Key events
A fascinating piece from Simon Burnton on the controversial use of ticket resale websites.
Time for a regular.
Moyes also discussed the future of centre-half Jarrad Branthwaite, a player routinely linked with a move away.
“You have to remember Jarrad Branthwaite’s got a three-year contract left. He’s got two years and a year’s option. So, if anything, Everton hold all the cards regarding that player.
“Over the journey, over many years, I’ve had to sell different players, from Wayne Rooney to Mikel Arteta, to Joleon Lescott. Part of being a football manager, especially at certain clubs, you have to sell on the journey to try and build as well. But I wouldn’t think Jarrad is one of the players I would want to lose, that’s for sure.”
David Moyes has been offering some injury updates for Everton. On Dominic Calvert-Lewin, recovering from a hamstring problem, he said: “We’ve got about another three weeks on Dom before we’re even probably talking about him getting back into – I don’t know about full-time training or games yet, I’m not sure – but we certainly think another three weeks before we can start mentioning him.”
Jesper Lindstrøm has had a hernia operation – “that’ll rule Jesper out probably for most of the season now”.
It’s a remarkable season Mo Salah’s having for Liverpool: 32 goals in 45 games, along with 22 assists. But I still don’t think anything beats the magic of his debut year, 44 goals from the guy who’d not got a look-in at Chelsea.
Fascinating to read this from Barney Ronay seven years ago.
And this is the next challenge, as even the better teams begin to make detailed plans for a player who must now demand this level of attention. Can Salah continue to produce his extraordinary, uplifting fantasy football? Only a fool – as they have in the past – would bet against him.
Some Friday morning quizzing, if you fancy it.
Manchester United looking into alleged use of tear gas on fans in Lyon
Jamie Jackson
Manchester United are looking into an alleged incident of tear gas being used on their support during last night’s 2-2 Europa League quarter-final draw with Lyon at the Groupama Stadium.
Thursday’s first leg was attended by 2,800 away fans, who were required by local authorities to travel to a conference centre 13 miles away from the city centre to collect wristbands before boarding shuttle buses to the ground.
The significant expense and inconvenience of those demands were compounded by a malfunctioning public transport network and large queues at the pick-up point before being taken to the stadium in the east of the city.
Additional reporting by PA Media
There’s not much of a title fight, nor is there one at the other end of the table. It’s all about the Champions League now in the Premier League, so here’s a breakdown of the top-five contenders (not including Liverpool and Arsenal).
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Yes, this is the big, exciting weekend that’ll see the introduction of semi-automated offside technology in the Premier League.
If that sounds like gibberish to you, here’s Ben Fisher’s handy explainer.
What is semi-automated offside?
Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) is a tool that automates key elements of the offside decision-making process for the video assistant referee (VAR). It will first be used for the first time in the Premier League when Manchester City host Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime. The league hopes SAOT will address a key frustration: delays. Once a SAOT-generated outcome has been reviewed and approved by the VAR, the decision will be relayed to those inside the stadium on screens and shared on social media, via the league’s PLMatchCentre X account.
How will it help?
It should speed up decisions, though before last weekend the average VAR delay per game was down from 64 seconds in 2023-24 to 39 in 2024-25. The league believes SAOT will deliver efficiency and consistency. For example, it is thought the VAR check for Moisés Caicedo’s disallowed goal for Chelsea against Tottenham this month, when Levi Colwill was deemed offside, which took more than three minutes, would have taken less than half the time with SAOT. It will not, though, eradicate delays.
How does it work?
The system uses up to 30 cameras mounted around stadiums – with most capturing footage at 100 frames per second, twice the frame of typical broadcast cameras. The technology tracks the movement of the ball and up to 10,000 data points per player to produce a ‘virtual world’ in which potential offsides are detected. Those are automatically flagged to the VAR, reducing the possibility of missing an offside. In the Premier League this season, offside calls have been adjudged to be 100% correct.
Will SAOT mean more ‘toenail’ offsides?
No. The league will continue to implement the “tolerance level” sometimes referred to as “thicker lines”, of about 5cm, which gives the benefit of the doubt to the attacking team and prevents marginal offsides. The league adopted the approach at the start of the 2021-22 season and the sense is it has been well-received by clubs.
Why the wait?
The league wanted to be confident there would be a near-seamless incorporation. It has been testing the technology from November and although it was hoped SAOT would be in use last autumn, the league further delayed its introduction after an eight-minute VAR delay when it was trialled in the FA Cup fifth round in March. The technology did not work during Bournemouth’s win over Wolves, before Milos Kerkez’s first-half goal was disallowed, because the ball was obscured by numerous players. In those cases, officials will revert to the current VAR technology.
Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler has been reflecting on a difficult few games for his side: there was the FA Cup quarter-final exit to Nottingham Forest, a 3-0 loss at home to Aston Villa, and then defeat to rivals Crystal Palace. Cue some inspiration … from Gareth Southgate.
