adult team today,” said Amorim. “We need to do this kind of performance away as well - it’s our responsibility to play like this,” he added.Before kick-off Old Trafford fell silent to honour the victims of a terror attack on a Manchester synagogue this week.Amorim’s bold calls with his team selection paid off as goalkeeper Senne Lammens kept a clean sheet on his debut, while Mason Mount justified his place over Matheus Cunha with the opening goal.Mount eased the home fans’ tension with a fine finish from Bryan Mbeumo’s cross on eight minutes. Benjamin Sesko doubled the Red Devils’ advantage with a predatory finish from a long throw-in for his first Old Trafford goal since a £74mn move from RB Leipzig.Nearly a twistThere was nearly a twist at the end of the half as Sunderland were initially awarded a penalty, only for VAR to intervene due to insufficent contact by Sesko on Trai Hume.Tottenham showed their newfound defensive resolve under Thomas Frank to end Leeds’ year-long unbeaten league run at Elland Road with a 2-1 victory.Mohammed Kudus’ first goal for Spurs secured all three points after Noah Okafor cancelled out Mathys Tel’s opener for the visitors.“That feeling to get over the line, to get three points, was big,” said Frank after his side moved up to third.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot blasted Hugo Ekitike for a stupid sending-off after tapping home a winner against Southampton in the League Cup on Tuesday and then removing his shirt in celebration. The Frenchman, who replaced record signing Alexander Isak at half-time, had been booked already for kicking the ball away in frustration and the second yellow five minutes from time left Liverpool defending a 2-1 third-round lead with 10 men.Liverpool captain Andy Robertson told said it was a stupid thing to do when on a yellow card and Slot doubled down afterwards. “I think it’s also stupid if you haven’t had a yellow card yet,” he said.“Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned, maybe a bit old school, but I did score a few goals – not at this level – as well and if I maybe outplay three players, which I never did, and then hit it in the top corner, then maybe you can say ‘oh, this is all about me.’“But if I had to score a goal like he did tonight, I would have turned around and walked up to Federico Chiesa and would say ‘It’s all about you, Federico. Great assist, great run and I didn’t have to do a lot’. It was stupid, not smart in every sense... he’s now suspended for Saturday and that is far from ideal.”Ekitike later apologised on Instagram: “The emotion got the better of me tonight,” he said. “My apologies to all the Red family...”League leaders Liverpool, with a 100% record so far this season, have a tricky away trip to unbeaten Crystal Palace next in the league. Slot fielded a completely changed starting lineup on Tuesday from the side that played Everton on Saturday, with Isak starting and scoring his first goal for the club.“It wasn’t our best performance, which probably has a lot to do with players that haven’t played for a long time or for the first time,” he said. The manager said Isak would get increasing game time, with Liverpool trying to build him up faster than usual, but did not expect him to be fully up to speed until after the next international break.Club World Cup champions Chelsea suffered an early scare at third tier Lincoln City but came back from a goal down at half-time to win 2-1 with teenager Tyrique George equalising in the 48th and providing the assist for Facundo Buonanotte’s 50th-minute winner.League One (third tier) Cardiff City provided the upset of the eight games on the programme by beating top flight Burnley 2-1 at Turf Moor. Premier League bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers won their top flight clash 2-0 against Everton, who had James Garner hit the bar with a second-half free kick and Jack Grealish coming off the bench.Paraguayan midfielder Diego Gomez scored four, including a 24-minute first-half hat-trick, as Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion thumped third tier Barnsley 6-0 at Oakwell to reach the fourth round for the fifth time in six seasons. Second tier Wrexham gave their Hollywood owners another home night to savour by beating Reading 2-0, with Nathan Broadhead scoring both – his first for the Welsh side who go through to the fourth round for the first time since 1977.Premier League Fulham beat fourth tier visitors Cambridge United 1-0 at Craven Cottage with Emile Smith Rowe scoring the 66th-minute winner. Championship side Swansea City and fourth tier giantkillers Grimsby Town are already through to the fourth round along with Premier League Brentford and Crystal Palace.

