Struggling Man Utd face out of sorts Liverpool at Anfield (Picture: Getty/REX)

Liverpool’s grip on the Premier League title is, if not slipping, at least loosening. 

A year after arriving at Anfield, Arne Slot finds himself battling …

Things feel a bit off on Merseyside.

Wayne Rooney discussing Chelsea’s win over Liverpool (Picture: BBC)

Wayne Rooney says Liverpool have a ‘clear problem’ after they suffered a third successive defeat to Chelsea to slip behind new Premier League leaders Ars…

Gary Neville discussing Chelsea’s victory over Liverpool (Picture: Sky Sports)

Gary Neville hailed Moises Caicedo as ‘the best midfielder in the Premier League’ after Chelsea’s victory over Liverpool.

Chelsea infli…

Liverpool boss Arne Slot (Picture: Getty)

Arne Slot said he is still having to manage Milos Kerkez’s minutes after the Liverpool defender was brought off early during their 2-1 defeat against Chelsea.

Kerkez has endured a tricky sta…

Slot was not happy with two of his players.

Chelsea host the champions in west London.

Hugo Ekitike remains an injury doubt for Liverpool’s Premier League match against Chelsea on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Ekitike was forced off in the 68th minute of Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League this week with a hamstring injury.

The Premier League champions will be without first-choice goalkeeper Alisson due to a hamstring issue, while Federico Chiesa is also a doubt for the trip to Stamford Bridge this weekend.

‘Alisson is not a part of the squad tomorrow,’ Slot said on Friday morning.

‘And he’s not going to travel to Brazil as well for the national team. So, he will be out for Saturday.

‘Hugo is going to train today again and let’s see where he is, and the same can be said for Federico. We have to wait and see after the session where exactly they are.’

Asked for a timescale on Alisson’s return, Slot said: ‘That depends also on how fast a recovery goes.

‘So, Saturday it’s clear, he’s not going to play for Brazil, and I would be surprised if he would be there in the first game after the international break.

‘But from there on, sometimes things can go a bit faster or a bit slower. It’s always difficult to say the amount of days and weeks, but for the upcoming games he will not be part of us or the Brazil team.’

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Hugo Ekitike remains an injury doubt for Liverpool’s Premier League match against Chelsea on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Ekitike was forced off in the 68th minute of Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League this week with a hamstring injury.

The Premier League champions will be without first-choice goalkeeper Alisson due to a hamstring issue, while Federico Chiesa is also a doubt for the trip to Stamford Bridge this weekend.

‘Alisson is not a part of the squad tomorrow,’ Slot said on Friday morning.

‘And he’s not going to travel to Brazil as well for the national team. So, he will be out for Saturday.

‘Hugo is going to train today again and let’s see where he is, and the same can be said for Federico. We have to wait and see after the session where exactly they are.’

Asked for a timescale on Alisson’s return, Slot said: ‘That depends also on how fast a recovery goes.

‘So, Saturday it’s clear, he’s not going to play for Brazil, and I would be surprised if he would be there in the first game after the international break.

‘But from there on, sometimes things can go a bit faster or a bit slower. It’s always difficult to say the amount of days and weeks, but for the upcoming games he will not be part of us or the Brazil team.’

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Wayne Rooney believes Arne Slot was lucky to avoid criticism after Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League this week.

Victor Osimhen’s penalty sealed the win for Galatasaray at RAMS Park while Slot delivered two major surprises with his line-up in Turkey as Dominik Szoboszlai started at right-back, while Jeremie Frimpong was preferred to Mohamed Salah on the right side of Liverpool’s attack.

The defeat leaves Liverpool outside of the top eight in the Champions League table and automatic qualification for the knockout phase could prove tricky as Slot’s side still have Real Madrid and Inter to play.

‘I thought they were really poor,’ Rooney said on the BBC’s ‘The Wayne Rooney Show’.

‘I think a worry for me would be them losing the game and it looked like, even with still quite a bit of time left to go, he’s just put every attacking player on the pitch and just said, ‘right, go and figure it out’.