Of course, everyone can imagine if you have these three bad results it’s not the perfect week. Yesterday I saw a lecture from Gareth Southgate and he was talking at the Richard Dimbleby lecture. And he talked about how to build resilience. And I really liked that. He talked about, you need to fail to build this resilience and I think we [are] exactly in the same situation. We need to fail to build that resilience.
You have to go through it together and my job there is to give the guys the biggest belief I have to them that we get through this phase together.
Kaoru Mitoma is an injury doubt for Brighton’s clash with Leicester on Saturday.
Morning, all. We haven’t got to Spurs yet: it was a mixed evening for Ange Postecoglou’s men, unable to nab a lead in their tie with Eintracht Frankfurt but still grateful for Pedro Porro’s little bit of brilliance.
Here’s what Ange had to say: “I’m resigned to the fact that the football Gods have got their eyes elsewhere this year – they’re obviously busy with other clubs and other managers so whatever we get we’re going to have to do it without them.”
Right, over to Taha Hashim to steer you through the next few hours. Salah reaction, Europa League fallout and press conference news, he’s all over it. Enjoy.
Let’s pivot away from Salah and Liverpool for a moment to take in some reaction from last night. Ruben Amorim defended André Onana after his costly errors in Manchester United’s (still quite creditable) 2-2 draw at Lyon.
But then, Amorim has to defend Onana, doesn’t he?
Slot has spoken a lot more about Liverpool’s form in general, as they look to bounce back from a rare defeat – their first away from home in the league this season – to Fulham last weekend. The Reds host West Ham on Sunday afternoon as they edge closer to the league title. They’re still 11 points clear remember.
Closest rivals Arsenal host Brentford in the Saturday teatime game, where they can reduce the gap to eight points to provide a semblance of jeopardy in the non-title race. Slot said the Gunners could have won 5-0 or 6-0 against Real Madrid in midweek, so he was obviously impressed with Mikel Arteta’s men.
What makes Salah so special?
Slot says: “He’s always judged as a player, but I also see him as a humble human being who wants to put a lot of effort into the player he’s become. What makes him special on the pitch is that he can score goals, even if he’s not in the best half hour or best 30 minutes. He’s mentally strong and you need that to be at the highest level for seven, eight years. That’s probably what stands out.”
On the influence Slot himself had on Salah staying: “I’m part of that process but I don’t deserve the compliments. Firstly it’s Mo and his agent. Then it’s the club, Michael Edwards and Richard putting in the effort, and effort also means money!”
Slot says he has a more “boring answer” to questions about Van Dijk’s contract and cannot confirm whether the Dutchman is close to agreeing a new deal of his own.
He said it all with a glint in his eye, mind you. “I don’t read everything that you do,” he tells a journalist.
Slot admits Salah deal is relief for fans
Arne Slot is speaking to the media right now.
Reaction to Salah’s new deal: “Happy of course. He’s shown for so many years how much value he has for the team. I assume all the fans and his teammates are very happy that he extended for two more years. Hopefully on Sunday he can show again how important he is for us.”
Relief that he’s signed? “For the fans I think it is. I knew his contract situation over the course of the season. I knew things were heading in the right direction. It’s a compliment for Richard [Hughes] that he [Salah] signed as he could probably go to any club in the world as a free agent.”
Next up on Liverpool’s priority list? Sorting a deal for Salah’s long-time teammate, VVD. It sounds like it’s definitely in the pipeline in yet another boost for Slot and Reds’ supporters.
You wonder if Salah has Ian Rush and Roger Hunt in his sights. They are the only two players to have scored more goals for Liverpool than the Egyptian.
Salah is currently on 243 goals, with Hunt on 285 (catchable) and Rush way ahead on a mammoth 346. Yeah, you wouldn’t think the Welshman’s record is in trouble if Salah only sticks around for two more years.
Still, it’s been a remarkable effort since he arrived at Anfield from Roma in 2017 as a fairly unreliable winger with a modest goal tally.
Salah reacts to signing Liverpool deal
Here’s what Mo Salah told Liverpool’s website upon signing the new deal.
“Of course I’m very excited. We have a great team now. Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.
“It’s great, I had my best years here. I played eight years, hopefully it’s going to be 10. Enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I had the best years in my career.
“I would like to say to [the fans], I am very, very happy to be here. I signed here because I believe we can win a lot of big trophies together. Keep supporting us and we’ll give it our best, and hopefully in the future we’re going to win more trophies.”
Preamble
Good morning all. Well it seems Mohamed Salah and Liverpool have saved André Onana. Salah will at least take up much of the headline space that might have otherwise been reserved for the hapless Manchester United goalkeeper after he cost them what would have been an impressive win in Lyon last night.
It’s obviously huge news for the Reds that Salah is staying until 2027, two more years to take him to the age of 34 at Anfield in which Arne Slot will hope to establish a title-winning dynasty. And with Trent Alexander-Arnold surely bound for Real Madrid, it’s only Virgil van Dijk of the ‘big three’ whose future needs sorting now.
Slot will be facing the media very soon at Liverpool’s pre-West Ham press conference, so we’ll bring you the latest from that, as well as all the Europa League and Conference League fallout from last night. Stick with us.
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