Trent Alexander-Arnold’s move to Real Madrid from Liverpool at season’s end is a done deal, according to multiple reports from the United Kingdom and Spain.
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The defender has been tipped to trade Anfield for the Bernabeu on a free transfer at the end of his contract for some time, and it has been reported that the Spanish giants have secured the 26-year-old with a five-year offer worth more than £220,000 a week.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side view the England international as the long-term successor to 33-year-old Dani Carvajal, who is out with an ACL injury sustained in October, and he would join the likes of top English players David Beckham, Steve McManaman, who backed Alexander-Arnold to “be a superstar” in Madrid, Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate to represent Los Blancos.
Alexander-Arnold has been free to discuss terms with overseas clubs since January, and his impending move to Real would also reunite him with his friend and England teammate Jude Bellingham.
Real made an approach to Liverpool on New Year’s Eve to try sign Alexander-Arnold during the January transfer window, but the Premier League champions in waiting declined to cash the right-back in for reportedly around £20 million to boost their chances of a league crown.
That move was vindicated as Arne Slot’s side sits 12 points clear atop of the table with nine matches remaining, but will leave them without any profit on Alexander-Arnold as he can join Real for free like French superstar Kylian Mbappe did last year from PSG.
Alexander-Arnold is sidelined at present after injuring his ankle during the Reds’ Champions League exit at the hands of PSG and missing the League Cup final loss to Newcastle as a result.
He is tipped to return next month, in time for the crowning few weeks of the Premier League campaign and what is set to be a fitting farewell to his boyhood club.
Alexander-Arnold made his first team debut as an 18-year-old in 2016 after joining Liverpool’s academy as a six-year-old.
Many Reds fans on social media have been outraged however, calling for him to not be selected for the remainder of the season
Under esteemed manager Jurgen Kloop, Alexander-Arnold won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Club World Cup.
He is also one of three key Liverpool players out of contract at season’s end, with the futures of golden boot leader Mohamed Salah and star defender Virgil van Dijk still unclear.
Liverpool have declined to comment on the reports.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot described Paris Saint Germain’s visit as the second of “three finals” in a week, but has warned much more is needed from the Premier League leaders to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals.
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The Reds escaped the Parc des Princes with a 1-0 lead last week despite being battered by the French champions, who came up against an inspired Alisson Becker in the Liverpool goal.
The Brazilian number one said his nine-save display was the “performance of his life”.
Never before have Liverpool won the first leg of a European tie away and let the lead slip at Anfield.
However, Slot is taking nothing for granted based on what he saw from PSG. Luis Enrique remained upbeat his side are “going to do it” despite suffering a first defeat in 23 games.
Adding to Slot’s concern was the lethargic first 45 minutes from his side against rock bottom Southampton in Saturday’s 3-1 win that forced the Dutchman into three half-time substitutions.
The Saints, who have won just nine points from 28 games all season, took a shock lead into the break before Darwin Nunez and two Mohamed Salah penalties turned the game around to stretch Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League to 15 points.
The League Cup final against Newcastle is also around the corner on Sunday with Slot very much on track for a treble in his first season in charge.
“The first of three finals,” he said of the victory over Southampton. “I do hope the next two finals we will play a bit better than the first one.
“The only good thing in the first 45 minutes was that they saved their energy (or PSG) and didn’t run at all. It was maybe the first time this season I saw this tempo.
“When I look at the game against PSG, we need to go one step up in terms of intensity. But if I compare it with the game today (Saturday), we need to go three, four, five, six or seven steps up in terms of intensity if we want to have any chance of reaching the next round.”
Forest break 30-year win drought | 02:30
– ‘Going for us’ –
Salah conceded that he had rarely seeing his manager so furious as he was during a half-time tirade that helped the turn the Southampton game around.
“The manager was like going for us,” said the Egyptian. “That’s something you need sometimes.” Slot has had little reason to lose his cool in his first nine months as Jurgen Klopp’s successor.
But he has shown his ruthless side when needed to keep Liverpool on course for just the fourth treble for an English side that would include the league title and Champions League.
Harvey Elliott scored the smash-and-grab winner in Paris with his first touch after replacing Salah, who had a rare off night.
Nunez’s work rate was questioned by his coach after disappointing displays against Wolves and Aston Villa, when he missed a glorious chance to win the game, last month.
Premier League wrap: Arsenal fall behind | 03:13
The Uruguayan has bounced back to deliver the assist for Elliott at the Parc des Princes and then sparked the fightback against Southampton with his first goal in 11 games.
Many believed Nunez would have been one of those sacrificed by Slot’s triple half-time change, but he rewarded his manager’s patience.
“I always hate the idea, if we need to score goals, to take someone off that can score a goal,” added Slot.
“That’s also the life of a number nine – you go from missing a chance to scoring an important goal.” After a pummelling in Paris, Slot is determined Liverpool do not make the same mistake in their quest for a seventh European Cup.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah may be producing the greatest individual Premier League season of all-time.
