Liverpool

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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp on Mohamed Salah's fitness: "Mo is back in full training so that brings him back into contention of course."

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Right, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has just taken his seat in the press conference room at the club's training ground in Kirkby.

We'll have his thoughts soon and any team news before their trip to Brentford tomorrow with you shortly.

Mandeep Sanghera
BBC Sport

It’s been a mixed week for Liverpool on the injury front.

The club released some video and pictures of forward Mohamed Salah taking part in training during the week but it looks like right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is facing a spell on the sidelines.

Salah has been out since picking up a “proper tear in his hamstring” playing for Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations on 18 January but we don’t know if he’s been taking part in full team training and if he’ll be available to face Brentford on Saturday.

Alexander-Arnold recently returned from a knee injury but came off at half-time in a win against Burnley last week and appears to have aggravated the issue.

We’ll find out the latest on both of them and midfielder Dominic Szoboszlai when Reds boss Jurgen Klopp chats to the media at about 11:30 GMT.

Szoboszlai missed the game against the Clarets after the recurrence of a hamstring injury.

However, while keeper Alisson and defender Joe Gomez missed the game against Burnley through illness, they should be back to face the Bees.

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England midfielder Jordan Henderson, 33, appeared in his first European game for Ajax since moving from Saudi Arabian side Al-Ettifaq.

Henderson played the full 90 minutes in Ajax's Europa Conference League play-off against Norwegian side Bodo Glimt last night which finished in a 2-2 draw.

The visitors gained a shock 2-0 lead thanks to Albert Gronbaek's double.

But Ajax got one back through Branco van den Boomen's penalty before Steven Berghuis equalised in the 97th minute.

Read more about Henderson's performance and a round-up of the rest of Thursday's Europa Conference games here.

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Manchester City are favourites for the Premier League title, we know that because of the game in hand, but they also still have to go to Liverpool and play at home to Arsenal.

It is brilliant to see the title race like this though, and I think we know from City's record that Liverpool are going to have to really push all the way if they want to win the league. But, can they win it? Can Arsenal win it? Yes.

Question marks were asked last week at West Ham for the Gunners on whether they could continue in that process and they really put that to bed very, very quickly with a wonderful display. It's a fantastic title race and it really is anybody's to win.

City are on a good run and with Liverpool losing to Arsenal, how will that affect them? It was a bit of an unconvincing performance last week against Burnley, but they got through, they got the points.

It is really tight, anyone of those can win it and that's what we want to see right until the end.

Can Liverpool and Arsenal sustain this level of performance and wins? They're going to need to if they're going to beat this Manchester City side to the trophy and that will be the key factor in the last few weeks of the season.

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• The home side has never lost a Premier League meeting between Brentford and Liverpool (W4 D1), with the Bees winning this exact fixture 3-1 last season.

• Brentford have lost four of their past six home Premier League matches, as many as they had in their previous 30 such home games combined (W15 D11 L4).
• Liverpool have won just two of their past eight away Premier League games in London (D3 L3) – indeed, both of their league defeats this season have come in the capital (vs Spurs in September and Arsenal in February).
• Since Ivan Toney’s first Premier League appearance this season on January 20th, only three players have more goals in the division than he does (3 in 4 games) Liverpool are, however, one of the four teams he has faced without scoring against in the competition (3 games, 7 shots, 1 shot on target).

There were no English or Scottish teams involved in the Europa League knockout round play-offs last night, having all gone through as group winners, but doubtless fans of West Ham, Brighton, Liverpool and Rangers will be interested last night's first leg results:

Feyenoord 1-1 Roma

Galatasaray 3-2 Sparta Prague

Shakhtar Donetsk 2-2 Marseille

Young Boys 1-3 Sporting Lisbon

Benfica 2-1 Toulouse

Lens 0-0 Freiburg

AC Milan 3-0 Rennes

Sporting Braga 2-4 Qarabag

The second legs will be played next Thursday with the draw for the last 16 held on the following day.

