LFC NEWS

Diogo Jota, Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara - Liverpool injury news and return dates for Everton

icLiverpool.co.uk - 19 hours 36 min ago
Latest Liverpool injury news ahead of the Premier League clash against Everton
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Jurgen Klopp shares surprise at 'over the top' Everton and Liverpool reaction he wants

LiverpoolEcho.co.uk - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 22:30
The Reds boss has called for calm heads from his players in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park
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Jurgen Klopp shares surprise at 'over the top' Everton and Liverpool reaction he wants

icLiverpool.co.uk - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 22:30
The Reds boss has called for calm heads from his players in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park
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Jurgen Klopp sends warning to Liverpool players after 'over the top' Everton derby moments

LiverpoolEcho.co.uk - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 22:30
The Reds boss has called for calm heads from his players in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park
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Jurgen Klopp sends warning to Liverpool players after 'over the top' Everton derby moments

icLiverpool.co.uk - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 22:30
The Reds boss has called for calm heads from his players in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park
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Liverpool's final Premier League fixtures ahead of Everton after Arsenal beat Chelsea

LiverpoolEcho.co.uk - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 22:00
Latest Liverpool news and gossip as the Reds continue their quest to win the Premier League title against rivals Arsenal and Manchester City
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Liverpool's final Premier League fixtures ahead of Everton after Arsenal beat Chelsea

icLiverpool.co.uk - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 22:00
Latest Liverpool news and gossip as the Reds continue their quest to win the Premier League title against rivals Arsenal and Manchester City
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Liverpool may be set to pile pressure on Pep Guardiola as Man City disadvantage clear

Liverpool.com - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 22:00

Despite the need to be practically perfect in the five remaining games, Liverpool has a strong chance at the title due to its common rival being overworked and exhausted. Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola recently expressed his anger towards broadcasters after being forced to play just 66 hours after its Champions League loss to Real Madrid.

The Spaniard went as far as to say that he will have to keep his star players “in the fridge” if his side wants to avoid fatigue ahead of another huge game that could swing the title towards any of the three teams in the running. Two of these stars are 27-year-old Rodri and 29-year-old Bernardo Silva who sent the side into the FA Cup final on Saturday.

"I wasn’t fine at all," Silva stated after the Madrid game. "It’s too much. It wasn’t a level field because the FA didn’t give us a chance to recover. It looks like they don’t care because we’ve said it many times."

READ MORE: Liverpool told to make triple transfer swoop including $81m possible Mohamed Salah successor

READ MORE: Arne Slot's playing style and what Liverpool fans can expect from top contender to be next manager

This is similar to Rodri’s comments in recent weeks in which he pleaded for a rest, stating he was 'tired' after appearing in over 40 games this season. "If a player doesn’t want to play then he’s not going to play," Guardiola said ruthlessly at the time, after which he started Matheus Nunes instead of the Spanish international.

In The Citizen's knockout game against Real Madrid, both Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne asked to come off before the end of 120 minutes. Haaland, in fact, only played a total of 90 minutes despite the game being crucial in the club's now-failed treble-chasing season.

It is clear that the scheduling has taken its toll on a City side that was not only the favorite for the Champions League but also leading the way in all of the competitions the side found itself in. Now after being knocked out of the EFL Cup by Newcastle in just the third round and kicked out of Europe by Madrid, the best the club can hope for is the double of the league and FA Cup.

Despite the side's fatigue, Guardiola’s side faces Brighton on Thursday which is a side it hasn’t lost to since May 2021. In fact, this is the only time the Seagulls have beaten City in its history. A loss, though, is not all-important in a title race; a draw could be all that is needed to help Liverpool to the title and Brighton held City to a 1-1 result just last season.

After Brighton, City faces Nottingham Forest, who has managed one draw in three meetings. Next is Wolves, who beat City in the reverse fixture, and then Fulham who has never beaten City in its history. The final two games are likely the hardest for Guardiola’s team as it faces Tottenham, which has won three of the last five league meetings, and West Ham, which despite its terrible record against City, has beaten many top-six sides this year.

Liverpool, along with fellow title contenders Arsenal, who just hammered Chelsea, will be keeping a keen eye on that side of Manchester over the last remaining games. Jürgen Klopp, however, along with his now almost fully replenished squad, will certainly be focused on the game ahead on Wednesday against Everton at Goodison Park.

