Newcastle United

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on Lewis Hall and whether he is one of the best left-backs in the country at the moment: "I think he has played very well this season. He has been very consistent and has been a real shining light for us in terms of being the same Lewis home or away. For someone so young, that is not easy to do. I think his technical delivery this year has been outstanding - in all phases. I think his final ball can improve but it was great to see him with two assists at the weekend. Defensively he has been pretty good but again there are areas he can improve and develop but he is certainly moving in the right direction. For someone so young, how he has handled himself, the maturity he has shown on and off the pitch has been really high level."

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Newcastle United

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on whether he will pick his strongest possible team tomorrow: "Every game is a cup final. When you're managing Newcastle, you can't afford to lose any game and certainly any team I pick is with that view - it's always with the view that I think this team can win and I will certainly try and do that tomorrow."

Wolves

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Wolves forward Matheus Cunha has been charged with misconduct following Saturday's Premier League match against Ipswich.

Cunha allegedly acted in an improper manner after the final whistle and will have until Thursday to provide a response.

We will bring you more on Mykhailo Mudryk once we get it. You can read more on the story here.

Chelsea

Mykhailo Mudryk was included in the matchday squad for Chelsea's win against Aston Villa on 1 December but did not feature.

Head coach Enzo Maresca had said publicly that Mudryk's absence was down to illness.

The 23-year-old last played for Ukraine on 19 November against Albania.

Chelsea

Mykhailo Mudryk confirmed on his Instagram, external account that a banned substance had been found in a urine sample he provided the authorities and said that it had come as a "complete shock":

"I can confirm that I have been notified that a sample I provided to The FA contained a banned substance.

"This has come as a complete shock as I have never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules, and am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened.

"I know that I have not done anything wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the pitch soon. I cannot say any more now due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will as soon as I can."

Chelsea

Mykhailo Mudryk has made 15 appearances for Chelsea this season and last played in a 2-0 win at German side Heidenheim in the Conference League on 28 November.

He played the full 90 minutes of that game, scoring Chelsea's second goal - his third of the season - in the 86th minute.

Enzo Maresca's side have since played five more times - four games in the Premier League and one more in the Conference League.

Chelsea

Chelsea's statement says that their Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk "never knowingly used any banned substances" and that he and the club are "working with the authorities to establish the cause of the adverse finding".

Here is the statement in full:

"Chelsea Football Club can confirm that the Football Association recently contacted our player Mykhailo Mudryk concerning an adverse finding in a routine urine test.

"Both the club and Mykhailo fully support The FA's testing programme and all our players, including Mykhailo, are regularly tested.

"Mykhailo has confirmed categorically that he has never knowingly used any banned substances.

"Both Mykhailo and the club will now work with the relevant authorities to establish what has caused the adverse finding.

"The club will not be commenting any further."

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Chelsea

Chelsea have just released a statement confirming that the Football Association recently contacted winger Mykhailo Mudryk concerning "an adverse finding" in a routine urine test.

More to follow.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

Vitor Pereira is due to travel to Wolverhampton today to complete a deal to make him Wolves' new head coach.

The Premier League strugglers are paying around 1m euros to bring the Al-Shabab boss to the Midlands.

The 56-year-old, a former Porto manager, is expected to sign an 18-month deal as long as there are no late problems but negotiations have gone smoothly and he could be confirmed at Molineux as early as tonight.

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Newcastle United

Newcastle have an EFL Cup quarter-final tie and three Premier League matches to juggle before the close of 2024.

2025 then starts with a tough trip to Tottenham.

• Brentford (h) - EFL Cup
• Ipswich Town (a)
• Aston Villa (h)
• Man United (a)
• Tottenham (a)
• Bromley (h) - FA Cup

Newcastle United

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on how important it is to gain some consistency: "It has been a frustration for all of us and we don't want to take two steps back. We would love to see Leicester as a turning point in our season. The feeling was really good against Leicester - the dynamic and the relationships of the team looked really good. It was a really good attacking performance and we looked a top team. We want to see that same team in evidence again and commit to what is an important competition. The importance of this game is not lost on any of us."

Newcastle United

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on how much they take from the 4-2 defeat by Brentford at the beginning of December: "It's an interesting game to look back on for various things. Brentford went to Chelsea and played a different system but they don't deviate too far from their principles. Ultimately when you look back at the game we weren't where we needed to be in the defensive aspect of our game mainly which was a strange one for us on the back of the Liverpool performance. It was good to see us back to our defensive best against Leicester, I think that will be the big thing for us because we back ourselves to score goals."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot confirmed that Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher would return to the team for the EFL Cup tie against Southampton in place of first-choice Alisson.

He added: "[Being a number two goalkeeper] I agree with you is one of the most difficult jobs in football, if the first goalkeeper is always available, because you work for the whole season and you hardly ever have the chance to play.

"Unfortunately for us, but good for him, he has already got quite a lot of minutes. There will be players who have had far less playing time than him.

"I think he can look back at the first half of the season for himself as a positive.

"We as a club hope that all players are available in the second half of the season, so he will not get the amount of minutes as he did in the first half, but we are really fortunate to have such a great second goalkeeper that if we need him he is able to do as well as he did."

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Christian, Liverpool: As a Red, the news about Jota is concerning. He is lethal when he is on the pitch but he is so fragile around injury. Imagine the numbers he could get if we could get a full season out of him.

Newcastle United

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on how it makes him feel that it has been so long since the club has won a trophy: "I think the willingness has been there from previous teams but we want to be the team that can get over the line and achieve something special. As you go through the competition, these rounds are very challenging and nothing will be taken for granted from our side. We know if we can hit the correct level of performance like against Leicester then I think we're a match for anyone in the division."

Newcastle United

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on the importance of bringing a major trophy to the club for the first time in 69 years: "It's what we're here for. I made it very clear when I came to Newcastle that it's what I wanted to achieve. I speak on behalf of the players and coaching staff in that respect. When you get to this part of the competition it's important to recognise that that's our goal and what we're trying to do. These games take huge importance when you get towards the latter stages."

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The EFL Cup poses a huge opportunity for Newcastle to win a major trophy - something the club have not done since the 1954-55 season when they won the FA Cup.

They have been runners-up on three occasions in the FA Cup since that last triumph (73-74, 97-98 & 98-99) but have failed to go all the way.

The Magpies are yet to lift the EFL Cup in their history but have twice been runners-up, first in 1975-76 and again in the recent 2022-23 defeat by Manchester United.

Liverpool

More from Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Italy forward Federico Chiesa getting minutes if he trains well: "It is definitely a moment where he can get minutes. The amount of minutes is the question mark. You cannot expect from him to play 90, I think, especially not at this level, where the intensity is so high because he has been out for five or six months now. If he has a good training session he will get minutes.

"If he starts, or comes in and maybe plays the second half, that is something we will have to make a decision about."

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Newcastle United

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe on Sven Botman returning for the Under-21s last night: "I don't know how he is this morning, it's quite early, but he was good last night. He seemed in a really good place and it's always a big step, playing your first game. He looked good on the pitch, his movement was good. It was typical Sven. He's a massive player for us and we've missed him but he's still got a little bit to go before he's available for selection."

On when he can be expected to return to the first-team squad: "We were looking right to the end of December to the beginning of January, that's the plan and we're still on track with the plan. With the length of the time he's been out, ideally he will need two or three more games to get his rhythm back because it's a big step up to the Premier League."

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