Liverpool

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Arne Slot saw the question coming and swerved the answer superbly.

Asked about Mo Salah's contract situation after the Egyptian had said after the 3-0 win at Manchester United that Liverpool had not spoken to him about it, Slot said he didn't deal with contracts but he could talk for hours about the forward's performance at Old Trafford.

Asked to talk about Salah's performance, Slot said he had played well but isolating him would mean not praising all the other players in his team who had done just as well.

Not exactly hours then. But it was an astute way of dealing with a major issue.

The problem for Slot is the questions won't go away until there is a final decision - and if the decision ends up being Salah leaving next summer, he will just get another barrage of different, but related questions.

Liverpool have been foot perfect so far this season.

The transition out of the Jurgen Klopp era could not have gone much better.

But the Salah situation could get draining if sporting director Richard Hughes and football chief executive Michael Edwards don't deal with it.

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The last time a Liverpool manager won his first meeting with Manchester United was Bob Paisley's 1975 victory.

At the time, David Bowie's Space Oddity was number one in the UK charts. You could buy a pint of beer in the UK for around 28p and the average house would set you back £11,000.

It has indeed been a long wait for the men in the Liverpool hot seat.

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Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah says it is his "last year" at Anfield and nobody at the club has talked to him about a new contract.

Following the victory at Manchester United, he told Sky Sports he had treated the match like it was his last at Old Trafford.

"It is a massive business decision that he has taken to say that, " said Former Premier League midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker on the Football Daily Podcast. "But I am not really surprised by it because it is what footballers do.

"I am more surprised by the timing because it is so early in the season. He is pushing the owners' hand and it is now down to them to decide whether he is an integral part of the club moving forward.

"Liverpool should not have allowed the basic spine of their team get to the last year of their contracts."

Ex-Premier League striker Charlie Austin added: "Would any other club allow their main man to run down his contract? It is quite remarkable when you think about his contributions of 30 plus goals a season. I don't think it's possible for Liverpool to allow it to happen.

"It is a crossroads."

Listen to the Football Daily Podcast on BBC Sounds

Highlights and analysis from Sunday's three Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to the weekend's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham

• Man Utd 0-3 Liverpool

Liverpool explored the possibility of signing Nigeria international Victor Osimhen, 25, in the summer transfer window but were put off by the Napoli forward's huge salary. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Liverpool boss Arne Slot, speaking to Sky Sports: "The first few minutes, United started aggressive and we had to fight our way through the period.

"If you go to Old Trafford we know there will be tough moments. After scoring a great goal which was disallowed we kept on playing as we were before. A deserved win I think.

"There is not a specific game-plan from the back, we always want to press the opponent high. The game-plan - Dominik [Szoboszlai] played from the right, but today we played him from the left.

"Last season Man Utd were man-marking on the midfield, this season they are on a nine and ten press with a 4-4-2. In my opinion they are working harder when the ball is played through them so they run more - that is what I saw in the first games from them.

"Today we showed a lot of moments where the forwards tracked back so aggressively and that is what we need if you want to win these games."

On the message at half-time: "We said they were going to press aggressively, but I showed them three moments where one situation that led to a chance for Mazraoui.

"Luis [Diaz] was not tracking back as he should. Those moments can change the game at Old Trafford.

"It's a good win."

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Mohamed Salah has either scored (11) or assisted (6) 17 of Liverpool's last 23 Premier League goals against Manchester United.

Salah has scored 10 goals in nine appearances at Old Trafford for Liverpool and the Egyptian has more goal involvements against United (17) than any other player in Premier League history.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Manchester United fans, have your say on the game, external

What did you make of the display Liverpool fans?, external

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

Follow reaction and read the match report

We asked for your views on Liverpool's Champions League draw.

Here are some of your comments:

Chris: Exceptionally difficult first few fixtures with Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen to name just two. We'll probably scrape through into the top eight.

Phil: That's a tougher set of fixtures than you'd expect in the old system. It'll be a real test to qualify for the next stage as a top seed.

Columbo: I believe it's a the way forward in keeping the tournament fresh and exciting. I'm looking forward to it.

James: You have to beat the best teams to win in Europe - that's always been the case. The new format brings the bigger teams together in what should be a harder and more entertaining competition. It doesn't matter what the draw is - on our day we will beat everyone.

Rio: Really hard fixtures but we have a large squad and Real Madrid being at home will help. I do think Liverpool can qualify but hopefully injuries don't hurt us like last season.

Ben: This new format is bonkers. Please make this stop. Can't believe we've got Madrid, also.

There are three games on in the Premier League on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you all the action and reaction.

All times BST

Follow all the action and reaction here

BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries:

• Chelsea v Crystal Palace

• Man Utd v Liverpool

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

For week three, he takes on MOBO Award-winning drum & bass legend and producer Adam F, who is a Liverpool fan.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Manchester United got the better of Liverpool on a couple of occasions last year. They won in the FA Cup and you're sort of scratching your head about how they won that particualar one.

Liverpool under Arne Slot are not so sort of heavy metal.

Whatever I predict about Manchester United I get them wrong, I'm just resigned to the fact I cannot predict a Manchester United result.

I'm going to say Liverpool to beat them.

Adam F's prediction: 1-2

We drew 2-2 here in April last season, on a day when everything went wrong for us but I think we will get the job done this time.

Read the full predictions and have your say

Liverpool's fixture list for the new league phase of the revamped Champions League has been confirmed.

The Reds will play eight games against eight different teams between 17 September and 29 January, four away and four at home.

Teams who finish in the top eight will qualify automatically for the last 16, while those who place ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off for the chance to join them.

What do you make of the draw Liverpool fans? How many points are you hoping for? Which game stands out?

Let us know here, external

Former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas says he is impressed by Liverpool, as Arne Slot's team prepare to take on Erik ten Hag's Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Speaking on the BBC's Planet Premier League podcast, the Como manager said: "I'm liking very much what I'm seeing from Liverpool.

"I think they are a really good side that tries to play sometimes the same football as [Jurgen] Klopp, but with more possession, with more control. In certain moments they still have the directness.

"Obviously, when you have players like Trent [Alexander-Arnold] who can put the ball wherever he wants, when you have [Mohamed] Salah, you have Luis Diaz - all these type of players who just love attacking the space and then creating chances and running behind, you need to use that, but I think I'm seeing some more ball possession, some more control, dictating play a little bit more than under Klopp.

"I like what I'm seeing - different moves, different patterns and it's going to be very, very interesting."

Listen to the full episode now

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Liverpool forward Kaide Gordon has joined Championship outfit Norwich City on a season-long loan.

The 19-year-old arrived at Anfield from Derby County in February 2021 and has since made seven senior appearances for the Reds, scoring one goal.

Gordon was involved in Liverpool's pre-season preparations under new head coach Arne Slot, but he will now gain further senior experience with the Canaries.

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Liverpool teenager Ben Doak has completed a loan move to Championship side Middlesbrough.

The 18-year-old has joined the north east club for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.

Doak arrived at Anfield from Celtic in the summer of 2022 and has made 10 senior appearances for the Reds, including a debut at the age of 16 against Derby County in November 2022.

He signed a new long-term contract in September 2023 but sustained a knee injury shortly before Christmas that caused him to miss the remainder of last season.

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Liverpool defender Nathaniel Phillips has joined Championship side Derby County on a season-long loan.

The 27-year-old spent time on loan at both Celtic and Cardiff last season, scoring once in his 18 appearances for the Bluebirds.

Phillips joined Liverpool in 2016 and has made 29 appearances for the club, many of them during the 2020-21 season when he helped the Reds finish third and qualify for the Champions League.