Liverpool

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has denied that the left-back position has become "a dilemma for him" as he continues to rotate between Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas.

Since Robertson's arrival in 2017 he has made 310 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool as a stalwart in defence. But it has been a challenging start to the season for the Scotland international, who returned from Euro 2024 injured and has faced criticism for his performances against Chelsea and Arsenal.

In those games, the 30-year-old looked off his normal pace and was up against the in-form Noni Madueke and Bukayo Saka. When Robertson has not played, Tsimikas has occupied the left-back role and has impressed Slot and fans.

"I wouldn’t say it is a dilemma," said Slot on rotating the two players. "There are other positions where we have rotated.

"It probably also has to do with Robbo's [Robertson's] pre-season. He had no pre-season because he came back injured from the Euros so he missed almost the whole pre-season. For most of them it was only two weeks but for him it was only a few days.

"Kostas did really well in that period of time so it has to do with the quality Kostas has in that position but it also has to do with Robbo missing pre-season. That's why we started rotating from the start a bit. If a player has missed pre-season he can't play three games in a row. That's the situation.

"It was good for Robbo to play against Arsenal and against Brighton in midweek. That is making sure he is getting into that rhythm of playing twice a week."

Slot's comments hint that for the first time in recent seasons Robertson may not be an automatic starter in this campaign, but having the option of both players is a boost when Liverpool are in multiple competitions.

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Brighton (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Federico Chiesa will not return from injury until after the November international break along with Diogo Jota and Alisson.

• Giving an update on those players: "Always difficult to tell you when they will be exactly ready. They won’t be there before [the break] so we will see if they can be there after it."

• He said "it's not that strange" to play Brighton twice in a matter of days but the Carabao Cup game can't be read into too much because "both teams didn’t start with the team they will start with on Saturday".

• On scoring three goals in the cup despite rotating the squad: "It was good to see that players who haven’t played that much have an impact on our team as well. We will need them this season so it’s good to see they are already on the level we need them to be."

• He said Jarell Quansah "was unlucky" against Brighton and he was still impressed with the centre-back's overall performance. "Jarrell played a very good game," added Slot. "The only issue for him is if it's a moment that isn't perfect it immediately leads to a goal."

• In response to whether he has a dilemma at left-back between Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas: "I wouldn’t say dilemma. It has to do with Robbo's pre-season as he came back injured from the Euros and he missed almost the complete pre-season. Kostas did really well in that period. That's why we started rotating."

• He said cup competitions "are really important" to him and that is why he rotated the squad as he believed the fresher players "had a better chance of winning" the tie.

• On the FA Cup, which starts in January: "People have already told me that it is a very important cup to win."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Guess the former Everton player from their Premier League statistics at the club:

• Years at club: 2005-2013

• National team: England

• Position: Defender

• Appearances: 242

• Goals: 4

Answer will be revealed at 17:00 GMT

Manchester United could rival Liverpool for Wolves' 23-year-old Algeria wing-back Rayan Ait-Nouri. (GiveMeSport), external

Liverpool have identified 20-year-old Bournemouth and Hungary defender Milos Kerkez as a candidate in their search for a new left-back. (TeamTalk), external

Want more transfer news? Read Friday's full gossip column

Andy Bayes
BBC Radio Lancashire sports editor

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After a highly successful spell in Scotland last season and spending pre-season with Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers' relationship with the Reds - in terms of loans - is paying off again with Owen Beck.

Rovers have borrowed Harvey Elliott, Billy Koumetio, Leighton Clarkson and Tyler Morton in recent seasons. Sepp van den Berg would have been another, but for the deal being called off at the last minute.

Beck has made the left-back position his own after an impressive debut at Burnley. The only disappointment has come in the form of a late sending-off at Preston, which saw him sit out three games.

He has been all action, shown excellent one-on-one defending and is equally impressive going forward. He has taken on set-piece responsibilities too.

It is fair to say that Rovers fans have already taken him to their hearts.

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Everton’s Ashley Young has three assists in his last five Premier League appearances, as many as he had in his previous 124 matches combined.

Image source, Getty Images

With six goals and five assists, Mohamed Salah has been involved in 65% of Liverpool’s Premier League goals this season (11/17), the highest ratio of any player in the competition so far this term.

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Liverpool have pledged to continue cracking down on ticket touts and claim to have issued 75 lifetime bans around the issue last season.

The club says it shut down close to 100,000 fake ticketing accounts, while issuing 136 indefinite suspensions in the 2023-24 campaign.

"A further 5,670 accounts are currently under review by the club for suspicious activity, including supplying persons who have recently been charged by Merseyside Police for fraud related to ticket touting," the club said.

"A total of 1,500 tickets were cancelled across the 2023-24 season, either part of mass cancelations or from account holders who had already received sanctions, and the tickets were made available for resale.

"The vast majority of lifetime bans and indefinite suspensions were handed down for unauthorised selling of season tickets, memberships or hospitality tickets, in breach of terms and conditions. This reflects the club's zero tolerance approach to all forms of ticketing touting.