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Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher declared on Sky Sports that Salah is “having a Messi and Ronaldo season”.
Salah’s former Reds teammate Daniel Sturridge said “we’re talking Ballon d’Ors now”.
When you dive into the numbers, it is clear to see why the praise is so high.
The Egyptian has chalked up 41 goals and assists so far this season.
With 11 games to go, he is only six shy of Alan Shearer’s Premier League record.
Salah is leading the golden boot race with 25 goals, six clear of Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.
The 32-year-old is also the first player in a Premier League season to score 25 or more goals, and provide 15 or more assists.
His goal and assist in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at City on Sunday made him the first player in Premier League history to have 40 or more goals and assists in a season twice.
It was the 11th time Salah has scored and been a provider in a game this season, the most by a player in one of Europe’s big five leagues since Lionel Messi also did so 11 times in 2014/15.
Salah is putting the ball into the back of net or setting up a teammate to score every 58 minutes, which is better than the current record of 63 set by Manchester City star Erling Haaland in his record-breaking 36-goal 2022/23 season.
This season, Salah is the first player from a Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga or Serie A club to register 50 goals and assists in all competitions.
It is little wonder that Liverpool are 11 points clear on top of the Premier League table, finished top of the table in the Champions League’s league phase and will face Newcastle at Wembley next month in the final of the Carabao Cup.
“This is going to end up being the greatest season we’ve ever seen from an individual,” Carragher said.
“I have no doubt about that and it’s not whether he finishes above those players in terms of numbers, it’s how far – and he sets the bar so high that in the future nobody can ever get there ever again.
“We are seeing something special. We’ve known that over the last seven or eight years, but this an all-time season.”
Salah has produced his heroics among the back drop of intense speculation about his future considering he is out of contract at season’s end.
So too are fellow Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
But the trio’s status has not proved to be a distraction for Arne Slot’s side.
Salah has seemingly dropped hints about his future throughout interviews this season, and after the City win he said that he and the other experienced players in the team “need another title”.
Saudi Arabian clubs as well as French behemoth PSG and German giants Bayern Munich have been preparing to swoop on Salah, but reports from Spanish football news outlet Fichajes in recent days suggest that Liverpool may be closing in on a new deal for their superstar.
The Reds “worked intensively to avoid his exit without a fee at the end of the season, and everything indicates that the negotiations have progressed positively,” the report said.
“The possibility of him renewing his contract with the club seemed uncertain a few months ago, but now the scenario has changed and everything points to his relationship with the English team continuing for a longer time.”
Liverpool were reportedly hesitant to meet Salah’s wage demands given his age, but his breathtaking season has supposedly altered that view.
His is currently earning £350,000 a week, and Manchester United great Gary Neville revealed earlier this year that the 32-year-old is looking for a deal of around £400,000 a week over three years — which eqautes to a total contract value of about A$125m.
No matter what happens, Salah will undeniably go down as one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players, but Carragher believes a contract extension would cement his standing among the Premier League as a whole.
“I think most people would say, when we talk about the Premier League, we probably always put Thierry Henry on top. For me, Mo Salah is definitely second and if he signs another contract, that’s going to be a fairytale finish,” Carragher said.
It is often forgotten that Salah was once a Chelsea flop.
Thirteen appearances Salah made in a blue shirt for just two goals under Jose Mourinho.
The London club even loaned him out to Italian outfits Fiorentina and Roma, where he shone with 35 goals across 81 appearances for the two club, before joining Liverpool in 2017.
“For a start people try to identify me as the coach that sold Salah. I am the coach that bought Salah. It’s completely the wrong idea,” Mourinho recalled in 2019.
“I pushed the club to buy him and at the time we already had fantastic attacking players—Hazard, Willian, we had top talent there. But I told them to buy that kid.
“He was just a lost kid in London. He was a lost kid in a new world.
“We wanted to work him, to become better and better and better. But he was more of the idea of wanting to play and not wait.
“I think that he doesn’t regret that move because everything went well. Everything went well for him and the progression went well for him but, at that moment, he was just a kid with a huge desire to play every week, every minute and we couldn’t give him it.”
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – APRIL 27: Mohamed Salah of Chelsea is tackled by Jon Flanagan of Liverpool during the Barclays Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on April 27, 2014 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The move to Anfield has been an incredibly fruitful one.
Salah is a Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and two-time League Cup champion with the Reds.
He is the club’s all-time leading goal-scorer in the Premier League with 180 goals, has won the golden boot three times as well as player of the season in his 32-goal 2017-18 campaign.
He also won the Puskas Award for his stunning strike in the Merseyside Derby that season.
Such an impressive resume drew high praise from Manchester United great Roy Keane when speaking on Sky Sports after the Reds’ win at City.
“I think if you’re going to be successful, any big club, you do need that world class player,” Keane said.
You can have brilliant players around you, but you need that one player who is almost ahead of everyone else just to get you over the line. Make the difference in tight games. Salah does that week-in, week-out.”
