Liverpool

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Leicester defender Conor Coady, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club about Liverpool manager Arne Slot:

"A lot of people say how calm he is. We should give him an enormous amount of credit and respect for what he's done because coming in after Jurgen Klopp is a really big thing to do. What he'd done there over the years was incredible.

"People talk about the way he's got Liverpool playing now, which is with a lot more control. They have the ball for longer periods of time, there's not as many transitions. But if you see Liverpool in the transitions, they're still as good as they were under Klopp.

"They still want to win the ball back very quickly. When they lose the ball in the opponents' half, they swarm the defender to win the ball back as quickly as they can, so he's not lost that.

"He's not come in and gone: 'Right, let's just rip up the rulebook - I want to play with control.' He kept that, but also brought the control where Van Dijk and Konate keep the ball between them, they use Gravenberch, they bounce it back, they repeat passes, they do all these things to get control of the game, and they've done it really well.

"I think he deserves an enormous amount of credit for coming in and keeping the real core factor of Liverpool but adding his own spin on it as well."

Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer or listen on BBC Sounds

Juventus are frontrunners in the battle to sign Canada striker Jonathan David, 24, from Lille, with Lille, Manchester United and Inter Milan also interested. (Footmercato - in French), external

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As the Premier League pauses for the November international break, the Opta supercomputer, external has been looking at each club's chances of winning the title this season.

Liverpool are flying under new boss Arne Slot, currently sitting five points clear at the summit. They have been given a 60.3% chance.

Defending champions Manchester City are second after consecutive league defeats and have been given a 34.3% chance of winning a fifth straight title in May.

Arsenal are third favourites after a tricky spell themselves and Opta say they have a 5% of winning the league from here.

Chelsea are the only other side given a chance at glory. A first title in eight years has a 0.3% chance according to Opta.

Image source, BBC Sport

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This event with referee David Coote is one of those occasions where you can almost see the people at PGMOL with their head in their hands.

For a body that prizes integrity among its officials above everything else, for this to come out, it just fuels what already is conspiracies around virtually any club.

And if proven, it is sure to bring action against David Coote and puts PGMOL in an exceptionally difficult situation.

Coote has been suspended pending a full investigation and PGMOL are saying they will not make any further comments, but you can imagine what [head of referees] Howard Webb might be muttering under his breath when he sees what has come out on social media.

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The Press Association is reporting that Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to be out for two weeks with a hamstring problem.

The 26-year-old was forced to come off in the first half of Saturday's 2-0 win over Aston Villa, having signalled to the bench he had a problem in the 25th minute.

According to PA news agency, it is understood that scans have shown the injury is rated as a low-grade issue which may only keep him out for about two weeks.

That could give Alexander-Arnold the chance to return against Southampton on 24 November following the international break.

After the trip to St Mary's, the Reds host Real Madrid in the Champions League and then Manchester City in the Premier League on the following Wednesday and Sunday respectively.

Jordan Chamberlain
Fan writer

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Mohamed Salah was not nominated in the top 30 for the Ballon d'Or this year.

According to the votes, at least 30 footballers have enjoyed a better calendar year than the Liverpool forward.

Nonsense, obviously. Right now, Salah is arguably the best footballer in the world and definitely the Premier League's number one.

Liverpool's number 11 registered a goal and an assist against Aston Villa on Saturday, meaning he has hit double figures in both metrics already this season.

His finish to secure the 2-0 victory that took the Reds five points clear at the top was so typical of him.

He exploited space down the right, beelined towards goal and managed to make time stop for a fleeting moment before shooting, which confused Emiliano Martinez and sat the goalkeeper on the ground.

The Egypt international is so composed in front of goal. He is so creative outside of the box.

Salah is 32 years old, but this might just be the best version of him - less obsessed with scoring goals but equally good at it.

He provides for his attacking team-mates. It does not feel like he is competing with them like he did sometimes with Sadio Mane. That is because he knows he is the main man.

Liverpool simply cannot replace Salah because there is no right winger available even half as good as him.

It has been a brilliant start to the season but getting the legend to pen new terms before Christmas will be the icing on the cake.

Find more from Jordan Chamberlain at Empire of the Kop, external

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Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk spoke about Mohamed Salah after Saturday's victory over Aston Villa: "He's a special, special player [and has been] for so many years.

"I see the hard work he puts in on a daily basis, and his consistency with his numbers and performances. He's a special athlete and a legend of the club. I'm very pleased that we still share the pitch."

When asked if Salah can continue to play at the top level for years to come: "Physically, I can definitely see that happening. Mentally, that's in his hands. With certain players, you can see that they can keep playing at the highest level and he is definitely one of them.

"I definitely feel like I can [also continue at the highest level] mentally, and physically I feel absolutely fine. Let's see what the future brings."

Listen to the full interview with Van Dijk on BBC Sounds

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Former Premier League midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast about Liverpool's win over Aston Villa on Saturday:

"It was a statement win, going up against a very good and well-coached Aston Villa side. Everything you wanted to see from Liverpool, you saw [on Saturday].

"I want to give a shout out to Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate. People talk about Arsenal, about William Saliba and Gabriel being the best centre-back pairing in world football, but I think Van Dijk and Konate have to come into that [conversation] now.

"Van Dijk is like a fine wine - he just gets better and better with age. And Konate is stepping up even more so by playing alongside Van Dijk. He's developing so well as a centre-back. All round, it was a great team performance."

