Liverpool

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

It has been a hectic start to the Premier League season with some clubs making a fast start while others are yet to get going.

But whose boots are made for walking the most so far?

Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa has walked the most after six games, just 0.1 km more than Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.

Interestingly, Haaland and Bournemouth striker Antoine Semenyo walk a lot despite being forwards.

Maybe the reason why Haaland has been able to establish himself as one of the fastest players and why Semenyo has made so many sprints is that they conserve their energy for the biggest moments where they can make the most impact.

Meanwhile, it is not just distance walked that we have tracked.

Wolves’ Matheus Cunha has spent more of his time on the pitch walking than any other player in the Premier League so far.

It is also interesting that both of Tottenham’s centre-backs spend so much of their time walking, given Spurs' high possession, high pressing, style of play.

This might mean Cristiano Romero and Micky van de Ven can conserve energy for when things get a bit chaotic (or they fancy a marauding run)?

This could especially be true for van de Ven who has been the fastest player in the competition so far.

Seven matches make up Saturday's Premier League action, and we will bring you every moment.

• Crystal Palace v Liverpool - 12:30

• Arsenal v Southampton

• Brentford v Wolves

• Leicester v Bournemouth

• Man City v Fulham (listen live on BBC Radio 5 Live)

• West Ham v Ipswich

• Everton v Newcastle - 17:30 (listen live on BBC Radio 5 Live)

Kick-off 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.

For week seven, he takes on Will Champion and Jonny Buckland from Coldplay, whose latest album, Moon Music, came out on Friday.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

It is always a balancing act for clubs in the Champions League and the Premier League, but especially so for Liverpool here, away from home and with the early kick-off.

For Arne Slot's side it is just about getting a win, however they do it, going into the international break.

They got over the line against Bologna on Wednesday without being at their best and, while I expect this to be close, I do see them getting the job done against a Crystal Palace team who are in a bit of bother really.

Along with Wolves, Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich, the Eagles are one of five teams without a league win so far.

Oliver Glasner got some great results when he took charge last season but he has got to be careful - at this rate, Roy Hodgson will be back in charge by Christmas.

Will and Jonny's prediction: Palace have got so much ability going forward, but they are not scoring - they have only managed five goals in their first six games. Liverpool will be too strong. 0-2

Read the rest of their predictions, and have your own say here

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

There can often be a lot of focus on distances covered and sprints made by teams, but how much of a difference does it really make to their success?

When it comes to distance covered by teams it is the 'battle of the B's' with Bournemouth, Brighton and Brentford having covered the most ground in the Premier League so far this season.

At the other end of the scale, bottom side Wolves have run the least so far - 5km fewer than any other side.

Initially, I thought this could be due to how difficult their start has been (i.e. sitting deep and not rushing out against top opponents), but they actually rank mid-table in pressing stats (with no players missing via red cards either).

But, it is worth noting that running a lot does not necessarily equal success.

Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Chelsea and Aston Villa have also been the 'laziest' teams so far yet have started the season well.

It is a similar story when it comes to sprints too - some good teams sprint a lot, some good teams sprint little.

Tottenham have made the most sprints in the Premier League this campaign, followed by fellow high-pressers Liverpool and Bournemouth.

But defending champions Manchester City have made the least – 60 fewer than any other team – and yet they have been pretty good so far too.

Looking at which teams have made the most sprints – Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea – and which the fewest – City, Arsenal, Villa – it suggests that playing style plays a part in how much a team sprints as well as just work rate.

Mandeep Sanghera
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

If there is one thing Liverpool boss Arne Slot will not miss during the international break, it's questions about the contracts of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

The players' deals run out next summer and Slot laughed off being asked about the subject again, giving no indication of any developments.

He also played down his side facing a trip to Crystal Palace in the 12:30 BST kick-off on Saturday, following a Champions League outing on Wednesday night.

Liverpool are top of the Premier League after six games, but Slot knows the fixture list has been on the kinder side so far and, with tougher tests to come, he added that no-one at Anfield will be getting carried away.