Liverpool fans will have an abundance of opportunities to watch Salah showcase his world class skills with seven of their remaining 11 Premier League fixtures this season to be played at Anfield.
As they waltz towards the title, Salah may continue to set records along the way.
There remains a lot to play out with his contract and individual accolades, it will be fascinating to witness whether he remains a Red next season, and how he fares in the Ballon d’Or voting in October.
Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth battling the powerhouses for a Champions League place. No one predicted that.
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There is only a third of the Premier League season remaining and the race for the top four has arguably never been more intriguing.
Liverpool appears set to have one hand on the title, eight points clear of second-placed Arsenal, who have a game in hand, but the next rung down is where things get fascinating.
Nottingham Forest third, Manchester City fourth and Bournemouth fifth.
The latter jumped into the top five after Forest, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle all dropped points last weekend.
Forest have won 14, drawn five and lost six, while Bournemouth have won 12, drawn seven and lost six.
It reads like a Forest or Cherries fan plugging away on Football Manager for hours to get their team to dizzying heights, but supporters in England’s midlands and on the south coast better stop pinching themselves.
They are not dreaming. This is real.
The struggles of regular top six clubs Manchester United and Tottenham, along with Champions League Round of 16 bound Villa slipping in the league, presented opportunities, and Forest and Bournemouth have snatched them with both hands.
The Forest story is famous.
A powerhouse decades ago with back-to-back European Cup victories in 1979 and 1980 under legendary manager Brian Clough.
A year before their first continental breakthrough, Forest won the English top flight and they were runners-up the season after.
But following relegation from the Premier League in 1999, they fell into the football abyss.
Forest did not return to the Premier League until 2022 and barely avoided relegation by finishing 16th and 17th in their first two seasons back in the top tier.
Bournemouth were promoted from the Championship in the same season as Forest and initially found themselves in the bottom half of the table too.
A 12th place finish last season was preceded by coming 15th in their prior campaign.
Unlike Forest, however, Bournemouth is not a club with a rich pedigree.
Its first season in the Premier League came under now Newcastle boss Eddie Howe in 2015/16 and a ninth-place finish in their second season was the club’s best result in the top flight.
Years of mediocrity did not show too many hints of a breakout campaign in Bournemouth’s case, nor a stunning revival in Forest’s case.
But the dream of Champions League nights at the City Ground or the Vitality Stadium is alive and well, and this how they have put themselves in the hunt for midweek action against the best clubs in Europe.
Here is how they did it.
FOREST’S KIWI FRONTMAN
Like Forest’s, Chris Wood’s story is a fairytale.
The 33-year-old captain of the New Zealand national team has remarkably played for 12 different clubs in England.
He even went through a three-year period where he was sent out on loan six times by West Bromwich Albion.
Wood bounced around the various tiers of English football after moving to the UK as a 16-year-old to chase his dreams, and now the Forest talisman is a bonified star.
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: Chris Wood of Nottingham Forest celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and AFC Bournemouth at City Ground on August 17, 2024 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The six-foot three striker is third in the golden boot race.
He has netted 18 goals so far this campaign, highlighted by a hat-trick in Forest’s 7-0 rout of Brighton earlier this month, to only sit behind Mohamed Salah (24) and Erling Haaland (19).
It is his best Premier League season, and he still has 13 more opportunities to add to his tally.
“When they talk about Mo Salah and Erling Haaland – they mention Chris Wood in the same breath – you can’t compete with that,” Wood’s high school coach former New Zealand international Mike Groom told Sky Sports.
“It’s theatrical, it’s magical, it’s the stuff of dreams and kids’ dreams are fuelled by those images and that exposure.
“We’re still a rugby-playing country, but Chris is single-handedly beginning to change that.”
Wood’s height automatically makes him an aerial threat as a target man, he has scored six headed goals this season, the most in the league, but his finishing is still underrated.
In fact, it is lethal.
Wood has had 28 shots on target for the season, and scoring 18 of them makes him the most effective of any of the Premier League’s top strikers in front of goal.
New Zealand’s record goal scorer, who is also nearing the record for most appearances for his country, has also endeared himself to football fans because he is not blessed with all the attributes of the likes of Salah and Haaland.
The biggest difference is pace.
Wood is not a quick player, and the fact he lacks speed seemingly contradicts the fact that Forest prefers to play counterattacking football.
But he makes it work by timing his runs perfectly and seizing big moments.
In some ways, it makes little sense but so has his entire football journey.
“It’s definitely exceeded what I dreamt of when I was a kid and hopefully, I’ve got a lot more I can achieve to make it an even better dream,” Wood told Sky Sports.
“I want to keep the path open for New Zealanders to hopefully make it into the Premier League one day – I want to grow that generation of new kids wanting to play football and wanting to dream of doing the best they can and ending up in the biggest league.”
BOURNEMOUTH CREATE CHAOS
Bournemouth’s blueprint in attack is not dissimilar to Forest’s.