The Merseyside derby means a lot for both the title race and the relegation battle, which Sean Dyche’s men will be aiming to avoid at all costs. A result here for Liverpool would put the club four points clear ahead of Thursday. That would come with the benefit of placing more pressure on a City side that could be just about ready to snap due to fatigue and exhaustion.

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Liverpool told to make triple transfer swoop including $81m possible Mohamed Salah successor

Liverpool.com - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 20:00

Former Liverpool winger John Barnes has suggested that Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes should target three Premier League players from one club this summer. The Reds will be making plans ahead of the exit of Jürgen Klopp.

Barnes also believes that there should be a contingency plan in place in case Mohamed Salah leaves. Saudi Arabian clubs remain interested in the 31-year-old though it remains to be seen how interested he is in moving there.

"Marc Guéhi is a very good player. Guéhi is someone Liverpool should be looking at," Reds legend Barnes told Bettors. "Even the Palace attacking players like Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise are players Liverpool could be looking at also.

READ MORE: Arne Slot's playing style and what Liverpool fans can expect from top contender to be next manager

READ MORE: How good is Arne Slot? Feyenoord record assessed for leading next Liverpool manager candidate

"City are also said to be looking at Olise and Eze. Arsenal also. But if Salah was to go and Liverpool wanted to bring in someone to replace him, Eze and Olise are players that I like. Those two alongside Guéhi are ready to move up a level."

It would be a surprise if Salah were to depart but Barnes believes that the Egyptian could follow Klopp out of the exit door. He has a year left on his contract (as do Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold) and there has been no news on an extension just yet.

"Next season Liverpool are going to have a new manager and a new team. He (Salah) may want a new challenge," Barnes continued. "With Mo, who knows? It’s possible he could leave.

"If you look at Liverpool right now and the players that we actually have from an attacking and youth point of view, we are well prepared for anything. Mo is now 31 turning 32 so he may feel as though it’s time for something new. Of course we’d miss him but with the talent we have now, with Núñez, Elliott, Gakpo, and Díaz, we are set to cope if he does go."

Liverpool.com says: Guéhi, Eze and Olise are all really good players but whether they will be high up on Liverpool's radar this summer remains to be seen. Center-back should be a priority but there might be options with a higher ceiling than Guéhi who are available to go with rather than the England man.

Eze and Olise would cost a lot of money (the latter, The Guardian suggested last week, could be valued at around $81m/£65m/€76m) and there might be bigger priorities to sort out first. Liverpool certainly has some big decisions coming up.

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Everton 'hopeful' of major injury boost before Liverpool as Sean Dyche set to be without duo

Liverpool.com - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 19:00

Everton boss Sean Dyche is set to receive a huge injury boost heading into the Merseyside derby against Liverpool on Wednesday. The Toffees will host the Reds at Goodison Park in what could prove to be a crucial clash in the Premier League title race.

Jürgen Klopp's side got back to winning ways last weekend with a 3-1 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Liverpool had previously slipped up against Crystal Palace, as the Eagles secured a 1-0 win at Anfield.

Derby day is now fast approaching and with the club currently sitting level on points with Arsenal at the top of the table, it will be one of the more nerve-racking meetings between the two sides. Liverpool fans will have one eye on the title race, while Everton will attempt to stretch the five-point gap on Luton Town in 18th to avoid relegation.

READ MORE: Arne Slot's playing style and what Liverpool fans can expect from top contender to be next manager

READ MORE: How good is Arne Slot? Feyenoord record assessed for leading next Liverpool manager candidate

Speaking ahead of the game during his press conference, Dyche commented on the fitness of Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin who missed the recent 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest due to an injury. "He’s [Calvert-Lewin] hopeful he’ll be back," he said. "We will wait and see till tomorrow but hopeful on that one."

The England international has five goals and one assist to his name across 22 starts in the top flight of English football this season. His presence in the squad would be a huge boost to Everton ahead of the clash, given the fact Beto will miss the fixture due to a head injury he picked up last weekend and the concussion protocols. Seamus Coleman is also sidelined.

Liverpool has also been ravaged by injury throughout the entire 2023/24 campaign, with Diogo Jota the latest player to pick up a fresh concern. The Portuguese international only returned from a lengthy knee injury on April 11 but is now set to miss an additional two weeks. Long-term absentees Ben Doak, Joël Matip and Thiago Alcântara will also miss the game.

Liverpool.com says: While Calvert-Lewin is not a ruthless goalscorer, he still provides the biggest threat out of all the Everton players. His return against Liverpool should be monitored closely by the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté, though they should be capable of dealing with the former Sheffield United forward.