"No, we are Liverpool," said the Dutchman. "The players here are used to being top of the table. It would be very weird if a player at Liverpool is with his head in the clouds.

"If we don't play well tomorrow, then people will probably come up with that instead of saying that Palace played well or maybe we did other things wrong.

"These players are experienced enough to understand the league table of six games with the schedule we had, compared to some other teams.

"Also, Virgil, Alisson, Trent, Robbo, Mo - they won the Premier League and Champions League here. So, for them, it is a nice thing, but I'm not expecting them to watch their mobile phones every second of the day to see if they are top of the table."

Liverpool boss Arne Slot believes his side "playing in the best possible way as a team" has enabled the likes of Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch to showcase their "quality" and "do special things" already this season.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has brushed aside any potential issues with his side playing at 12:30 on a Saturday in the Premier League.

The Reds beat Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday and return to league action with a lunchtime trip to Crystal Palace.

Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had a particular disdain for the early game and even went as far as referring to it as a "crime".

"I don't think it has so much to do with the 12:30 kick-off. For me, it is to do with every away game being difficult," Slot said.

"Ten out of 18 away games last season didn't lead to a win, so you can argue if it's 12:30 or if it's just difficult to play an away game."

Liverpool had the most 12:30 kick-offs last season (six) as they finished third in the league.

They had the joint-most amount of early kick-offs in the 2022-23 season (six) along with Manchester City.

Klopp's 63% win percentage in league competition decreased to 49% for matches played in the lunchtime slot.

Under Slot, the Reds are currently top of the league, a point clear of defending champions City.

This weekend's fixture against Crystal Palace is their second early kick-off this campaign after they played at Ipswich in their season opener.

Unlike his predecessor, Slot seems unperturbed by the timing: "If 12:30 is a difficult time to perform then I'm a really stupid manager because we train every day at 12.

"I don't see the idea behind it being that difficult performing at that time."

Having enjoyed a successful start under new boss Arne Slot, Liverpool have a tricky run of fixtures coming up, so just how will they cope?

Former Premier League midfielder Michael Brown tells The Football News Show why he believes they can flourish in the next two months and gives his verdict on some of Slot's reported tweaks to the Reds' match preparations.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

Marissa Thomas
BBC Sport journalist

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Crystal Palace (kick-off 12:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Forward Federico Chiesa has not trained for the past two days and Slot has to see whether he can on Friday. He added it is "his decision" to make because he can only select 20 players.

• On how much more Ryan Gravenberch can improve: "It is not that much of a surprise that if you bring quality like Ryan Gravenberch in, and he has the right programme and team-mates, he can progress. That's what we are seeing at the moment."

• He added: "Now it is up to him to keep the standards as they are at the moment. That's a challenge because he, like all the others, has to play every three days. It is also a challenge because he didn't play a lot of games last season. I think now he has already played more 90-minute games than he did in the past two seasons, so it will be interesting to see how he copes with it. But until now, he has done very well."

• On the chance to go four points clear at the top of the table: "I don't look at this moment about one point, three points, four points. It's after the weekend then it is interesting to look at the league table and not after the game we have played."

• Asked about playing in the early kick-off slot, he said he did not see it being "difficult to perform" at 12:30.

• On the threat posed by Crystal Palace: "They have already shown how tough of an opponent they are against the big sides like [Manchester] United and Chelsea. In both situations they got a result so that's a difficult game for us. The other results were not as they would have liked. Last season they finished really strongly, then lost one or two good players [in the summer]. They will do better during the season - hopefully not tomorrow of course."

• On the contract situations of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk: "Same boring answer as always. Try [asking] it after the international break again!"

• He spoke about the upcoming international break and the potential impact on his players: "The first thing I look at is tomorrow. The difference between this international break and the last one is that this time we play a late kick-off on Sunday and last time we played Saturday so it gives us one extra day of rest, which is always helpful - especially for the ones who come back from South America with jet lag."