The two sides are comfortably the Premier League leaders for playing fast and direct football.
They sit back and defend resolutely, and when they win the ball back, they are off to the races.
Once the ball is in their attacking half, they press high and try to force turnovers in dangerous areas.
It makes for exciting games to watch, and Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has been heaped with praise this season for his tactics.
“I sometimes value much more a player carrying the ball and forcing things to happen,” Iraola said in an interview with The Independent.
“We have to prepare [positional] patterns, but we cannot just prioritise them. If you can see that you don’t have a teammate ahead, forget about the pattern, just drive the ball and try to force things to happen. I want him to attack first.”
Meanwhile premierleague.com’s Alex Keble summed up the essence of their play as “disruption”.
“High risk, high reward: that’s the mentality of Iraola and his team, whether in hounding the ball with an all-action and full-pitch press or piercing opposition lines with sharp vertical football and attacking overloads,” Keble said.
“Perhaps the best word to encapsulate their tactical approach is “disruption”.
“Disrupt the other team’s play with furious pressing, and disrupt the expected rhythms of your own attack with improvisations and surges forward in high numbers.”
That philosophy has brought out the best in Justin Kluivert, who has scored 11 goals so far this campaign, four more than last season.
The Dutchman has really found his groove in the Premier League in recent times.
He was player of the month in January for scoring five goals and recording two assists in four appearances, of which Bournemouth won three and drew one.
The highlight of his season so far was a hat-trick, and an assist, in a 4-1 away win against Newcastle who were previously unbeaten in nine matches before that January fixture.
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – JANUARY 25: Justin Kluivert of Bournemouth celebrates after scoring to make it 1-0 during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest FC at Vitality Stadium on January 25, 2025 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
That victory was followed up by a 5-0 victory against Forest, where Kluivert contributed a goal and an assist to help end Forest’s eight-game unbeaten run.
Knocking off several in-form teams led to Iraola taking home manager of the month, and David Brooks’ stunning volley against Everton made it a clean sweep of the awards by winning goal of the month.
All of that came amid a length injury list, including strikers Evanilson and Enes Unal.
But Kluivert’s breakout combined with the superb form of fellow attackers Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo, who have scored seven goals apiece this season, has prevented injuries from being an excuse.
No matter who is on the sidelines, once Bournemouth wins the ball back there are simply too many runners for opponents to attack.
Remarkably, one would expect such a style of play to make them vulnerable at the back.
But Iraola’s side do not play a high line, and they have the equal-third best defensive record in the league, alongside Forest, conceding 29 goals so far. Only Arsenal and Liverpool have been stingier at the back.
They key has been the centre back pairing of Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi, a combination Iraola landed on during the season.
In the 13 games they have started together, Bournemouth have lost once, to Liverpool.
Zabaryni is the rock that has played every minute this season, while 19-year-old Huijsen has been a revelation.
“Huijsen is undoubtedly the star of the two,” Keble wrote.
“Signed from Juventus for around £15 million last summer, his strength in the air, composure in possession, and – crucially – assertive front-foot style have catapulted Bournemouth to new heights.”
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 08: Dean Huijsen of Bournemouth looks on during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Everton and AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park on February 08, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
FOREST’S ELITE DEFENCE
ESPN’s Bruce Schoenfeld summed up Forest’s defensive brilliance in writing that manager Nuno Espirito Santo’s “football has hardly changed even though instead of a relegation battle, he has European qualification in his sights”.
Forest defends like their life depends on it.
They have comfortably made more clearances than any other team, including the equal most amount of clearances off the line.
They are level with Liverpool for the most number of clean sheets with ten.
Goalkeeper Matz Sels has punched away the aerial more than anyone else.
They are desperate.
And they are bringing an enormous amount of pride to the club’s greats.
“I haven’t watched a better pairing at the back than Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic in my 50 years of watching Forest,” former England and Forest midfielder Steve Hodge said on BBC Radio last month.
“I really mean that – pound for pound what they are as footballers and as a pair,” he added. “They have everything. As a pair, they complement each other perfectly and they both seem to be calm characters even under severe pressure.”
Nikola Milenkovic of Nottingham Forest celebrates victory during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Brighton and Hove Albion at the City Ground in Nottingham, England, on February 1, 2025. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Milenkovic joined from Fiorentina last summer and the 31-year-old Serbian is in many pundits’ team of the season so far.
He is an old-fashioned, no-nonsense centre back whose heading ability has led to him scoring two goals as well as clearing many attacking threats.
But in the coming games, Forest face arguably the biggest defensive test of the season.
Away at Newcastle, home to Arsenal and home to Manchester City are their next three league games.
They passed with flying colours earlier in the season, defeating Liverpool at Anfield and taking a point from them at home.
That shows that there is little to doubt that Forest’s steeliness will remain.
BOURNEMOUTH’S EXCELLENT ROAD RECORD
A major part of Bournemouth’s success has been their impressive away record.