If Liverpool plays anything close to its best on Wednesday, it will win. But the question is whether the Fulham win was a true turning point during the vital run-in.

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Arne Slot: A champion with Feyenoord and now Liverpool’s new manager contender

the Athletic - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 17:30

This is an updated version of an article first published on May 14, 2023.

In 2020-21, the season before Arne Slot became their manager, Feyenoord finished 29 points behind champions Ajax. They came fifth, the same number of points from the top of the table as they were from the bottom three, with the football under Dick Advocaat very uninspiring.

Two years later, the Rotterdam club were champions, having spent virtually the whole season leading the Eredivisie. It was a remarkable turnaround which prompted a succession of English clubs to seek to secure his services.

Crystal Palace were among them, as were Leeds, who had Slot on their list of possible replacements for Jesse Marsch in February 2023 and held talks with him in the Netherlands. Those discussions did not develop.

Tottenham, meanwhile, thought they had persuaded him to move to north London in May 2023, with Feyenoord apparently resigned to losing him until Slot surprisingly decided to stay put. Spurs turned to Ange Postecoglou instead.

Almost a year on, Slot’s stock has continued to rise. Feyenoord have not been able to defend their Eredivisie title but they have only been denied by a remarkable campaign by PSV, who have lost just once all season. Slot’s side have only been beaten twice in the league — and not at all since December 3 — and won the Dutch Cup last weekend.

Now it has emerged that Slot is a leading contender for the Liverpool job which will be vacated by Jurgen Klopp this summer.

But why is he attracting such interest — and what is his background?

Arne Slot was slow.

As a player, Slot was a perfectly decent midfielder, with the bulk of his appearances coming in the Dutch second tier. He was technically very good, usually playing as an attacking midfielder or No 10 but, in the words of his former team-mate Edwin de Graaf, he was “not so fast”. Slot the coach once said that he would not have picked Slot the player.

This meant he had to rely on others around him to do a lot of the running. “I was a hard worker, he was the more technical player,” says De Graaf, who played alongside him at NAC Breda.

Slot challenges Newcastle’s Nolberto Solano (Photo: Adam Davy/EMPICS via Getty Images)

But his limitations as a player have helped him become the coach he is today because they enhanced his appreciation of how to make a team function as a cohesive unit. He was living proof that one player cannot do his job unless a colleague is doing theirs.

He was always going to be a coach, moving from the playing squad to the coaching staff at PEC Zwolle immediately after his retirement.

“Some players you can see are going to be coaches,” says De Graaf. “I also played with Alfred Schreuder (the former Ajax manager) and both him and Slot… nobody is surprised now they’re both coaches.

“He would ask the coach why they were using certain tactics. And in the dressing room, he would talk to the group about (for example) a way of pressing or defending. He would ask: ‘Why were we doing it this way? Would it be better to do it this way?’. He would make suggestions to his coaches.

“But he would do it in such a good way. He wouldn’t do it with an attitude: he would ask the coach: ‘What do you think about this?’. He would also very quickly see what the opponents were doing.”

Slot is carried off by his PEC Zwolle team-mates (Photo: VI Images via Getty Images)

“At that time, he was already looking in an analytical way,” Henk ten Cate, who brought Slot to Breda, told Voetbal International in 2022. “He was busy with tactics and asked questions at training.”

It is worth noting this was not when Slot was in the twilight of his career and was worrying about what would come next. Slot and Ten Cate worked together in 2002-03 when Slot was 24. He was one of those players who used his time on the pitch as an extended apprenticeship for when he moved to the touchline.

Slot hung up his boots in 2013 after playing for PEC Zwolle and immediately joined the club’s youth academy as a coach.

He then spent three years as a coach at Cambuur, who had just been promoted to the Eredivisie, after which he moved to AZ Alkmaar to be assistant to manager John van den Brom, still only 39 when he took that job. “We always searched for young, new coaches,” says Van den Brom. “He was an interesting coach because he wanted to develop.”

It was during these years Slot clarified what sort of football he wanted to play, helped by a series of formative relationships with other coaches.

At AZ, there was Van den Brom and Pascal Jansen (who managed AZ for four years), while at Cambuur he worked closely with Marcel Keizer, who would go on to manage Ajax and Sporting Lisbon. He also shared ideas with Pep Ljinders, now Klopp’s assistant at Liverpool, and, with a group of other coaches, created a bespoke player database. At the time, the data resources available to them were far from adequate, so they built their own.