The Premier League’s record transfer summer has had an acute impact on Germany, where even Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have felt the impact of English football’s growing financial muscle.Other than Liverpool signing Alexander Isak from rivals Newcastle, the top four most expensive Premier League arrivals this summer Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Nick Woltemade and Benjamin Sesko all came from the Bundesliga.A total of 380mn euros (£300mn, $446mn) plus bonuses was paid out on that quartet alone, with the two most expensive moving to the same club: Liverpool.Premier League clubs spent more than three billion euros this summer, a record for a transfer window. The shifting sands have led to debate about whether to pursue major structural reforms in Germany, like abolishing the fan-loved 50+1 rule, which restricts outside investment and ensures member control.Others, however, suggest that clubs could take advantage of the Premier League’s wealth, potentially uprooting Germany’s well-established footballing hierarchy.Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn, the club’s former goalkeeper, slammed German football administrators on Monday, saying that clubs and the league were content to play second fiddle.Kahn called for changes in structure and in attitude.“For many, this is normal now. For me, it’s a signal. The league is playing too safe and has forgotten how to take risks,” Kahn wrote on his personal LinkedIn account.“(The question is) whether we want to remain a league that creates talent and loses it – or whether we want to create the conditions for talents to stay here.”Kahn did not directly call for the abolition of the 50+1 rule, but said that structural restraints meant “bold decisions don’t emerge”.Under the 50+1 rule, German clubs must be majority owned by club members mostly fans thus restricting external investment. The only two clubs which have an exception to that rule, Bayer-owned Leverkusen and Volkswagen-owned Wolfsburg, have won league titles in the past 20 years. Double winners in 2023-24, Leverkusen lost eight members of that team this summer, with five moving to the Premier League.Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes told DAZN this season: “when a domino falls in England, it will fall here. As a club you have almost no choice but to let the player go.”As Europe’s largest nation and a traditional football powerhouse, some view the rivers of Premier League gold as an opportunity.This summer, Borussia Dortmund, Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Stuttgart each sold at least one player to the Premier League for a fee of more than 50mn euros.Rolfes said the “key factor in offsetting the Premier League’s economic advantage” was the “professionalisation of youth academy programmes”.The wealth available has the potential to change a German club’s fortunes.In 2024, Porsche paid 100mn euros to take a minority stake in Stuttgart, providing the side with financial security. Stuttgart qualified for the Champions League in 2024, the first time in 15 years, and won the German Cup a season later. In August, Stuttgart received 85mn euros for Woltemade, who arrived on a free a season earlier.One of Europe’s biggest clubs, even Bayern have not escaped the ripple effects. Despite courting Wirtz and Woltemade, both players moved to the Premier League.Earlier this season, Bayern sporting director Max Eberl said “certain things weren’t possible during the transfer window because we want to be very financially prudent.”Asked at a press conference on Friday to assess the appeal of the Premier League this transfer window, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany gave a one-word answer: “money”.In Germany, Bayern’s woes are unlikely to win them too much sympathy. The growing financial might of the Premier League presents a real challenge to Bayern’s status as the league’s apex predators. Winners of 34 German titles no other side has hit double figures Bayern have built their success on the back of plucking their rivals’ best, particularly in recent seasons.This summer shows competition from the Premier League is making that more difficult.

Alexander Isak was on the brink of a British-record £125mn ($169mn) move to Liverpool from Newcastle Monday on a frantic final day of the Premier League transfer window.The Sweden striker is understood to have arrived at Liverpool’s training ground Monday as a protracted saga neared its end.With the Premier League window due to shut at 1800 GMT, there were a number of big deals yet to be done as clubs scramble to strengthen.Sky Sports reported that Newcastle had agreed a deal to sign Brentford forward Yoane Wissa, while Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was set for a move to Manchester City after being told he was surplus to requirements at Paris Saint-Germain.Struggling Manchester United were understood to have agreed a deal to sign Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp for an initial 21mn euros (£18mn, $24.6mn) as they seek to address their goalkeeping problems. But most eyes will be on the expected finalising of Isak’s move to Liverpool.The 25-year-old has made clear his desire to leave Newcastle even though he has three years remaining on his contract. The Anfield club had a £110mn offer for the forward rejected last month and since then he has not trained with or played for Newcastle.Isak is set to become Liverpool’s eighth first-team signing of the summer window, and his purchase marks the second time that they have broken their own transfer record following the capture of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial fee of £100mn.Arne Slot’s side, who beat Arsenal 1-0 on Sunday to maintain their perfect Premier League record this season, are also reported to have agreed a £35mn deal to sign Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi.Once the Isak and Guehi deals are completed, Liverpool’s summer spending will reach an eye-watering figure of around £450mn, although there have also been significant departures including Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Trent Alexander-Arnold.Newcastle last week signed German international striker Nick Woltemade for a club-record fee reported to be worth up to £69mn.That paved the way for the potential departure of Isak, who scored 27 goals for Eddie Howe’s team in all competitions last season. The Magpies will have further strengthened their attack with the arrival of Wissa, who on Sunday urged Brentford to “keep their word” and allow him to leave.Now it appears that 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.Donnarumma, who won the Champions League with PSG in May, is poised for a move to City, with the Premier League club understood to have agreed a fee of around 35 million euros.Ederson, City’s long-serving Brazilian goalkeeper, is understood to be on the radar of Turkish side Fenerbahce. Man United have endured poor starts to the season from goalkeepers Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir.The club had been linked with Argentina stopper Emiliano Martinez, who was not included in Aston Villa’s matchday squad for their 3-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday.But the 20-time Premier League champions appear to have opted for the potential of Lammens over the experience of the World Cup-winning Martinez.United are also understood to have agreed to sell Brazil winger Antony to Real Betis. Villa were reported to have agreed a loan deal for United winger Jadon Sancho and have also signed former Old Trafford defender Victor Lindelof on a free transfer. Sancho has flopped since making a £73mn move to United from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 and spent last season at Chelsea on loan.Villa are also expected to tie up a loan deal for Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott. Chelsea signed Brighton winger Facundo Buonanotte on a season-long loan.The 20-year-old spent last season on loan at Leicester, scoring five goals in 31 Premier League appearances.Tottenham have reportedly agreed a season-long loan deal to sign PSG striker Randal Kolo Muani.