The Cherries have won six, drawn four and lost three of their matches on the road this season, including going unbeaten in their last seven away games.
That streak has included a pair of 2-2 draws against rivals for the European places Chelsea and Fulham, as well as the Newcastle win mentioned earlier.
Their most recent away win was a 3-1 win against cellar dwellers Southampton in a south coast derby, and post-match Iraola identified fast starts as the reason for their away success.
“I think it’s key, especially when you play away,” he said.
“I think we are having good starts. I remember last games, Newcastle away, Everton the other day.
“Even the two goals in 16 minutes, but in the first minute I think we had two corners for us.
“It’s a good start and a message that we are coming here and we want to win this game and we are not happy with the 0-0 and we want things to happen quickly.
“Also, I think they are a team that now is aggressive in the press. I think there were spaces behind them. There were spaces behind us.
“The game could go very open and I’m happy, especially first half, I think we controlled the game very well.”
Their ability to get results on the road will be severely tested later in the season as they visit Arsenal and Manchester City in the final four games of their campaign.
James Tarkowski struck in the 98th minute to salvage a 2-2 draw for Everton against Liverpool in a dramatic final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Wednesday.
Liverpool edge seven points clear at the top of the Premier League but were denied a vital win by Tarkowski’s blistering strike after Mohamed Salah put Arne Slot’s men in front.
Abdoulaye Doucoure, Curtis Jones and Slot were then sent off as tempers flared at the final whistle on a night Liverpool will come to regret if they do not go on to lift a record-equalling 20th English top flight title.
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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 12: James Tarkowski of Everton celebrates after his equalising goal stands following a VAR review as Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool appears dejected during the Premier League match between Everton FC and Liverpool FC at Goodison Park on February 12, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Everton are set to move to a new 53,000 capacity stadium in Liverpool’s Bramley Moore Dock next season and gave their home since 1892 a night to remember against their local rivals.
Liverpool’s quest for a quadruple came unstuck with a shock FA Cup exit to second-tier strugglers Plymouth on Sunday.
Slot made 10 changes as he resorted to his strongest available side with Salah and Virgil van Dijk among those who had been afforded the weekend off.
Everton’s own FA Cup exit to Bournemouth on Saturday had punctured some of their momentum since David Moyes’ return for a second spell in charge.
The Toffees had won their previous three Premier League games to pull nine points clear of the relegation zone and got off to a flying start.
Liverpool were caught napping on 11 minutes by a quick free-kick by Jarrad Branthwaite to free Beto, who beat Alisson Becker for his third goal in two league games.
The visitors could have been swept away in the feverish atmosphere early on but the Reds immediate response was the making of champions.
Alexis Mac Allister started and finished the move as the diminutive Argentine midfielder ghosted into the penalty area to head in Salah’s teasing cross.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 12: Referee Michael Oliver speaks to Virgil van Dijk, Luis Diaz and Alisson Becker of Liverpool at the end of the Premier League match between Everton FC and Liverpool FC at Goodison Park on February 12, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)Source: Getty ImagesLiverpool’s English midfielder #17 Curtis Jones is held back by stewards as he remonstrates with Everton players after the English Premier League football match between Everton and Liverpool at Goodison Park in Liverpool, north west England on February 12, 2025. The match ended in a draw at 2-2. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) /Source: AFPLIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 12: David Moyes, Manager of Everton, waves to the fans at the end of the Premier League match between Everton FC and Liverpool FC at Goodison Park on February 12, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Everton then suffered a huge blow as their creative hub Iliman Ndiaye limped off in tears after a long stoppage.
The first half never recovered its flow amid a flurry of fouls and yellow cards as the Premier League fixture with the most red cards in history threatened to boil over once more.
Everton started the better once more in the second period. Doucoure wasted a great chance to retake the lead when he headed wide when unmarked inside the area.
The home crowd briefly erupted once more when Branthwaite fired home only for the celebrations to be cut short by the offside flag.
Slot was growing visibly frustrated with his side’s lack of penetration going forward and turned to his bench for an impact with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jones and Darwin Nunez sent on to find a winner.
The changes worked as Salah delivered what looked like a potential title-clinching moment.
Jones and Nunez exchanged a one-two and when the midfielder’s shot was blocked by Branthwaite, it fell kindly for Salah to prod in his 27th goal of the season.
Only a brilliant save by JOrdan Pickford crucially denied Salah a second late on.
And Everton rallied when Liverpool failed to deal with a hopeful ball into the box and it fell to centre-back Tarkowski to fire into the top corner.
A lengthy VAR check followed for offside and Everton fans had to be cleared off the pitch before the game could restart.
When it did there was more fireworks as Doucoure and Jones were both shown a second yellow card for clashing after the Everton midfielder celebrated in front of the travelling Liverpool support.
Slot was also shown red for his protests towards referee Michael Oliver.
Ange Postecoglou has admitted that it is unlikely Tottenham will sign any more players in the January transfer window, despite Spurs’ glaring injury crisis.
