Bournemouth

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola on how difficult it is to choose which goalkeeper to start: "It is difficult for me, not only the goalkeepers but every position. Every week I have difficult decisions to make and I try to pick a team I think is best to start the game. Sometimes it is not the best team because I also have to think of the end of the game, but natural decisions I will have to make."

And on how last week's win over Manchester City could influence future performances: "I would say it is a different week but probably in the end it is just three more points for us, an important three points, but it is true there is more noise around. The players are getting more recognition, people are talking more about them, but we have to focus."

Bournemouth

Bournemouth managerAndoni Iraola has spoken to the media before his side play Brentford and was first asked about Dango Ouattara, who has picked up an injury: "He is not ready but it is not something big, it is very similar to Kepa's injury. I expect him to be ready for the next game against Brighton."

On Luis Sinisterra's injury: "He is disappointed because he has tried this week, but he is not feeling well. He will probably need more time. Also I think he was in a good moment before the last international break and we put him in for 30 minutes against Arsenal. It is difficult [to balance game time]. We wanted to use him and maybe it was too soon. He knows the process, he will have to be more patient."

Some bad news now for Galatasaray as the Turkish club has confirmed that Mauro Icardi ruptured his ACL during Thursday's Europa League win over Tottenham.

The Argentina striker, who was stretchered off during the match, is scheduled for surgery and will be out for the season.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, BBC Sport

It was such a lethargic performance by Aston Villa against Club Brugge on Wednesday. I was expecting far more from them.

Villa will need much more intensity if they are going to compete at Anfield, but the form Arne Slot's side are in means I cannot see past a home win for this one.

There is a lot of speculation about Mohamed Salah’s future at Liverpool, but what isn’t in doubt is his quality and he showed it again with his finish against Brighton last week.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Once again this week I find myself wrestling with the Mohamed Salah or Erling Haaland question.

Last week, I stuck with Haaland to my cost but he still had good chances to score in Manchester City’s defeat at Bournemouth and I’m sure he will do again against a Brighton team who never park the bus against anyone.

Salah looks razor-sharp and is clearly playing for the more in-form team at the moment - Liverpool didn’t have to travel in Europe this week and host an Aston Villa side that have looked a little jaded recently.

If I go for Salah then I would also captain him but if I don’t I would be tempted to give the armband to one of my Tottenham players, Brennan Johnson or Dominic Solanke, for their home game against Ipswich.

Statman Dave told us in this week’s podcast that Son Heung-min would be his top Tottenham pick for the captaincy but there is a risk of an early substitution, as we saw against Aston Villa last Sunday.

Chris Sutton has the tempting differential option of going for Bruno Fernandes for Manchester United’s home game against Leicester. Fernandes is owned by less than 8% of the managers in the game.

Rasmus Hojlund is under 2% ownership if you want a differential striker with fixtures against Ipswich and Everton to follow, although those will be under the new manager Ruben Amorim - so we're yet to see how he will set up the team.

Our listeners' manager has gone for a Tottenham captain this week in James Maddison and has made one transfer in defence - Wolves full-back Rayan Ait-Nouri coming in for Micky van de Ven.

Get all your FPL tips and see the team of the week here

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool

And finally from Arne Slot, here's the Liverpool boss on the challenge posed by Aston Villa: "[Manager] Unai Emery has played in a similar style for years now. It is almost always the same formation but sometimes depends on the players.

"His idea about football has been the same always. If you ask me now if I expect Unai to change a lot, I would not expect that. In terms of personnel, he may change a bit, but it's always been a 4-4-2 that he's been playing for many years now."

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on rotating between Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas at left-back: "My line-ups tell you what I think about this. We have two very good left-backs and we play many, many games. Both of them need their games.

"It also has to do with the qualities of the players. Kostas has started a few times. Let's see who starts on Saturday."

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Luis Diaz's improved conversion rate this season: "He has better numbers than last season. I have no clue why that is. The team provides a lot of chances for these players and if Diogo [Jota] is playing he scores, if Darwin [Nunez] plays he scores, if Cody [Gakpo] plays he scores.

