Liverpool have got 'two quality players for many positions'published at 23:39 30 October
23:39 30 October
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Liverpool boss Arne Slot, speaking to the media after win over Brighton in League Cup: "Cody [Gakpo] has been, in my opinion, a good player for Liverpool for a long time now.
"He continues to bring that and that's a good thing. For me, he is a regular starter. He's not started every game but he's started on a regular basis and he's in tough competition with Luis Diaz who, when he went to the left [wing], also scored a goal.
"That's normal if you play at a club like Liverpool, you've got two quality players for many positions. But, for me, Cody has been a regular starter this season.
"I really liked what I saw from players that haven't played that much this season yet.
"They were able to play a similar style that we usually do and they brought quality into the game. That makes it even harder for me to make line-ups in the upcoming weeks."
Carabao Cup quarter-final draw - who is your team facing?published at 22:46 30 October
22:46 30 October
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The draw has been made for the Carabao Cup quarter finals, with eight Premier League clubs having made it through.
For the first time in 14 years it is an all Premier League quarter-final line-up, with ties including Tottenham hosting Manchester United and holders Liverpooltravelling to Southampton.
Matches are scheduled to take place the week commencing 17 December.
Brighton 2-3 Liverpool: Gakpo's League Cup lovepublished at 21:47 30 October
21:47 30 October
Gary Rose BBC Sport journalist
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There are certain things that seem to go well together - fish and chips, the cinema and popcorn, and Cody Gakpo and the League Cup.
His double against Brighton on Wednesday means he has scored four goals this season, with all four coming in the Carabao Cup.
It follows on from last season, when he went on an impressive run of scoring in four successive games in the competition to help the Reds reach the final, where they beat Chelsea.
It is good to be important to the team, but Gakpo won't want to be known as a League Cup specialist, and he will now want to carry this form into Europe and the Premier League.
Gakpo's first against Brighton was a stunner as he cut inside before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the back of the net.
His second came after a mistake in the Brighton defence, but he still finished clinically.
Brighton 2-3 Liverpool - send us your thoughtspublished at 21:25 30 October
'Navigating big game sequences has become second nature'published at 16:34 30 October
16:34 30 October
Ian Kennedy BBC Radio Merseyside reporter
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A change of scenery for Liverpool tonight although the opposition will become very familiar over the next few days. The cup trip to Brighton is quickly followed by a league game at Anfield on Saturday against the same opposition. It’ll be interesting to see if Arne Slot makes numerous changes again as he did in the last round against West Ham.
It’s a chance to give a few players a run out – players like Endo, Quansah, Gomez, Tsimikas, Bradley and Gakpo all started against the Hammers, with Liverpool scoring five times. Slot will also be aware of injuries too – with Diogo Jota now added to a list that includes Alisson Becker, Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott, so it’s a case of managing the squad carefully with Saturday’s league game followed by a Champions League tie against Bayer Leverkusen.
But Sunday’s draw at Arsenal, having been behind twice, again underlines there’s a resilience about Liverpool at the moment, and navigating these big game sequences seems to have become second nature over the last few years.
Is Liverpool's form title worthy?published at 16:12 30 October
16:12 30 October
After Pat Nevin suggested teams "do not win leagues" playing the way Liverpool have so far this season, we asked if you agreed or disagreed with the former Scotland international.
Here are some of your comments:
Danny: I agree with Pat, and I thought Liverpool not going for the jugular as Arsenal became weaker throughout the game, particularly Endo coming on to sure up a draw, was telling. This isn't the mindset of a title-chasing team of elite winners.
Daz: Absolutely ridiculous from Pat. You only have to look at Mourinho's Chelsea who were far more pragmatic than Slot's Liverpool and won the league. This is a tough run of fixtures so some results will need to be ground out.
Matt: We've tried heavy metal football and while it brought some amazing success, like the Champions League and the Premier League, it also resulted in many player injuries which cost us having further success. This tactical approach was not sustainable with the size and calibre of squad we have, so I'm all for a more measured pragmatic approach from Slot.
Ben: Pat has a point, but I'm not sure this is the Manchester City of the past few seasons. Without Rodri they have shown cracks, so it may mean there is hope for Liverpool. And hopefully Slot's new tactics will reduce our injuries, too.
'How did Chiesa end up at Liverpool?' And is Robertson 'the weak link?'published at 15:06 30 October
15:06 30 October
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We asked for your views on one thing nobody is talking about at Liverpool but should be.
Here are some of your comments:
David: I'm a massive admirer of Andy Robertson and all that he has done for the Reds. However, he seems a weak link now. As soon as I saw Bukayo Saka was fit and starting for Arsenal, it was obvious what would happen. Opponents will target this area.