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The Australian manager is under immense pressure, with Tottenham currently sitting in 15th after winning only one of their last 10 games.
Ahead of Spurs’ next fixture, a Europe League tie against Hoffenheim, Postecoglou is set to be without more than 10 players, with stars Christian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Rodrigo Bentancur all injured.
Tottenham have recruited 19-year-old Min-hyeok Yang and Czech goalkeeper Antonín Kinský, but it looms unlikely any other reinforcements will arrive in North London.
“Yeah, potentially (we won’t sign any players). The club is working hard to try to get some help for the players,” he said.
Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur, shows dejection after defeat in the Premier League match between Everton FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Goodison Park on January 19, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“But as far as I know, there’s nothing imminent. But things happen quickly in the last week of the window, so still hopeful.”
While they’ve fallen down the Premier League ladder, a win over Hoffenheim could see Spurs automatically qualify for the Europa League play-offs.
Meanwhile, they’re also still alive in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, and Postecoglou refuted suggestions his players were focusing on Cup competitions.
“Nah mate. The players are giving everything every game. This has been a good solid two months of us relying on a small group of players,” he said.
“We’re in every competition which is a great thing but it adds a toll. We’ve been playing two games a week for this whole period. That’s why we’re picking up some injuries now.
“The players are giving everything every game. They’re trying their utmost in every fixture we have.
Late goal unable to separate top clash | 01:09
“We’re still in three cup competitions so there’s a fantastic opportunity there for us in the next couple of months.”
He also explained that it’s commonplace for teams that feature in European competitions to be hit with a raft of injuries.
“We’ve been hit the hardest but it is becoming more prevalent. If you look at the teams in Europe, even last year, Newcastle really suffered, and Villa to a certain extent this year,” he explained.
“You really need a strong squad of players and keep them healthy to cope with playing in Europe if you do well in the cup competitions like we have because it’s not manageable when you’ve got three games a week for the length of time we have.
“Some of it is because we’ve done well in the Carabao Cup and that’s added extra games to our fixturing, and in Europe this year two extra games… so all these things are taking its toll.”
Manchester United rallied to snap a four-game losing streak and halt Liverpool’s romp towards the Premier League title in a thrilling 2-2 draw at Anfield on Sunday.
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Liverpool move six points clear at the top of the table, with a game in hand to come, over second-placed Arsenal.
But this was an opportunity lost for Arne Slot’s men after they came from behind to lead 2-1 through Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah’s penalty.
United broke their six-year goal drought at Anfield to open the scoring in spectacular fashion through Lisandro Martinez and got the point a much-improved performance deserved when Amad Diallo levelled on 80 minutes.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – JANUARY 05: Amad Diallo of Manchester United scores his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC at Anfield on January 05, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
A point edges the Red Devils up to 13th in the table and seven clear of the relegation zone.
Liverpool boss Slot warned that United were “much better” than their shocking league position suggested ahead of the game and so it proved.
United had been carved open at will by Newcastle in a dismal 2-0 defeat on Monday that left manager Ruben Amorim declaring they were in a relegation battle.
Amorim’s hand was strengthened by the return of captain Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte from suspension, while Kobbie Mainoo also returned to the starting line-up.
The Portuguese’s plan to frustrate Liverpool worked but the home side did have the chances early on to make the breakthrough.
Gakpo prodded past the far post from Ryan Gravenberch’s through ball. Moments later Salah picked out Alexis Mac Allister with a sumptuous pass that the Argentine caught flush and forced Andre Onana into a fine save with his feet.
United took time to begin to impose themselves as an attacking threat but should have been in front before the break.
Diallo miscued his header with the goal gaping from Diogo Dalot’s cross. Rasmus Hojlund then had the best chance of the first half when he raced in behind the Liverpool defence but could not beat Alisson Becker.
– Renewed confidence –
However, confidence was suddenly coursing back into United players who have looked bereft in recent weeks.
The visitors’ breakthrough came from an unlikely source as Martinez showed his strikers how to finish with a blistering hit in off the underside of the bar for just his second goal for the club.
The Anfield crowd were beginning to get restless as the league leaders were briefly at sixes and sevens.
However, Liverpool’s position at the top of the table owes much to the depth of firepower they possess.
Even on a quiet day for Salah, they had an in-form forward to come up with the moment of magic required to turn the game.
Gakpo turned inside his Dutch international colleague Matthijs de Ligt and blasted high past Onana for his 10th goal in 15 games on the hour mark.
Despite the equaliser Slot immediately made two offensive changes, as Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez were introduced, and got his reward.
MacAllister’s header flicked off De Ligt’s outstretched arm inside the penalty area and a VAR review resulted in the awarding of a spot-kick.
Salah smashed low and hard beyond Onana for his 18th Premier League goal in 19 games.
However, United’s spirited display got the point it merited to halt an alarming losing streak for Amorim so early in his reign.
Alejandro Garnacho’s attitude has been questioned by his new boss but the Argentine came off the bench to make the equaliser as his low cross was turned in by Diallo.