"That tells me the team is providing chances for these quality players. If they are in promising situations they can score a goal.

"It's difficult to compare Lucho [Diaz] to last season, I can only say what I see this season."

Image source, Reuters

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on the ongoing contract situations of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah:

"It would be strange if I had no input but I am a head coach now, no longer a manager.

"In general, contract situations are talked about by the people they should be talked about by. I am one of them but I should not talk about this in public. I do talk about this with Richard [Hughes] and that's the place we have to talk about it - not in front of a microphone."

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Diogo Jota's return: "We expect him back in the first weeks after the international break."

On his injury: "There is privacy about this. He will be back one or two games after the international break."

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Curtis Jones following his England call-up: "With Curtis he became a fighter and I had nothing to do with that. Since the moment he became a father [last month] he started putting great performances in. He already did in the first few weeks of pre-season and I thought he was a quality player.

"His performances dropped a bit but from the moment he became a father he has been outstanding again. It might have a bit to do with that but I think it is more to do with how the team plays. As a result of that, individual performances are good as well."

On Jones' qualities: "He has a lot of qualities on the ball, when he has it he's never afraid to do something special. Sometimes he is a bit too over-confident but confidence is important. He also has an incredibly high work-rate and we can trust him defensively. You saw how he performed against Cole Palmer. If he wants to continue progressing he has to show every three days these performances."

Image source, PA Media

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on expectations for his side:

"I'm not trying to manage expectations with the squad because we don't talk about expectations. The only expectation I have is that they put in the same effort every day. The only expectation is that they work as hard as they can.

"With that, normally results come as well. I'm not asking them to win every game but effort on a daily basis is the only thing we focus on."

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on whether he has been surprised with Liverpool's fine start to the season:

"I don't think surprise is the right word to use because I knew the quality of our team. But quality is one thing and consistency is another. I am not surprised because I saw the energy my players put in on a daily basis.

"Sometimes a bit of luck comes with that us as well. Most of our results were deserved but some have been a close call. In general, I'm not surprised because of the quality that was in the team and when I started working with them I saw how much effort they put in to get these results."

Liverpool

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot is now speaking to the media before the visit of Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Reds lead the Premier League after an electric start of eight wins from 10 games and also have four wins from four in the Champions League.

Quotes to follow...

How many goals would Victor Osimhen have scored had he been playing for Chelsea against Noah last night?

The Nigeria striker was heavily linked with a move to the Blues over the summer but ended up joining Galatasaray on loan after a move from Napoli to the Premier League, Saudi Pro League or Paris St-Germain did not materialise.

After his double in the 3-2 Europa League win over Tottenham on Thursday, the 25-year-old has now scored 12 goals across his 23 starts in major European competition.

Osimhen has scored five times against English opposition - more than he has done against any other nation (two against Tottenham, two against Leicester and one against Chelsea).

With a future at Napoli looking unlikely and a player of his quality unlikely to remain in Turkey beyond this season, does his future lie in the Premier League?

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea

Unsurprisingly considering their resources and squad depth compared to other sides in the competition, Chelsea top the Europa Conference League table after three games with a 100% winning record.

Enzo Maresca's side have scored 16 and conceded three so far and Thursday's 8-0 victory broke the previous Conference League record win - held jointly by three teams - by two goals.

Last night's win ranks as the Blues' joint second highest win, alongside three other games, and they are only two goals away from the record scored in a group stage - the 18 notched by Jose Mourinho's eventual winners Roma in 2021.

Transfermarkt puts the value of the entire Noah squad at £6.5m - compared to Chelsea's £800m-rated squad.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole on TNT Sport: "Chelsea shouldn't be in this competition, but this is where they are.

"This tournament doesn't start for Chelsea until the quarter-finals or semi-finals. They are massive favourites to win it and they should be."

Former England striker Peter Crouch added: "Looking at some of the names, I just don't see how they can lose this tournament."