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

Image source, Getty Images

In 30 previous Premier League meetings between Crystal Palace and Liverpool, 14 have been won by the away side (47%).

This is the highest away win ratio of any of the 109 fixtures to be played 30 or more times in history.

Mandeep Sanghera
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, EPA

Liverpool will be playing at 12:30 BST on Saturday and, under former boss Jurgen Klopp, that usually meant it was time for broadcasters and authorities to take cover.

To put it mildly, Klopp was not a fan of that particular kick-off time, especially after an international break or following a midweek game for his side and the German regularly vented his anger about it.

Having played on Wednesday against Bologna in the Champions League, the Reds visit Crystal Palace for the Premier League's lunchtime start and it will be interesting to see what current manager Arne Slot has to say about the issue.

The Dutchman briefly mentioned the quick turnaround after the 2-0 win against Bologna so we will find out further when he chats to the media at 10:30 BST today.

Liverpool have played at 12:30 BST once before this season but that was the opening match of the campaign and not after a midweek outing.

Meanwhile, Slot has won eight of his first nine games in charge but will he have to rotate his squad more than he has done so far to try to register a sixth victory in a row?

Italian forward Federico Chiesa missed the win against Bologna because of injury so we will also find out the latest on his fitness and any other selection issues.

Paris St-Germain are leading the race to sign Mohamed Salah and will try to tempt the 32-year-old with a three-year deal when his Liverpool contract expires at the end of the season. (Sun), external

Meanwhile, the Reds have identified Borussia Dortmund forward Karim Adeyemi as a potential successor to Salah, and are ready to make a £41m bid for the 22-year-old. (Bild - in German), external

Real Madrid have already made contact with England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, as they continue their attempt to lure the 25-year-old away from Anfield at the end of the season. (Relevo - in Spanish), external

Finally, Liverpool are ready to offload 31-year-old Wataru Endo in January, as they pursue younger options in defensive midfield. (Football Insider), external

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

Arne Slot's side made it two wins from two Champions League games so far this campaign as they secured a 2-0 victory over Bologna at Anfield.

Watch highlights and analysis from the win below...

Watch highlights from all Champions League matchday two games on BBC iPlayer

Image source, PA Media

Captain Virgil van Dijk has said learning how to manage games is "still a work in progress" for his Liverpool side.

After taking an early lead in their Champions League match against Bologna, the Reds allowed their Italian opponents opportunities to equalise before Mohamed Salah completed a 2-0 win.

This came after Liverpool let a 1-0 lead slip against Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday, before going on to win 2-1 at Molineux.

Liverpool have won eight of their first nine games under Arne Slot, but Van Dijk believes there are still areas for improvement.

"The first half was not the best," said the Netherlands centre-back after Wednesday's victory at Anfield. "We gave some chances away because we were sloppy in possession.

"We could have done a lot better in the final third. A couple of times we came to the edge of the box and made the wrong decision in terms of the final pass.

"Hopefully we learn from it and do it much better, otherwise it could be a very tough season.

"We had a good meeting after the [Wolves] game in terms of how to manage the game much better, how not to let the opponent come back into the game and it's still a work in progress obviously.

"We are still learning game management and trying to deal with difficult situations which occur in games."

Listen to more from Virgil van Dijk on BBC Sounds

Interim England boss Lee Carsley has announced his squad for this month's Nations League games with Greece and Finland.

Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke is the headline inclusion, returning to international contention for the first time in seven years.

The 27-year-old has three goals in six appearances for Spurs since moving from Bournemouth in the summer.

Read the full story

Michael Emons
BBC Sport journalist

In only a few months, Ryan Gravenberch has transformed his Liverpool career.

From a squad player last season under Jurgen Klopp, he now looks a complete midfielder with Arne Slot in charge.

The 22-year-old Netherlands international again impressed on Wednesday with another all-action performance as the Reds battled to a 2-0 Champions League win over Bologna, thanks to goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah.

Gravenberch was superb once more, with his performance including a match-high 18 passes in the final third, a passing accuracy of 91.1%, three successful dribbles and four duels won, while he also gained possession nine times.

