Liverpool

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot has been speaking to Match of the Day after today's victory: "It’s always nice to win, especially away. The first 15/20 minutes weren't great. It was a real tough start for us but eventually we took control of the game."

"No it wasn’t good, also in the final minutes of the game. The bits in between, I thought we did really well. You also have to give credit to the gameplan of Gary O’Neil. Although it sounds weird, he’s done really well over the last six games.

"He has a really good game plan for every opponent and he it was the same for us today. After the first 15/20 minutes we took more control over the game and we scored the goal as well."

On Ait-Nouri's goal: "The goal we conceded was definitely avoidable and it was unnecessary. It came at a bad time because we had total control over the game.

"By conceding this way, they came back into the game and the good thing for us, is we immediately scored to make it 2-1. With only one goal making the difference, it makes it a difficult game until the end."

On being top: "Feels good, you want to be up there but it doesn’t tell me that much at the moment. If you look at Wolves they are down in the table but they played much better than that today.

"After 19 games, it’ll tell me something but not after six."

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Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has been speaking to Sky Sports following today's win: "Wolves were very good today, they started really well and the first half was a little bit tough for us.

"After we scored, we then had a little bit more control of the game. Then they came back and thankfully we got the second. It was a great battle until the end and thankfully we won and got three points."

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Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Boss Arne Slot insisted this week Liverpool are yet to prove themselves as title contenders.

The solitary defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield stands out and shows the Reds are not perfect.

But they have recovered with three straight wins, including a comeback victory at AC Milan in the Champions League and Wednesday's 5-1 thumping of West Ham in the Carabao Cup.

That defeat to Forest will be one of the reasons for Slot's cautiousness in talking up any title hopes.

This is despite the 46-year-old making one of the best starts to a reign in Liverpool history while a fifth clean sheet would earn a club record of conceding once in their opening six league games.

Victory at Wolves will be expected - especially if the hosts are weakened by the virus which has been in their camp this week - and if the Reds continue their form Slot will have a hard time denying their title credentials.

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

All kick-off times BST

Follow all of the action and reaction here

BBC Radio 5 Live commentaries:

• Arsenal v Leicester

• Wolves v Liverpool

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

For week six, he takes on Maximo Park singer Paul Smith, whose latest album, Stream Of Life, is out on Friday.

Wolves host Liverpool at 17:30 on Saturday.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Wolves have not been as bad as their results suggest but I suspect the fans' patience is wearing a bit thin with their manager, Gary O'Neil.

That is slightly unfortunate, and unfair, because overall he did well last season, but the way Wolves ended the last campaign poorly and have started this one the same way does not help him, clearly.

This game probably won't do much for his cause, either. It is hard to look past a Liverpool win, based on their firepower and their strength off the bench.

They wiped the floor with Bournemouth last week and, while this will be closer, I still think Liverpool will win it.

Smith's prediction: 0-2

This is going to be harder for Liverpool than you might expect on paper against the bottom team. Results have not gone Wolves' way but they have been playing OK and they will put up a good fight here.

There is something that makes me think they can get a draw but we are in the predictions game here and I have to go with percentages.

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot is becoming an expert at handling questions about the contract situations of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.

The key Reds trio will be out of contract next summer and Slot was already smiling at his news conference on Friday as he was asked about how disappointing it would be if he only got to work with them for one season.

“You are just trying to find another way of asking me [about the issue],” said Slot, whose side are at Wolves (17:30 BST) on Saturday.

He added: “I’m very happy that these three players are in my team at the moment.

“There are a lot of games to be played in this season, especially in the upcoming week and weeks so I’m very happy that I can select them and let’s see what the future brings.”

Slot talked about how he is continually learning about his players and he’ll find out more about them in the immediate future with the trip to Molineux.

The defeat by Nottingham Forest at home means he thinks his side have had a “good start, not a perfect one” and Slot will be hoping his side avoid another “setback” at Wolves.

Arne Slot says it has been a "privilege" to inherit the squad he has from Jurgen Klopp and has talked up the prospect of the in-form Luis Diaz delivering eye-catching numbers for the Reds this season.

Diaz has been praised in several quarters for a fast start to the season, with five goals in his last five league matches. His contribution has been supplemented by those around him, with Diaz, Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo delivering 15 of the Reds' 18 goals this term.

Diaz found the net 13 times in all competitions last season and has taken to life under Slot, describing the Dutch coach as "spectacular" in a recent interview.