“What was nice for me is that he always thought in an attacking way,” says Van den Brom, before mentioning something that comes up time and again whenever you speak to someone about Slot.

“(His focus was) how can we make it clear to the players how we want to play? We were always searching for different ideas.”

Van den Brom consults with Slot on the AZ bench (Photo: Ed van de Pol/Soccrates/Getty Images)

It is fine for a coach to have ideas, but they have to be clearly transmitted to the players. Slot’s biggest quality and one he places significant emphasis on — he believes only 60 per cent is the idea and 40 per cent is how clearly you explain it — is his ability to communicate. His ideas are projected onto the pitch because his thoughts are clear and his words are carefully chosen.

So what are those ideas?

“They’re very attacking, very aggressive, with a lot of pressing,” says Martijn Krabbendam, a journalist for Voetbal International who has covered Slot’s Feyenoord. “High intensity, a lot of energy, and they can only do that if they’re very fit.

“He always wants to play attacking football, he always wants possession, he always wants a good set-up from the goalkeeper to find free space and free players in the midfield. It’s no secret he is crazy about Guardiola — he’s an example.”

Van den Brom adds: “We used a lot of videos of Manchester City and Bayern — he was crazy about Pep. How his teams create space, how they attack.”

Guardiola is the name that keeps coming up, but Slot also takes inspiration from a variety of other coaches: Marcelo Bielsa, Jorge Sampaoli, Jurgen Klopp, Luciano Spaletti, Mikel Arteta. All have their own ideas, so does he, but one thing they all have in common is their intensity.

Before he became Breda coach, De Graaf spent a week with Slot at Feyenoord, observing how he works. “Every session is with high intensity,” he says. “Every workout, passing drill, or five vs five — everything is with high intention and everything is with an idea. Every player knows exactly what he wants from them. He’s good at making clear why he’s doing certain exercises.

“He’s as honest as possible, so the players really like him.”

Slot believes his teams have to be intense because it essentially gives them two ways to win: if the quality of their play is lower than that of their opponents or they are having an off day, they can win by outrunning and outworking whoever they are playing.

There is also a recognition of, and mitigation against, the fitness concerns that come with such an intense style of not just playing, but training. He works closely with his data and fitness teams: when they tell him a player’s numbers are dropping or they are in the ‘red zone’, he will ease off.

Transitions are quick and passing is certain. Slot likes to work with younger players who are keen to learn. “If you have a young group, then, as a trainer, you can take the boys through videos in your desired playing style,” he said a few years ago.

For example, when Tyrell Malacia left Feyenoord in 2022 for Manchester United, he chose to replace him at left-back with the 20-year-old youth team product Quilindschy Hartman. When he needed a central midfielder, he took 22-year-old Mats Wieffer from Excelsior Rotterdam in the Dutch second tier. Both were subsequently called up to the Dutch national team. Most of the key players in Feyenoord’s title-winning season were aged 24 and under.

Hartman was promoted by Slot (Claudio Pasquazi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

His focus is on the collective. He believes the team makes the individual look good.

Most of all, the priority is on entertaining football. The goal is not to win at any cost, but to provide exciting, as well as winning, football. Voetbal International wrote: “He believes that special football is more remembered than a prize with boring, uninspiring football.”

Players seem to adore Slot.

Oussama Idrissi, who played a key part in Slot’s teams at both AZ and Feyenoord, was asked last year by the Dutch newspaper AD where Slot ranks in the coaches he has played under. “For me, he’s the best,” said the Moroccan winger. “He can develop players and make teams play fun football.”

When it was pointed out that he has also played under Julen Lopetegui, Herve Renard and a guy called Erik ten Hag, Idrissi reiterated: “Slot was the best.”

You will not struggle to find other players with similarly effusive things to say about him. “He is one of the best managers I’ve ever seen,” said Alireza Jahanbakhsh, the Iranian forward currently playing under Slot at Feyenoord. “In football terms, even the best. At the moment, he is the best in the Netherlands.”

Reiss Nelson spent the 2021-22 season on loan at Feyenoord, becoming a regular in the second half of the campaign. “Arne Slot is a great manager,” he told the Colney Carpool podcast. “He really got me into my rhythm. He gave me a lot of opportunities to play and I excelled.”

“It’s a shame,” said Myron Boadu, shortly after Slot left AZ. “Arne is a fantastic person and a fantastic trainer who really let us play football in the style of Manchester City or Barcelona in the good times.”