"This season the club has continued to increase its investment in anti-touting measures, including developing greater online protection, delivering more boots-on-the-ground operations and dedicating more internal resources to take action."

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Everton boss Sean Dyche has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Southampton (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Dyche is hopeful Dwight McNeil will be available for the trip to St Mary's and Abdoulaye Doucoure, who has had a "small issue", should also be fit.

• James Garner will be sidelined for weeks with his back injury and has stopped training on the grass in line with medical advice. Dyche added: "It is likely to be beyond a month, I’m pretty sure, but we will see."

• Striker Beto, who scored against Fulham, has trained well on Thursday and is continuing to work hard as he comes back from injury.

• On Beto's confidence after scoring: "It is bound to bring a real feel good factor. He’s had his question marks but he continues to learn."

• Dyche said Everton have "got to perform better than in the last game" [Fulham] if they are to get a result against Southampton.

• Armando Broja is still working with the sports science team but could return to light training next week.

• On whether it is Nathan Patterson's time to get a chance: "It is time when he is ready to appear in the first team. No-one is holding anyone back here. If you are fit enough and good enough you will play."

• He said his side are learning to "grind and play our way out of things" to get points from games. Dyche added: "The work myself, the players and staff have put in is beginning to show."

Follow all of Thursday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

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Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo, speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside about his two goals in the Reds' Carabao Cup win at Brighton on Wednesday: "I'm feeling good. It's always nice to score goals like this, so I'm feeling very good and hopefully we can continue our good form this weekend against Brighton.

"Things are going well but it's only October, so there is still long left of the season. There are still a lot of games to play. At the moment we are playing great, but we have to stay calm, stay focused and keep working hard and we have to be in the same position as we are now at the end of the season."

On playing under Arne Slot: "It's been good, I think everybody feels good from what I can see and from what I feel in the team.

"We kept the same intensity of play like we did in the last two seasons and few years with Jurgen [Klopp] and we add on a little bit more possession as well. It’s not totally different, but it’s a little bit different and it suits us, it suits the players and everyone is feeling well."

On facing Brighton again this weekend in the Premier League: "There might be some changes on both sides, so we have to prepare. They had a very strong team today and they will probably have a very strong team at the weekend as well, so we have to prepare for their qualities and we have to show the qualities we have again."

Asked whether his performance has increased his chances of starting on Saturday, he said: "Everybody is speaking about us [Gakpo and Luis Diaz] on the left side. Me and Lucho, we are competing. I think we are both doing very well and it's up to the manager to decide who to pick.

"Lucho did well in the games he started. We push each other to become even better and I think in the end it's going to benefit us both as individuals and the team because both of us are doing well."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds

The bottom six teams in the Premier League all play one another on Saturday and with the way the season has gone so far, those fixtures are going to be big.

Winning these games and earning three points could at the end of the season be called the six-pointers.

When I played for Reading and we were fighting down the bottom of the league, these are the fixtures that we looked for because they are must-win games.

I am not sure Crystal Palace would have targeted these at the start of the season because they would have expected to have been higher in the league, but the newly promoted teams will have.

Wolves probably need the win the most because they wouldn't have expected to be second from bottom after nine games and they need to start picking up results.

It is a little bit more difficult for the promoted teams because they are still trying to adapt to the Premier League.

I don't think these results will necessarily define any team's season - as it so early on - but winning helps to break the rut and sometimes it becomes difficult for teams to know how to win when they aren't.

For all of these teams something has to adapt at some stage. You have to find a way to win a game, even if it is scruffy, and especially against those teams that are in and around you.

Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Katie Stafford

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We asked for your thoughts after Wednesday's League Cup game between Brighton and Liverpool.

Here are some of your comments:

Brighton fans

John: Brighton played some decent stuff against a brilliant Liverpool side who counter attack at such place they are very hard to deal with. There are still players trying to bed in at Brighton and Gruda looks very good, but Wieffer is still off the pace and Moder needs a new club.

Cliff: Simple mistakes seem to be the story of our game just lately and giving away possession at crucial moments in dangerous areas. We need to concentrate in these rare moments.

Steve: Once again a Brighton manager put out a weak team. No wonder we have never got to the quarter-finals because clearly the league always come first.

Joe: Feels like a missed opportunity by the manager putting out the starting XI he did. Questionable first round of defensive substitutions when already two goals down. The less said about Wieffer the better.

Liverpool fans

Clifford: The changes made in the Liverpool back four were too much and it upset the balance. It could have been a different result.

Ken: Great win against a very dangerous team that never gives up. We gave the ball away too much and at times looked careless. Our determination to win and the fantastic skills of Gakpo and Diaz were the difference. Why didn't Brighton have Mitoma and Welbeck on as starters though? Exciting match which was a joy to watch.

Keith: Impressed with us for the majority of the game in what was on paper an extremely tough tie. Arne Slot goes from strength to strength but his managerial mettle will be tested by the task of making Quansah the finished article as he remains error prone. Decent draw for quarters too.

Glen: Second half we were in control but we kept letting Brighton back in with silly mistakes. Our back-up players need to be more clinical in their approach.