"It's difficult for me to judge because I wasn't here last season," said Slot, who has become the first Liverpool manager since Tom Watson in 1896 to register six wins from his opening seven matches in all competitions.

"It's still a small sample size we are talking about and I said before when it comes to us winning quite a lot of games until now, almost all the teams we have faced have been in the bottom half of the table.

"He scored eight league goals last season. For me he was someone who could score a goal and eight is, for his quality, not of his standard.

"Then I think he comes back to his normal situation. Maybe he was a bit unlucky last season but a player of his quality will always score a lot of goals every season.

"We train on a daily basis trying to get them as close as we can in certain situations and help in the best possible way where to position themselves and what to do in certain situations. But it is mainly in the last third of the pitch the quality of the player and the finishing he has and I think he always had this.

"I am really happy with the squad I inherited because of the culture that Jurgen left behind. They are all team players and they always want to work hard for the team firstly. It has been a privilege to inherit a squad like this."

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game at Wolves (kick-off 17:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Goalkeeper Alisson could return to the matchday squad, with Slot expecting him to be in full training on Friday.

• On his range of attacking options: "The players have a lot of quality and the team are always creating chances for the players that are selected for that game. Because we have so much quality, we can create assists or goals."

• He said the players "understand they can't play every game unless it is absolute necessary" because of the number of competitions they are in.

• On Luis Diaz, who has scored five goals so far this season: "It is still a small sample size. Maybe he was a bit unlucky last season but a player of his quality will always score a lot of goals."

• He said the team "need to do better" on their "collective idea" around defending and not conceding as many chances per game.

• On what he has learned so far: "I learn day by day about the players. We haven't faced many setbacks yet and you always want to learn how the team and players react to that."

• He said it "has been a privilege to inherit a squad like this" and praised "the culture that Jurgen [Klopp] left behind".

• On opponents Wolves, who go into the game bottom of the Premier League: "I don’t think it represents how they have played as they have had very difficult fixtures and you have to take this into account. I’ve watched some of their games and they should have got more than they got."

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

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Wolves have lost more Premier League games against Liverpool than any other opponent (16).

They have lost 14 of their past 15 against the Reds in the league, with the exception being a 3-0 home win in February 2023.

Mandeep Sanghera
BBC Sport journalist

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Choices, choices, choices.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot is in the enviable position of having a squad of players who are starting to provide him with some dilemmas.

A much-changed Reds beat West Ham 5-1 in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday when a number of players staked a claim for more game time.

Cody Gakpo scored a couple against the Hammers and, while Luis Diaz should come back for the top flight trip to Wolves on Saturday, the Dutchman is certainly pushing team-mate to keep performing.

Diogo Jota also scored a couple against West Ham and, after Darwin Nunez started up front in the league win over Bournemouth last Saturday, the Portugal international might get the nod to start at his former club.

Virgil van Dijk, Trent-Alexander-Arnold, Dominik Szoboszlai and Diaz did not play any part against West Ham so they are expected to return at Molineux.

Goalkeeper Alisson has missed the past couple of games with a muscle issue and continues to be a doubt.

Slot is due to speak to the media at 11:00 BST and we will get his thoughts on team selection, injuries and more when he does.

Come back to this page later on Friday for all the key lines from Slot

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

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BBC Radio Merseyside has been speaking to author Jeff Goulding about his new book Klopp's Last Stand, the final instalment of a four-part series about Liverpool Football Club.

The series explores the history of the Reds through the perspective of fans and former players.

From celebrating the club's 125th anniversary, to a deep dive into the Premier League title win during the Covid pandemic, ending with a volume on the tenure of beloved former manager Jurgen Klopp.

You can listen to the full episode here on BBC Sounds

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Former Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel says he would waste time "on purpose" when he came up against Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.

Time-wasting and the 'dark arts' of football have been hotly debated this week following the feisty 2-2 draw between title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.

Discussing the topic on the Planet Premier League podcast, Friedel recalled how he used these tactics against one manager in particular.

"A long time ago, Sir Alex Ferguson used to get so annoyed," said Friedel, who faced the Red Devils 43 times in his career.

"I was playing for Liverpool at the time when Michael Owen did that two-footed challenge against [Peter] Schmeichel and got sent off and we were drawing in the game.

"I wasted so much time and we ended up drawing 1-1, but that was back in 1998. So, every other time I returned to Old Trafford, Sir Alex had in his head, no matter what team I was playing for, what the game was, what the score was, I was wasting time.