“He’s as honest as possible, so the players really like him,” says De Graaf.

Nelson enjoyed life under Feyenoord (Pim Waslander/Soccrates/Getty Images)

Slot has not gained the backing of these players just by being straightforward, though. The players like him because they win under him. But, perhaps more than that, they follow him because most of the things he tells them come true.

“Before playing Marseille (in the Europa Conference League semi-finals in 2022), during training he told his midfielders to play long balls out to the wingers, over the top,” explains Krabbendam. “(Orkun) Kokcu, the midfielder, was so tired of it — he asked: ‘Why do we have to keep playing these long balls?’. Slot said he would explain later.

“In 20 minutes, Feyenoord were up 2-0 and both goals came from long balls behind the Marseille defence. He knew that was a weakness of Marseille. If you speak to the Feyenoord players — and it doesn’t matter which players — they will tell you that whatever this coach says, it happens. It’s remarkable. They have blind confidence in him because what he says comes true.”

He is no hardliner or a particular disciplinarian. He emphasises positivity. When his video analysts put selections of clips together for players to watch, allowing them to scrutinise their own performances, he asks that most of them are positive. In particular, the last one is always positive so the players leave their session feeling good about themselves.

Arguably, the player who most benefitted from Slot’s tenure at Feyenoord was Kokcu, who came through the ranks at Feyenoord.

Kokcu (centre) excelled under Arne Slot (ANP via Getty Images)

Previously regarded as a talented but slightly insubstantial No 10, Kokcu came back from Euro 2020 with Turkey to find things had changed. No longer would he be able to create and let his team-mates do his running for him.

After Slot’s first competitive game in charge, a Europa Conference League game against Kosovan side SF Drita, the new coach sat down next to Kokcu on the flight home and explained that he needed more from him. More running, more pressing, more chasing back. And it worked.

Even after only a few weeks of working together, Slot convinced Kokcu that he had to significantly improve physically.

Kokcu is close friends with Malacia (the two came through the Feyenoord youth team together) and had observed the defender’s physical development since he started working with a physical trainer in Rotterdam. Kokcu went to the same trainer and, within weeks, had become the worker Slot demanded.

“If you see him now, he’s a modern midfield player,” says Krabbendam.

To illustrate this point, take a look at this touch chart for Kokcu in Feyenoord’s Europa League quarter-final first-leg victory over Roma in April 2023. The concentration is in the middle, but there are very few areas of the pitch he did not cover.

The disruption to football caused by COVID-19 produced many ‘what ifs’, but there cannot be many bigger than for Slot.

In his first season as AZ head coach, they had already beaten Feyenoord and PSV 3-0 and 4-0 away respectively before a 2-0 win at Ajax in March 2020 put them level on points at the top of the Eredivisie with the Amsterdam giants. There were still nine games remaining but AZ had the momentum.

The following week, the season was suspended as the pandemic took hold. The campaign was ultimately cancelled completely in April and the chance to win just the third title in AZ’s history was scuppered.

They started the following season in similar style, going undefeated until the start of December. Then it all ended quite abruptly.

Feyenoord announced that veteran manager Advocaat would be leaving at the end of that campaign. Slot was the obvious replacement but, a few days later, the AZ board got wind of talks between Slot and the Rotterdam club and promptly sacked him. He was clearly ready for a step up, but it was far from the way he wanted to leave the club.

“You always want to leave by the front door,” says Van den Brom. “So it wasn’t good for Arne and it wasn’t good for the club.”

He spent the intervening months playing golf and planning for the move.

It worked. The improvement in Feyenoord’s football — and results — was almost instant, moving from a distant fifth to a closer third, scoring more goals, conceding fewer and winning more games. They also reached the Europa Conference League final, where they lost to Roma. Slot won the Rinus Michels award for best coach in the Eredivisie.

If you want to quantify Feyenoord’s improvement under Slot, consider FiveThirtyEight’s Soccer Power Index, which uses underlying metrics to calculate a team’s attacking and defensive strength. Slot’s arrival at the club coincided with a steady rise up the rankings, peaking on a score of 76.6, the 21st-highest in world football. Not bad for an Eredivisie club.

But here is perhaps the most compelling evidence that Slot has something.

In the summer after that first season, his Feyenoord team was gutted. Top scorer Luis Sinisterra was sold to Leeds. Malacia went to United. Marcos Senesi to Bournemouth. Nelson’s loan spell ended and he returned to Arsenal. Midfielder Fredrik Aursnes joined Benfica. Guus Til (on loan at Feyenoord from Spartak Moscow) moved to PSV. All four players who had chalked up double-figure goal tallies the previous season had left.