Ian: How did Chiesa end up at Liverpool? I don't understand why FSG sanctioned the purchase of a player with a history of injuries? He has played 78 minutes so far. The money should have gone towards renewing the contracts of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
Yusuf: Harvey Elliott has been missed in that central attacking midfield spot so much. Szoboszlai has not been on form so far this season and misses the easiest of opportunities or makes it harder, most notably against Manchester United. Elliott's technical ability and his shooting from outside the area could be the difference for our goalscoring, which has slightly dropped off.
Paul: This is a Jurgen Klopp team. I fully expected a good start to the season. If Jurgen was still there we would push for the league. Fair play to Arne, he has done well, but his test will come in a couple of years when the team needs rebuilding.
Henrik: Gravenberch has been excellent, but he has been playing 90 minutes in almost every game. Can we find midfield formations without him to rotate?
'A trophy well worth winning'published at 15:06 30 October
15:06 30 October
Mike Hughes BBC Radio Merseyside reporter
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A double-header against a team as talented as Brighton brings with it at any time, a serious set of challenges. When the fixtures fall together in the middle of a ridiculously busy schedule for Liverpool the difficulties become even more amplified.
Arne Slot’s mightily impressive record since being appointed manager at Anfield is being enhanced on an almost game by game basis. Even though they failed to maintain the winning momentum at the Emirates on Sunday, a point at Arsenal is always eminently acceptable. The result meant that they allowed Manchester City to take over at the top of the Premier League table. In terms of kudos, it’s always great to be at the top of the pile, but in reality it means so much more to be in that position in April and May.
If Arne Slot deserves praise for what he’s done since becoming Liverpool manager, then Fabian Hurzeler should also be lauded for how smoothly he’s fitted in as manager at Brighton. At the age of just 31 maybe we shouldn’t be surprised at just how brave and bold he is with his footballing approach. Nevertheless, the Premier League appears to hold few fears for him. Brighton currently occupy sixth place in the table, indicative of a more than decent start to the campaign.
Both managers will shuffle their footballing packs for tonight’s Carabao Cup tie at The Amex, though Arne Slot possibly not as much as he’d like to have done, given his shortage of fit and available forwards. The fashion for squad rotation in the EFL Cup in its many guises down the years would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious. For those clubs involved in European football it is much more understandable, for those who aren’t it’s much less so.
Ensuring Premier League survival is uppermost in the thoughts of lots of top flight managers, but the supporters of every club in the country would relish the prospect of winning silverware at Wembley stadium. Yet a swift glance at the honours board for this competition since 2014 shows just four clubs with their names on it!
It really is a trophy that’s well worth winning.
Whatever the starting line-ups for tonight’s 'winner takes all showdown' it promises to be an encounter that’s well worth watching (or listening to).
Stadium move Q&A: Seat availability and sitting in the 'home end'published at 12:02 30 October
12:02 30 October
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Scott McLeod, Everton's director of communications and engagement, and Mike Gittins, head of data science and insight, have spoken to BBC Radio Merseyside about the process for season ticket holders at Goodison Park to secure their seats at the club's new stadium next season.
Q: There will be people who sit in the Gwladys Street or wherever, wanting that "home stand" feel - but is it important to remember that it's a much bigger capacity, and even if you're not in that first section of fans that can get their season tickets, you've still got a good chance of getting in that home end?
Gittins: Based on our forecasts, the last season ticket holder to pick their seat at the new stadium will have 12,000-15,000 seats available for them to pick from. That home end is significantly bigger than the Gwladys Street at the moment. So we're really confident that once season ticket holders get their opportunity to purchase, they will have a full range of options to pick from.
Stadium move Q&A: Purchasing seats in groupspublished at 11:56 30 October
11:56 30 October
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Scott McLeod, Everton's director of communications and engagement, and Mike Gittins, head of data science and insight, have spoken to BBC Radio Merseyside about the process for season ticket holders at Goodison Park to secure their seats at the club's new stadium next season.
Q: If you're in a group, what does that mean? You might have had your ticket for 15 years but somebody who you go with might have had it a bit less. What happens then?
McLeod: In order to protect the tenure and manage it in a fair way, if you've had a season ticket for 15 years, you've got a friend who has had one for 10 years and another friend who has had one for five years, in order to sit together, you need to wait until the friend with the lowest tenure is eligible to buy.
You will still have thousands of seats to choose from. But for those groups, we will manage that in a way that allows the person with the lowest tenure to be the key individual in that group purchase.
Over the past two years, the insight team have conducted a number of surveys which tens of thousands of Evertonians have taken part in, that have helped shape and inform the way we have modelled this process, with the number one priority being fairness and ensuring everybody who is making the move to the new stadium is managed in a fair and balanced way.