"I was delighted with him," said boss Slot, who has now won eight of his first nine matches in charge - the first Liverpool manager to do so.

"Ryan was again outstanding. I don't say that to players at half-time because there are still 45 minutes to go but I said after the game 'again, big performance'."

Read more about Gravenberch's development at Anfield

Image source, Getty Images

We wanted to know your views on Liverpool's win over Bologna in the Champions League, as Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah helped the Reds secure another three points at Anfield.

Here are some of your comments:

Arthur: A good win, with lots of positives, against an impressive Bologna side. This seemed like Liverpool's most dominant start to a game this season, which suggests that Slot put a 'flea' in the players ears after the slow start against Wolves at the weekend. Bologna belied their 13th place in Serie A and, apart from Real Madrid, Liverpool aren't likely to face any tougher Champions League home games in their group.

Neil: A good win against a decent Bologna side. Ryan Gravenberch was outstanding again. Another clean sheet and a cracking goal from Salah. All we can do is keep winning our games.

Clappu: It wasn't great again, but job done. The points are in the bag and that is all you can ask for. Arne Slot has won all but one game so far - Liverpool fans would have taken that at the start of the season and we haven't even hit top form yet.

Stuart: We had some good spells in the game. It was very even and it was probably the correct result. Liverpool need to stop switching off when they are 1-0 up. They got lucky again not to be punished. A great goal from Salah.

Kopper: We are not quite firing on all cylinders but eight out of nine wins for Slot - a record - is a fine way to get your foot in the door. Imagine how good it is going to be when the wrinkles have been smoothed out.

Real Sociedad and Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi says he has no regrets after turning down a move to Liverpool in the summer transfer window. (Mirror), external

Borussia Dortmund's 22-year-old winger Karim Adeyemi is a target for Liverpool. The Merseyside club want the Germany forward to replace Mohamed Salah in the summer. (Sun), external

Finally, Everton are not concerned about a January transfer window approach for 22-year-old centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite from rivals Liverpool. (Liverpool Echo), external

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

Michael Emons
BBC Sport journalist at Anfield

Image source, Reuters

Mohamed Salah got an assist and a superb goal - his 49th in the Champions League - while Alexis Mac Allister scored his first of the season, but once again it was Ryan Gravenberch who caught the eye for Liverpool in their hard-fought 2-0 win over Bologna.

Operating in a defensive midfield role, but often winning possession, starting attacks and surging forwards, 22-year-old Gravenberch continued his remarkable start to the season after only beginning 12 Premier League games under Jurgen Klopp in the last campaign.

But under fellow Dutchman Arne Slot, Gravenberch is now looking a bargain for the £35m they paid Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023.

He had been man of the match in the 3-1 win at AC Milan and again in the 2-1 victory at Wolves and Gravenberch was superb once more.

In a match played with a fantastic atmosphere at Anfield, Gravenberch's performance including a match-high 18 passes in the final third, a passing accuracy of 91.1%, three successful dribbles and four duels won, while he also gained possession nine times.

"I was delighted with him," said boss Slot, who has now won eight of his first nine matches in charge - the first Liverpool manager to do so.

"Ryan was again outstanding. I don't say that to players at half-time because there is still 45 minutes to go but I said after the game 'again, big performance'."

Top of the league, two wins from two in the Champions League and into the last 16 of the Carabao Cup, what a start it has been for Slot since replacing Jurgen Klopp.

Thomas Hitzlsperger
Former Aston Villa midfielder on MOTD: Uefa Champions League

Image source, Getty Images

The number six role in midfield is not easy but when you watch Ryan Gravenberch he makes it look easy.

He is enjoying the season so far under Arne Slot. Players are looking for him in possession, he keeps looking for the space and pushing on when he can. He doesn't just go back into his position, he goes on the overlap at times.

That shows the confidence he has on the pitch at the moment. I admire the drive he has, the dynamism he brings to the game.

Watch Champions League highlights show on BBC iPlayer