‘It could’ve got a lot worse for Liverpool with the amount of times they’ve given the ball away at the back and losing it and getting broke on, and Alisson getting injured.

‘I think when you win the league, like Arne Slot did last season with Liverpool, then sometimes some of the decisions you make get overlooked.

‘His decision to play a midfield player at right-back and a right-back at right wing was… [pause] for instance, if that was Amorim at Manchester United, he’d get absolutely slaughtered.’

Liverpool are next in action in the Champions League on October 22 as they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt.

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It was a bizarre decision from the Liverpool boss.

Hugo Ekitike was forced off during Liverpool’s defeat to Galatasaray (Getty)

Hugo Ekitike has played down concern over his hamstring injury after Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

…

Does he deserve a new deal?

‘He’s just not at the races at all.’

The issues are piling up for Liverpool boss Arne Slot (Picture: Getty)

Arne Slot has confirmed Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson will miss this weekend’s Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Alisson, one of the best g…

Hugo Ekitike rejected approaches from Man Utd and Newcastle (Picture: Getty)

Hugo Ekitike has explained why he rejected a transfer approach from Manchester United before agreeing to join Liverpool.

The French striker completed a £69m move…

Six-time Premier League winner Rio Ferdinand (Picture: Getty)

Rio Ferdinand has named the ‘team to beat’ in the Premier League after a weekend in which Arsenal snatched a dramatic win and Liverpool suffered their first defeat.
…

Six-time Premier League winner Rio Ferdinand (Picture: Getty)

Rio Ferdinand has named the ‘team to beat’ in the Premier League after a weekend in which Arsenal snatched a dramatic win and Liverpool suffered their first defeat.
…

Gary Neville speaking after Arsenal’s victory over Newcastle (Picture: Sky Sports)

Gary Neville believes Arsenal now boast the ‘best squad’ in the Premier League and may even have a ‘better team’ than defendin…

Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season.

Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season.

Leoni suffered a major injury on his Liverpool debut.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge believes Florian Wirtz would have been ‘better off’ joining Bayern Munich instead of Liverpool.

Bayern appeared to be in the driving seat to sign the 22-year-old in the summer transfer window before Liverpool agreed a £116 million deal with Bayer Leverkusen.

Wirtz established himself as one of the best players in the Bundesliga at Leverkusen with 21 goals and 25 assists in his last two seasons.

But the Germany international has struggled to make the same impact in his initial phase at Liverpool with no goals or assists in six appearances so far.

‘I have to honestly say, I still feel sorry for Florian Wirtz because I think the player would be better off at Bayern Munich than at Liverpool,’ Former Bayern CEO Rummenigge, who is now on the club’s supervisory board, told SportBild.

‘We could have signed Woltemade. But I also have to say, Bayern Munich are wise enough not to engage in every kind of financial madness.

‘I’ve always said we want to achieve sporting success, but please, in a serious and financially sound way. We have a top team, this year as well. And when the three players who are currently injured come back soon, then we’ll have a great team.’

Meanwhile, Wirtz is adamant that he will not panic after his low-key start to life at Liverpool.

‘Yes, of course I would have liked to have scored a goal or collected a few points. But no matter what anyone says, I’m staying cool,’ Writz told Sky Germany.

‘I know what I’m capable of, and I also know that I’ll really bring it to the pitch at some point, so I’m just staying cool. That’s a good advice.

‘I don’t want to hear it all the time, “Give it time, give it time.” Instead, I simply try to do better each time than before. And sometimes there are phases where things might not go well for you; I haven’t had that very often in my career.

‘Once I get through it – that’s perhaps harsh, because I’m not playing badly, I just haven’t gotten the points yet – it will come eventually, and then everything will be fine.

‘It’s no secret that I’d like to have more so far, but I’m patient, and as I just said, I know full well that I can play football well. Sooner or later, I’m sure that will return to normal.’

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Slot was not happy despite the win.

The 18-year-old had been enjoying a fine game.