Mandeep Sanghera
BBC Sport

Liverpool will face Brentford in the early kick-off on Saturday as they try to stay top of the Premier League and keep the pressure on Manchester City and Arsenal in the title race.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp isn’t a fan of the 12:30 games but, unlike the four previous times they’ve played at that time this season, this one takes place after a week without a game for the Anfield side or following an international break.

Liverpool’s trip to the Bees takes place before Arsenal’s trip to Burnley at 15:00 GMT and City hosting Chelsea at 17:30 GMT.

The Merseyside club were beaten 3-1 by Brentford in this fixture last season but, with City and Arsenal just two points behind them, they know they can’t afford a similar result.

If Liverpool are to get a win at Brentford they will need to upset recent form between the two as the home side has not lost this game from their last five meetings.

We'll hear what Klopp's thoughts about the game when he speaks to the media at about 11:30 GMT today.

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Newcastle United

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Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on Dominic Solanke: "I think he can play international football for sure. I've watched a lot of him this year and he's impressed me every time I've seen him."

BBC Sport has a dedicated Newcastle page packed with news, analysis and fan views - get it here

Arsenal

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Mikel Arteta on facing Burnley boss Vincent Kompany, who he knows from his time as assistant boss at Manchester City: "We know each other really well and I have a huge admiration for him.

"He has a special aura around and is well articulated, he has great ideas and on top of that he has the courage - his work ethic is phenomenal.

"What Burnley did last season in the Championship was phenomenal and to do that you need to be exceptional and that is big credit to him.

"They went through a difficult period [earlier this season] and have been unlucky with the results they have had."

Newcastle United

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Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on Matt Targett: "He's in a very similar position to Elliot Anderson, they're working very closely together, they're due to be training very soon, hopefully within the next 10 days."

On summer transfers: "The work never stops. The work never stopped in the build up to January, it won't stop in the build up to the summer. It is a 365 day recruitment, it never sleeps. The processes are unchanged."

Newcastle United

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on midfielder Bruno Guimaraes: "I think he is world class. I think he has unbelievable qualities that we see on a daily basis. He is versatile, fundamentally he has a great attitude to life and football, he can produce moments of magic like he did against Nottingham Forest."

On the challenge of facing Bournemouth: "As you say, new manager and his methods are really strong, really visible with how they play and I think we felt that in the away game against us. Since that win, I thought they've had some really good results, cumulating really big matches. They have some direct threats. we have to play better than the first game.

"We are on a good run of form; we won last week. We are chasing that winning feeling, and however we get there we will accept it, it is something we are looking to do again this weekend."

BBC Sport has a dedicated Newcastle page packed with news, analysis and fan views - get it here

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Newcastle's results have picked up a bit recently but now there is a lot of talk about their sporting director Dan Ashworth going to Manchester United.

Bournemouth have already beaten them once this season,which was when it all kicked off afterwards as Magpies captain Kieran Trippier had an altercation with his side's fans.

I just can't back against Newcastle at home, though. Their manager Eddie Howe is also facing his old club and he cannot afford to lose to them on his own patch.

Anthony Gordon is fit for the Magpies, and he will be a threat, while Bournemouth's form has dropped off a bit this year after they ended 2023 so well.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the rest of Chris Sutton's Premier League predictions for this weekend's games here...

Newcastle United

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Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on sporting director Dan Ashworth: "As we speak now, we have had no contact with anyone [from Manchester United]. It's quite an unusual situation. Whatever happens, we want a quick resolution. I think it’s a difficult one when you are in the role you need longevity to see the fruits of your labour, the people that have done it the best, have the longevity.

"Dan has had a relatively short time here. We will see what happens, as of yet nothing has happened.

"Football always moves on quickly. I'll say that regarding the manager's position, football will continue to work in an efficient way. We would carry on very smoothly.

"I think there has to be a succession plan for everybody, players, managers, there is a strategy from the board above."