Listen to more analysis on BBC Sounds

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We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Liverpool and Aston Villa.

Here are some of your comments:

Vardon: At times it was like watching a game of park football. At others, a game full of sublime skill and vision from both teams. An absolutely engrossing 90-minute spectacle. Darwin Nunez should have had a hat-trick, but by the end of the game Liverpool fans couldn't care less. Arne Slot has breathed new life into the squad, and Ryan Gravenberch has come of age.

Marilyn: Another mature and confident exhibition of a really together team. I love it when we hunt in groups of two and three, determined to get the ball back and turn defence into another blistering attack. If only Darwin would score the goal before seeing the headlines. Calm down lad!

Niko: Great win for the Reds. Curtis Jones' work-rate and a couple of great blocks each from Gravenberch and Konate kept us ahead at half-time. But as per Liverpool's season so far, the second-half display proved too much for the opposition to handle, despite the heavy pressure Villa threw at us. Mo Salah once again proving his class.

Aston Villa fans

Janet: It's no disgrace losing to the champions elect and we had enough chances to make a game of it but our forwards are all struggling - Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey were anonymous and Morgan Rogers cannot finish. Plus, it was a cast-iron penalty which would have been given last season - being the away team in front of 60,000 Liverpool fans didn't help.

David: We grew into the second half but the mandatory Diego Carlos error cost us. Bailey has been a passenger for weeks, Jaden Philogene needs to start and give Kosta Nedeljkovic a chance so Ezri Konsa can return to the middle. Set-piece delivery needs to stop hitting the first man too.

Doc: Tough for Villa. Thought they performed really well after some poor displays. Couple of good chances we didn't take could have made a huge difference, and a couple of great saves from the Liverpool keeper. Can't understand how the holding penalty appeal on Pau Torres was not given, and a poor refereeing performance went against us. A good Villa performance.

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On BBC Match of the Day, former Premier League defender Micah Richards highlighted set-pieces as the key component of Liverpool's victory over Aston Villa:

"Austin MacPhee [Aston Villa's set-piece coach] has got them so well drilled, but Liverpool turned Villa's strength into their weakness.

"Villa committed men forward but it left an ocean of space. They didn't know how to deal with the pace of [Mohamed] Salah and [Darwin] Nunez.

"From a defensive perspective [when Liverpool counter-attack], someone has to get tight or drop off. They were sort of in between. Aston Villa just couldn't get it right and Liverpool capitalised on that.

"They commit so many men forward because they want to hurt the opposition, but Liverpool caught them out in the wrong areas."

Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer

Liverpool's Wataru Endo is in high demand as the midfielder continues to struggle for game time at Anfield, with AC Milan, Fulham, Wolves and Ipswich all interested. (Caught Offside, external)

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Highlights and analysis from Saturday's six Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Wolves 2-0 Southampton

• Brighton 2-1 Man City

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Arne Slot spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Liverpool's victory against Aston Villa: "Three home games [this week] and that always helps when you play in front of these fans. Tough opponent today, it wasn't an easy one.

"I think it was [even]. They threatened us mainly with their set-pieces which is a big strength for them. They were waiting and waiting for us to lose our patience and then to hurt us on the counter-attack. The funny thing is we had so much possession and scored our goals from counter-attacks. It was an even game when it comes to chances but we dominated the ball more than they did.

"We didn't have the control in the first half because we lost the ball where we should not lose it. Then the first or second duel was not with the intensity we needed and they could counter-attack us. The good thing is we had Virgil [van Dijk] and Ibou [Konate] there so it didn't often lead to a chance.

"In general I liked our performance in the second half a bit more because we showed more patience."

On his team's defensive work-rate: "It's not the first time we see this. The team that won the Premier League the last four years has shown us how important work-rate is. This is the only way to win games and with the quality we have."

On being five points clear at the top of the Premier League: "As a manager if you come into a new club you don't think about how many points after how many games. You think about changing the play style or keeping it as it was. To change the play style you have to do a lot of things on the training ground and in meetings. The only thing I have thought about is how to implement playing style and how to make sure the players keep working as hard as they can."

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Arne Slot has earned 28 points from his first 11 Premier League games in charge of Liverpool (W9 D1 L1), the joint-most by a manager after as many games in the competition along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist

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Some observers will have understandably have seen this as a transitional season for Liverpool from the Jurgen Klopp era to Arne Slot's reign but the Reds are not just ahead of schedule, but looking like serious title contenders.

After Manchester City slipped up against Brighton earlier on Saturday, Liverpool knew they had to take advantage to lay down a real marker.

While it could have been easy to wilt under the pressure of expectation they kept their calm to produce a controlled display against Aston Villa and move five points clear at the top.

Under Klopp, Liverpool played exciting but risky football, largely aiming to out score their opponents to get wins.

But under Slot they are a far more pragmatic side and that was displayed in this cool and calm performance against an Aston Villa team desperate to end their own recent poor run of form.

Goals in each half by Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah got the job done but between them Slot produced good game management to know when to slow the game down.

They are right where they want to be heading into the international break and showing with every game they are very much a strong contender in this title race.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

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Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

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

• Brentford v Bournemouth

• Crystal Palace v Fulham

• West Ham v Everton

• Wolves v Southampton (listen on BBC Radio 5 Live)

• Brighton v Man City - 17:30 (listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Liverpool v Aston Villa - 20:00

Kick-off 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here