And it should have been even better for United when Harry Maguire spooned Joshua Zirkzee’s pass over the bar with the goal gaping deep into stoppage time.
– Fulham fight back to draw against Ipswich –
Raul Jimenez scored two penalties as Fulham twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with relegation-threatened Ipswich at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Sam Szmodics put the visitors ahead in the 38th minute, with Jimenez levelling from the spot midway through the second period.
Liam Delap restored Ipswich’s lead with another penalty but Jimenez had the final say in stoppage time.
The result leaves Ipswich third from bottom of the table after falling agonisingly short of recording two consecutive league wins for the first time this season.
Mid-table Fulham enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the first half but Ipswich broke the deadlock against the run of play with their first chance of note.
Delap surged forward and fed Leif Davis, whose cross was headed onto the bar by overlapping right-back Ben Johnson. After a scramble to clear the danger, Szmodics was on hand to crash the ball off Calvin Bassey and past Bernd Leno.
It took until the 69th minute for the Cottagers to get back on level terms. Harry Wilson found a pocket of space once more following Rodrigo Muniz’s pass and was brought down inside the box by Sam Morsy.
Referee Darren Bond initially said no penalty but changed his original decision after a VAR check and Jimenez stepped up to slot his spot-kick to Christian Walton’s left.
Delap put Ipswich back ahead just two minutes later after he was fouled by Timothy Castagne and they went close to a third when substitute Jack Clarke struck a post.
But Fulham continued to probe for an equaliser and it arrived in the first minute of stoppage time.
Jimenez picked himself up after being fouled by Davis and coolly found the top-right corner to secure his side a share of the spoils.
“When you lead twice you always feel a little bit disappointed not to win,” Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna told Sky Sports.
“I’m so proud of the way we played. We had some chances to get a two-goal margin but weren’t able to take them.” Fulham boss Marco Silva praised the performance of Jimenez, who now has eight Premier League goals this season.
“He showed the character and the calmness,” he said. “There are many positives I take from the game. In some moments we cannot concede like we did and we have been punished by some mistakes.
“Everybody can talk about European hopes. I prefer our team to speak on the pitch. If you want to be fighting you have to be much more ruthless and aggressive.”
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At the start of the season, no one would have predicted Nottingham Forest to be guaranteed a place in the Premier League’s top three on New Year’s Day.
The once mighty Forest, who famously won back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980, were in fact one of the favourites to be relegated this season, according to the bookmakers.
After winning two of their last three matches to finish one place above the drop zone last campaign, that prediction made sense.
But now, they are one place off top spot and everyone else has egg on their face.
Forest moved to second with a 2-0 win at Everton in the early hours of Monday morning Australian time, and at worst they will start 2025 in third if Chelsea win at second-last Ipswich Town.
It was their fifth consecutive victory in the league, which is the longest winning streak in English football’s top flight since 1995.
Sitting on 37 points with 11 wins and four draws for 19 matches, they have already surpassed their entire points tally from last season by five.
Forest returned to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years in the 2022/23 season and in their two previous campaigns back among England’s heavyweights, they only won nine games in each season.
“We are enjoying it,” Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo said of their league position. “We are especially enjoying because our fans are enjoying.
“This is what we have to do together, let’s enjoy the journey, compete in every match. Nothing changes, we have to realise we didn’t achieve anything.”
It has been a stunning turnaround, and it has been built off the back of staunch defence.
The 26 goals they have scored so far is the equal least, alongside Aston Villa, among the top 12 teams, but they have still presented a serious attacking threat.
New Zealander Chris Wood has been the hero up front with 11 goals after earlier in the year knocking back the pursuits of the A-League’s newest team, Auckland FC.
The tall striker is a major threat in the air and is a proven finisher with a double figure goal tally in six different Premier League seasons across his stints at Forest and Burnley.
Reds hammer West Ham in 5-0 rout | 00:45
The 33-year-old is on track to better his best season tally of 14, which he has reached twice, and sits equal fourth in the golden boot standings, six shy of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Everton boss, and Wood’s former mentor at Burnley, Sean Dyche was full of praise for Wood after he scored at Goodison Park.
“He’s got a different format they’re working to there which seems to be to his liking. He’s got wide players, they’ve got a strength behind them, and they get the ball up to him quickly,” Dyche said.
“That seems to be a thing that’s good for him and not massively dissimilar to what we were trying to achieve at Burnley.
“But yeah, I think a lot of credit to him, credit to his professionalism to keep on top of himself. He had a quiet spell when he first went there and [there were] a few question marks over him.
“That can happen with strikers. He’s had that before, and he’s come through it. Certainly a very good player, and someone I’ve got a lot of respect for.”
But it is at the other end of the pitch where Forest are causing the most headaches for their opponents.
Goalkeeper Matz Sels boasts the most clean sheets in the league with eight, and has made many crucial stops throughout the first half of the season.