'Everton will survive ugly'published at 09:50 30 October
09:50 30 October
Pat Nevin Former footballer and presenter
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Life is like a box of chocolates as Forrest Gump was once to say and there were plenty of sweetmeats to enjoy at the weekend in the Premier League. There were late goals and last-minute dramas aplenty.
West Ham, Bournemouth and Brentford all secured extra points after the 90 minutes had come and gone, so the supporters of the above who hung around could enjoy a feast.
The game I was at felt like famine until Beto equalised for Everton in the 94th minute. Mayhem erupted as Everton stole a scarcely deserved point from Fulham, but the previous hour and a half left a very bad taste.
The Everton fans pack the place out, they hope for the best, but now expect very little. I can never remember that grand old ground being quite so quiet. When it seemed to be trundling towards a dull 1-0 defeat, there wasn't even enough passion to be righteously angry.
The tactics were from many decades ago and they wouldn't even have been considered sophisticated for that time. They did work in the end which underlined that there are no right or wrong ways to play football, only ways that work for you.
Everton will survive ugly, but in the long term it will not be enough to satisfy true Blues who have known much better. They are already looking forward to next season with new owners, new stadium and completely new outlook, but hopefully not in a new lower league.
'You can stay competitive playing like this, but you do not win leagues'published at 09:50 30 October
09:50 30 October
Pat Nevin Former footballer and presenter
Image source, Getty Images
Footballers complain of there being too many games and too much travelling and they have a point. I am already seeing tired players and numerous elite athletes going down with cramp, unable to last 90 minutes... and we are only nine league games into the season.
I will not join in the complaints though, even if I have travelled to four games in eight days around the continent. After travelling to Leipzig to watch Liverpool scrape a 1-0 win, again being decent rather than brilliant, I made my way to London for the big one between Arne Slot's men and Arsenal. Though I stopped off first at home in Scotland, then Liverpool for the Everton v Fulham game.
The game at Emirates Stadium was billed as the acid test after an initially kind set of early season fixtures. Far from being imperious again, Slot's team found a way not to lose. This was about as far away as you can get from the old heavy metal football of early Jurgen Klopp, they did not look like a side that could produce that sort of constant energy.
Just one loss so far tells a positive story. They are a solid, organised group that sparkles now and again, which could be enough for the top four. They do need Mohamed Salah to have yet another great goalscoring season and although he got the all-important equaliser, the Egyptian genius was quiet.
You can stay competitive playing like this, but you do not win leagues. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are the real reason for their success, shipping the fewest goals in the league so far by a distance.
Slot and the fans know there needs to be improvement from middle to front if they are going to challenge Manchester City, but finishing in the top four seems well within their grasp.
'We really have to keep Van Dijk' - Westerveldpublished at 08:01 30 October
08:01 30 October
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Virgil van Dijk remains "so important" for Liverpool and the club "really have to keep him" beyond the end of the season, former Reds goalkeeper Sander Westerveld has said.
The Netherlands centre-back, 33, is out of contract at the end of the campaign, as are team-mates Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
"He's a leader, he organises, he's still the best one in the air, he's quick - he's 30-something but they still can't beat him," said Westerveld, who played for the Reds between 1999 and 2001.
"He's got everything a good defender needs and he's still playing like he's 26. He's so important.
"We talk about the players that run out of contract and I think this one is a massive one - we really have to keep him."
Westerveld added: "I think this is the only place he should play football, he can still win trophies here and he doesn't need to leave.
"It's always difficult when you leave, you have to adapt to where you're going. I think he's just focusing on his game now, that's why he's playing so well, and I think in January he'll almost definitely sign a new contract."
'We look a bit more defensively sure'published at 08:00 30 October
08:00 30 October
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Defender James Tarkowski has said Everton are a "work in progress" but he is pleased with the positive strides made by the team in recent weeks.
Saturday's 1-1 draw against Fulham was a fifth Premier League game without defeat for the Toffees, who had started the season with four consecutive losses.
"We're a work in progress, like every team," said the former Burnley centre-back. "We're slowly getting to where we want to be but it takes time. We're not going to perform to our best every week. Ideally we want to win every game but that's five unbeaten now.
"We look a bit more defensively sure, I know Fulham had a few chances [on Saturday] but I don't feel we're as open as we did early in the season. We're working towards getting to a level where we can pick up results consistently and we're sort of getting there now."
Tarkowski conceded that Everton were not at their best against Fulham but Sean Dyche's side secured a point thanks to Beto's late equaliser.
He added: "In my time here, in previous years that would have been a defeat - especially my first season when every time we went down, we never seemed to get back into games.
"It's a sign of the progress we've made but there is a lot more work to be done."
Image source, Getty Images