"So then just on purpose to wind the fans up, I did just [waste time] when I didn't even need to."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

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There has been a lot of conversation this week about "dark arts" in football following the draw between Manchester City and Arsenal on Sunday.

Realistically, everyone who has watched football for longer than one game has seen things they would perceive as "dark arts"; whether it is a player always going down winning free-kicks to take the sting out of the game, kicking the ball into row Z when there was no multi-ball system or time-wasting on goal-kicks.

These are things we see all the time but our perception of it is dependent on the context of a game. You always see some version of it somewhere, and you hope your team would be doing the same thing if in the same situation - because why should you do something that would benefit the opposition you are against?

It is the same as going down a bit more easily to win penalties - some people will say "this guy is a cheat", but then on the other side of their mouth, if it is something that could benefit them, they say "he has tried too hard to stay up, he needed to go down there".

You can have rulings, Ifab can get involved to change this and that, but there will always be a way to push the rules to their limits.

What we saw with Arsenal in that game, where David Raya sat down to get some treatment while the teams gathered, we have seen those moments before. It is not just new to Arsenal - other teams do it.

It is always based on certain moments. You do get more frustrated if it happens against you, but when you need to do it, you encourage people to do it. That is one of the beauties of football - the way you see things is always going to be down to perception, context and just whether you think it is benefiting you or not.

Nedum Onuoha was speaking to BBC Sport's Phil Cartwright

Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi, 24, would jump at the chance to sign for Liverpool and not long-term admirers Newcastle United. (Football Insider), external

Liverpool are not interested in making a £100m move for 21-year-old Bayer Leverkusen and Germany midfielder Florian Wirtz. (Echo), external

Newcastle are struggling to progress contract talks with their 23-year-old winger Anthony Gordon, who was a target for Liverpool last summer. (Telegraph -subscription required), external

Liverpool would have helped finance the Gordon deal by selling 27-year-old defender Joe Gomez to Newcastle in a separate £45m transaction. (Mirror), external

Trent Alexander-Arnold's first choice is to sign a new deal with Liverpool, with the 25-year-old's current contract set to expire next summer. (Football Insider), external

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

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Former Premier League midfielder and ex-Liverpool youth player Craig Hignett, speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside about a superb start to the season made by Reds winger Luis Diaz:

"He's been incredible. It's not just the goals he's scored, but what he's creating for the team and his impact in games.

"For me, he's been Liverpool's standout player at the start of the season. He's been so electric.

"Not only that, his forward play has been outstanding but the other side of it as well; getting back, tracking runners, doing the horrible stuff forwards don't want to do - he does it and he's a willing runner to do it.

"When you had Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino up front, the two wide players scored more goals than the central player. It's getting a bit like that with Diaz and Salah.

"If Diaz gets to 20 goals this season, that would be phenomenal. And he's got a real chance. He looks sharper - I know he had lots of problems last season that were well-documented and maybe that did take a toll on him - but he's come back and looks absolutely razor sharp."

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It is still to be determined whether Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah remain at Liverpool beyond this season.

All three are yet to sign new deals at the club with their contracts set to expire in the summer of 2025.

Discussing the topic on the Planet Premier League podcast, former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha said he believes "two of them" will stay at Anfield.

"I expect them to sign a new deal before January. That's what I think and it would just be like business as usual," said Onuoha. "And then whoever that third is, they'll explain their reasons.

"The first thing about all three of them is they've been great servants for Liverpool and if they were to leave, which I'm sure most fans wouldn't want from them, you know they'll be carried out of the place and thanked for their service.

"So they've handled it very well, which doesn't surprise me, but they're also handling it so well that I believe that they are in negotiations."

Listen to Planet Premier League

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot praised Italy international Federico Chiesa, who made his first start for the Reds against West Ham in the Carabao Cup:

"It was pleasing he could play 60 minutes because he has hardly played any minutes in the past three or four months.

"He assisted and he worked really hard. I think it's normal that he's not already at the top of his ability. He has to get used to the club, his team-mates and our playing style.

"It was good to see how match-fit he already is, so we can use him if we need him."

On being drawn against Brighton in round four of the Carabao Cup: "Again, a difficult draw.

"Almost all of the teams that are left are strong teams and if you want to win a trophy, you will play against difficult opponents - as West Ham were.

"Our schedule is already so tight that we would prefer not to travel, and Brighton is not next door. They are a quality team to face."

Hear more reaction from Slot on BBC Sounds