And yet, Feyenoord improved. Kokcu and a few others stayed, but in came Santiago Gimenez, who has gone on to be their top scorer. Slovakian defender David Hancko arrived from Sparta Prague and excelled. Idrissi, who starred for Slot at AZ, was rescued from Sevilla on loan. Wieffer and Hartman were essentially plucked from nowhere and are now full internationals.

Slot advises Gimenez (ANP via Getty Images)

They took top spot in the Eredvisie just before the World Cup break and did not relinquish it.

PSV may have deposed them this season but there is no sense that there has been a significant drop-off in performances: Feyenoord could yet surpass their league-winning points tally from last season of 82.

Slot is revered for winning just Feyenoord’s second Eredivisie title since the turn of the century, and he now has Champions League experience — albeit he was unable to lead the club out of the group stage, despite beating Lazio and Celtic.

Liverpool’s interest is understandable. Any club that wants a young, forward-thinking coach who prioritises fast, intense, attacking football would be foolish not to take a look.

(Top photo: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images))

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Feyenoord’s Arne Slot emerges as leading candidate in Liverpool head coach search

the Athletic - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 16:09

Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot has emerged as a leading candidate in the search for Jurgen Klopp’s successor at Liverpool.

The Dutchman is on the shortlist having satisfied many of the relevant criteria set during the club’s recruitment process.

Slot led Feyenoord to the KNVB Cup last weekend and previously masterminded their Eredivisie title triumph in 2022-23.

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Arne Slot - a champion with Feyenoord and a manager coveted by the Premier League

The 45-year-old’s attacking brand of football appeals to Liverpool, along with his impressive track record of developing young talent.

However, his appointment is not a done deal with Liverpool continuing to assess the merits of other candidates.

Slot, who turned down Tottenham Hotspur last year, is attracting interest from a number of other top European clubs and Feyenoord remain keen to retain his services.

His current contract runs until 2026 and there is no release clause.

Liverpool’s search for Klopp’s replacement started last November after he informed the owners that he intended to stand down at the end of the season. Klopp subsequently made his decision public in January.

The process is being led by Fenway Sports Group’s CEO of football Michael Edwards, alongside new sporting director Richard Hughes.

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Access all areas at Arne Slot's Feyenoord: Kickboxing, Beckham clips and why he stayed

(Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

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Liverpool’s Diogo Jota ruled out for two weeks with hip injury

the Athletic - Tue, 04/23/2024 - 14:29

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp expects Diogo Jota to be sidelined for two weeks after suffering another injury setback.

The Portugal international only returned to action earlier this month following knee ligament damage but complained of discomfort in his hip after scoring in Sunday’s 3-1 win at Fulham.

Jota’s injury a blow to Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge with the 27-year-old likely unavailable for Wednesday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison, Saturday’s trip to West Ham United and the home clash with Tottenham Hotspur on May 5.

“Diogo scored the goal, felt a little bit and now we found out it’s a little bit more so he will be out for two weeks,” Klopp said.

“Before which game where he didn’t start (Atalanta away), he got a knock – normal challenge, then felt a little bit at the hip. That was then fine because we didn’t start him, brought him on, that was alright.

“Then he started the last game, was obviously okay and then with the finish….. It’s a small one but we are late in the season so obviously now it’s not a great moment for each injury pretty much.

“When I say two weeks, actually it’s pretty much nothing, but enough to not be available.”

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'It's an obsession': How players deal with the pressure of a title race

With Liverpool trailing leaders Arsenal on goal difference and a point ahead of third-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand, the final Merseyside derby of Klopp’s reign is crucial in the context of the title race.

Jota’s absence is set to lead to Darwin Nunez earning a recall after being on the bench for the past two matches.

“It’s super important for us — that’s clear,” Klopp added.

“Goodison Park can create quite a good atmosphere. If you play Liverpool, it’s about more than just three points – that’s how everyone sees it there. We will never get underestimated when we arrive there.

“I am very positive. This last part of the season is not about playing the freshest football of the whole year. That would be strange with how the schedule works out. But you have to win games and I think we know how to do that. We have to overcome each opponent in a specific way.”

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How Carvalho was rejuvenated at Hull - and does he have a Liverpool future?

(Matt McNulty/Getty Images)

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