FootyChatter.com

Build-up, team news and news conferences before the Premier League weekend Slot confirms that striker Alexander Isak will return to training on Friday after injury The two teams appear to be Arsenal's most likely rivals for the Premier League title this season and are separated by just a point Also speaking this morning: Eddie Howe, Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca We'll bring you all the team news before our FPL Q&A at 15: 30 GMT Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say Written by Sam Drury, Craig Nelson, Adwaidh Rajan & Grace Wheeler. Brentford v Newcastle (Sun, 14: 00 GMT) Newcastle United Newcastle manager Eddie Howe speaking to media about Anthony Gordon's injury and how that will effect him playing for England: "I feel relaxed about him being with England. "It will all be

done with England’s blessing in terms of weather he is fit or not fit. We will

work together to find the best solutions for Anthony. " Brentford v Newcastle (Sun, 14: 00 GMT) Newcastle United Newcastle manager Eddie Howe speaking to media about Anthony Gordon's injury: "We don’t think it is a serious injury but we are getting him

scanned and waiting on the result. "I think there is every chance he might miss

our on Sunday we will give him every opportunity to be fit. " Brentford v Newcastle (Sun, 14: 00 GMT) Newcastle United No time to waste on these busy Fridays and next up it's Newcastle manager Eddie Howe. .. Ask Me Anything Another weekend of Premier League action is coming up - and you can keep tabs on all of the games across the BBC. You can catch highlights from every game on Match of the Day, all the talking points on Football Focus and all the goals as they go in on Final Score. Listen wherever you are by tuning in on BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sounds app for users in the United Kingdom. Find out more. Well, as you've just mentioned yourself, Mick, Florian Wirtz was also in the XI for Liverpool's best performance of the season on Tuesday. He was excellent as well. Would Arne Slot not be tempted to go again with that XI if everyone is fit and have Cody Gakpo as an option off the bench? No doubt, there has been a reversion to last year's iteration of Liverpool in the past two games, though. Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say When Arne Slot was asked to "pick a team of eleven players and stick to it" it turns out that, barring Hugo Ekitike in for Darwin Nunez, his best XI was the same team he already had. .. Cody Gakpo back in for Florian Wirtz and away we go again? Mick Murray Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool That's it from Arne Slot. The Liverpool boss was certainly in good spirits after their win over Real Madrid and with Alexander Isak back in training, Alisson Becker set to return after the international break and Jeremie Frimping on the comeback trail as well, things are improving on the injury front, too. Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool boss Arne Slot on when he expects Jeremie Frimpong and Alisson Becker to return: "Alisson, for sure, and I also expect Jeremie to be back after the international break - because there isn't another one until March! "I don't expect Frimpong to be fully fit for Nottingham Forest (22 November) but I expect Alisson to be fit for that game. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool More from Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Mohamed Salah: "It helps a lot that the main focus in on players who scores goals. It's very important for us to have [Salah] scoring goals and it's also important for us to have him help the team out with his defensive work, which he also did in recent games. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool More from Liverpool manager on Andy Robertson's future at the club: "It's been a while I have had to talk about contracts, but here it's again. "I was very please to see [Robertson] was able to play three games in seven days. He has done well as the team did. It's so helpful for everyone if the team play well. He's been calm on the ball and done a job defensively. Happy with his two, maybe three, performances. "Over 30 doesn't tell me anything about the player. If you look at Virgil van Dijk or Mohamed Salah and [Robertson] - all three of them were able to win the Premier League and played a big part in it. Being 32 is not old for a football player in my opinion. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot on the midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister: "I haven't been able to play all three of them together many times for obvious reasons - injuries mainly. It helps if the team plays more and more together. "[Szoboszlai] has been outstanding throughout the season but these two games brought more out of him and the team for me for obvious reason, but maybe it's smarter not to say those reasons because I don't want to say it over and over again. "He has a lot of qualities but one of them is work without the ball and I like that. The last two games, it was even above his own standards. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool More from Liverpool manager Arne Slot: "It has been two good games. Although in my opinion, and I think I am the only one, I liked the performance against Manchester United more than against Aston Villa. But I liked the result at Villa much more. "We created much more chances from open play against United than Villa. [And conceded more] because we were 1-0 and 2-1 down so had to take more risks. "If you win a game, everything else doesn't matter. But I try to balance it out a little bit in this building. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool Good news on the injury front for Liverpool fans as Arne Slot confirms that they expect goalkeeper Alisson Becker to be fit to play against Nottingham Forest in the first game after the international break. Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool More from Liverpool manager Arne Slot: "We were actually very consistent. But the thing is we were consistent in losing. "We have to be consistent in doing things right. Manchester City is one of the most difficult challenges you have playing away in a season. It's a very interesting game to look forward to. "When I wasn't working here and was in the Netherlands, I did know when Manchester City v Liverpool was happening and I can tell you I was 100% in front of the television when it happened. These are the few games everyone is looking forward to. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot provides an update on Alexander Isak: "He will train for the first time today with the team again after three weeks out. I said three weeks ago that his pre-season has ended. It's time for us to see where he is at. "I have to come back to those words because if you are three weeks in rehab, that doesn't bring you back to the levels you were three weeks ago. Although our team have done a great job, you can't compare rehab with games of football or training sessions with the team. That's simply not possible. "Again, I've to say give him some time. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Florian Wirtz: "Florian can play in more than one position. He can play off the left which he did almost all the time at Bayer Leverkusen under Xabi Alonso. And before that he played mainly as a number 10. "It's more about getting him in the positions where he is good at than be focussed on what his role is. We would like to have him in and around the 18-yard box centrally or a bit more off the left or right to create the number of chances. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Andy Robertson's fitness: "He started three games in seven days as he also started against Crystal Palace. "I felt he was tired, so I had to take him out at the end of the game [against Real Madrid]. But we have to wait and see how the recovery goes. Let's see where he is today. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot speaking before the game against Manchester City, on wins against Real Madrid and Aston Villa: "We always knew we could do it. It wasn't a surprise for me how the last two games went. "It was helpful that the other team did what we expected them to do. "In eight out of the 10 games we have played this season, we have faced a different playing style. But there is still a lot of work to do to get more performances like that. It is helpful. "Manchester City are very good and they have got quality players, so that makes the challenge even bigger. " Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool Arne Slot confirms that Alexander Isak will train with the team today for the first time in three weeks. No confirmation on whether or not that means he will definitely be involved at the weekend or not. Manchester City v Liverpool (Sun, 16: 30 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot speaking before the game against Manchester City: "My only focus is on ourselves and our focus is on consistency at the moment. "We have lost a few games as you know - much more than we usually do. But we have now won two. Our focus is on improving and getting the players fit. And we will see where that leads to. " Copyright © 2025 BBC. 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