Trent Alexander-Arnold: How do Liverpool replace right-back?

Trent Alexander-Arnold's Liverpool departure has finally been confirmed and the Premier League champions will already be thinking about how they could replace him.The 26-year-old right-back has won it all since making his debut in 2016, including the Premier League twice and one Champions League.Real Madrid seems the likely destination for the England defender, but what should Liverpool do next - and who could they bring to Anfield? Trent Alexander-Arnold's Liverpool departure has finally been...
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 Premier League •

FA Cup: Liverpool knocked out, Villa and Wolves go through

Football writer Ninad Barbadikar analyses Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round action involving Premier League teams. The side at the bottom of the Championship knocked out the Premier League leaders as Plymouth Argyle produced the shock of the fourth round, beating Liverpool in an unforgettable FA Cup tie at Home Park. Arne Slot made 10 changes to his starting line-up, with 17-year-old Trey Nyoni selected in the XI for the first time, while senior players including Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Ry...
BBC Sport •

Fabian Hurzeler: How Brighton boss has managed transition from Roberto de Zerbi

Fabian Hurzeler had big shoes to fill at Amex Stadium following Roberto de Zerbi's exit, but the Seagulls are continuing to soar in the Premier League.The 32-year-old has Brighton seventh in the table before they face Aston Villa next week, another team battling for a Champions League place.First, however, Albion face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup quarter-finals - with a spot in the last four at Wembley at stake.BBC Sport analyses Hurzeler's impact and how he has tweaked De Zerbi's ways to ext...
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Where does Salah rank among the best players in Premier League history?

When it comes to debating the Premier League's greatest ever player, should Mohamed Salah be in the conversation? Football writer Ninad Barbadikar picks the players he is up against.  Mohamed Salah is currently enjoying one of the all-time great seasons in Premier League history, that much is absolutely certain. Following his contract renewal, Liverpool fans will look forward to two more years of the Egyptian’s excellence. But how good is he, and how does he compare to the very best? The Premier...
BBC Sport •

Trent Alexander-Arnold: How do Liverpool replace right-back?

Trent Alexander-Arnold's Liverpool departure has finally been confirmed and the Premier League champions will already be thinking about how they could replace him.The 26-year-old right-back has won it all since making his debut in 2016, including the Premier League twice and one Champions League.Real Madrid seems the likely destination for the England defender, but what should Liverpool do next - and who could they bring to Anfield? Trent Alexander-Arnold's Liverpool departure has finally been...
The Analyst •

Stuttgart: From Relegation Battle to Title Challenge?

Stuttgart are sitting pretty in second behind Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, but it wasn’t always like this. A calamitous 2022-23 season saw Stuttgart go through four managers, the last of whom steered them to safety. It took a two-legged relegation play-off for Sebastian Hoeneß to keep them afloat but he and the club haven’t looked back since. Six wins from seven in the Bundesliga this season and a point ahead of the usual suspects Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, Stuttgart have been not
Sporting Life •

Aston Villas high-line: Will Unai Emerys tactic continue to reward this season?

*Published before Aston Villa's 6-1 win over Brighton on September 30* Villa are unusual in many respects. The tactical landscape of the Premier League has probably never been more exciting than it is this season. Roberto De Zerbi's Brighton, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool 2.0 and Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham are all setting up in a different manner to any other Premier League season, as are Unai Emery's Aston Villa. Since the Spaniard's arrival, Villa have become famous for consistently deploying a
FotMob •

Exequiel Palacios: The unsung hero in Leverkusen’s Bundesliga title challenge

With so much individual brilliance in the side, one player whose contributions may have been overshadowed by others is Argentina international, Exequiel Palacios. What makes him essential for Alonso’s Die Werkself? Now entering his fifth season at the BayArena, 24-year-old Palacios is finally getting a consistent run in the side under Alonso, after previously being in and out of the side due to injuries.
inews.co.uk •

Why Man Utd are signing Wout Weghorst - the tireless runner and 'coat stand' Ten Hag craves

Erik ten Hag has made a career out of being successful with target men strikers. For Marnix Kolder, who played for Go Ahead Eagles in Ten Hag’s first coaching job, his role was clear. “I was the ‘escape,’ when the ball was pressured at the back, the long ball from the keeper or the central defender came to me,” Kolder told The Independent last year. “I don’t know the word in English – a coat stand? The ‘kapstok’. It’s a typical word in Dutch. The big person they can play the balls to, then you
Analytics FC •

Scouting the Primeira Liga: the Next Players to Make the Step Up

Ninad Barbadikar looks at the players who could be the next to make the step up from the Primeira Liga in Portugal This summer, five Primeira Liga players made the move away from Portugal for transfer fees worth a total of £188.5m. Darwin Nunez, the highly coveted SL Benfica forward was signed by Liverpool for £67.50m; on top of that, with add-ons included, his fee could potentially go up to £85m, making him Liverpool’s most expensive player of all time.