In front of Sels is real the star of the show, however.
Centre back Nikola Milenkovic was bought from Fiorentina for £12 million in the summer and is proving to be bargain in comparison to what the richer clubs fork out for the linchpins of their defences.
In fact, the 27-year-old is widely regarded as the best signing of the season.
“The Serbian defender has helped turn Nottingham Forest into one of the best defensive sides in the Premier League under Nuno Espirito Santo’s guidance, with an old-school appetite for the battle with his centre-forward,” The UK Telegraph’s sports writer Lawrence Ostlere wrote.
“He’s also added a set-piece threat at the other end of the pitch, with a couple of goals and an assist already this season, and must have added plenty of value to his £12m transfer fee.”
Milenkovic’s impact has been so great, that it has even forgiven other missteps Forest have made in transfer windows past.
“Nottingham Forest were mocked, sometimes rightly, for signing vast numbers of players in recent years; so many that they didn’t have room in the squad for some of them,” The UK Telegraph’s senior football correspondent Richard Jolly wrote.
“Yet recruitment has clearly been refined: less quantity, more quality. Their side now has a series of fine buys. Nikola Milenkovic may be the best: not merely in what he is – a giant, dominant central defender – but in terms of what Forest lacks.
“He complements the excellent Murillo wonderfully. Forest now have one of the best central-defensive partnerships and defences in the division. And at £12m, Milenkovic is a bargain.”
In midfield, captain Morgan Gibbs-White has been inspirational.
He followed manager Nuno from Wolves to the City Ground, and has since become an England international.
Gibbs-White scored in their most recent outing at Everton, but it his creativity in the middle of the pitch that has drawn the most praise.
At Goodison Park, he also set up Wood’s goal and has been dubbed by his manager a “talented player” who is “fantastic”.
He along with Wood and Milenkovic will need to maintain their high standards if Forest are to challenge for the title or hang on to a Champions League place.
Chants of ‘we’re going to win the league’ have rung out from the Forest fans regularly in recent months, but with every win they are becoming less tongue-in-cheek.
It would take a mighty collapse from league leaders Liverpool, who are eight points clear with a game in hand, but the fact Forest and the Reds are battling it out at the pointy end of the table is a providing older fans with a lot of nostalgia.
Forest won the English First Division in 1978 with Liverpool finishing second, the following year their places were reversed.
During the 1980s, Forest finished third on three occasions and they last played in the European Cup, now the Champions League, in the 1980-81 season.
Now, the dream is real of hearing the Champions League theme on a Tuesday or Wednesday night at the City Ground.
It will be a challenge, but their biggest tests might be behind them.
Arsenal keep pressure on Liverpool | 01:27
In the second half of the season, their clashes with fellow top five teams Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City are all at home.
That Liverpool match is only two weeks away, first they will travel to an in form Wolves in a grudge match for Nuno, and after that clash we will have a better understanding how serious about being a top team Forest truly are.
Their current standing proves this is more than merely a good start, but it remains unclear whether this could be another Leicester City fairytale title, an Aston Villa of last season charge to the Champions League, or a campaign that fades into the middle of the table.
Premier League official David Coote was sacked on Monday after referee chiefs described his position as “untenable” over a video making derogatory remarks about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
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“Following the conclusion of a thorough investigation into David Coote’s conduct, his employment with PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) has been terminated today with immediate effect,” the PGMOL said in a statement.
“David Coote’s actions were found to be in serious breach of the provisions of his employment contract, with his position deemed untenable.
“Supporting David Coote continues to be important to us and we remain committed to his welfare.” The video appeared to refer to a match that Coote officiated between Liverpool and Burnley in July 2020, which finished 1-1.
Klopp criticised Coote after the match, saying the referee had been too lenient in his treatment of Burnley challenges.
Coote is also the subject of UEFA disciplinary proceedings after a video emerged of him allegedly snorting a white powder during Euro 2024.
The Football Association is investigating further allegations Coote discussed betting on giving a yellow card with a fan before a match in England’s second-tier Championship.
His final Premier League game was Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Aston Villa on November 9.
Premier League leaders Liverpool’s Merseyside derby trip to Everton on Saturday was postponed due to adverse weather conditions caused by Storm Darragh.
High winds and heavy rain have battered western parts of the United Kingdom, causing widespread travel disruption.
In a statement, Everton said the fixture had been postponed on safety grounds following a meeting between both clubs, local police and Liverpool City Council.
“Whilst we appreciate this will be deeply disappointing for supporters, the safety of fans, staff and players is of paramount importance,” Everton’s statement added.
The fixture will be the final Merseyside derby in the league at Everton’s Goodison Park, home to the club since 1892, before they move to a new 53,000 capacity stadium next season.
Liverpool lead the Premier League by seven points after 14 games of the 38-match season.
Fixtures in England’s second tier Championship in Plymouth and Cardiff were postponed on Friday due to a rare red weather warning issued by the MET office, the UK’s national weather service, for south-west England and Wales.
