Premier League news conferences and team news: Slot speaking before Man City

Goodbye... for now

That's all from us - for now.

We'll be back in a few hours to bring you all of this afternoon's news conferences including Manchester United interim boss Michael Carrick and Chelsea's Liam Rosenior.

Fabian Hurzeler was due to speak this morning but we've not heard from him yet so we'll bring you updates from him in the afternoon stint, too.

Catch you later on!

Good mood around Liverpool again

Liverpool v Man City (Sun, 16:30 GMT)

Aadam Patel

BBC Sport Liverpool reporter

Last week, Arne Slot stressed that his Liverpool side could still do special things if they improved in both boxes. Since then, they have scored ten goals and conceded once against Qarabag and Newcastle and the feeling around the football club has certainly improved, with Slot adamant that the football has been “really good”.

The confirmation that centre-back Jeremy Jacquet will arrive in the summer from Rennes has added to the good mood but in the here and now, Liverpool have a defensive crisis with Slot confirming that Jeremie Frimpong won’t be back for the game against Manchester City on Sunday. Joe Gomez also remains a doubt so Dominik Szoboszlai may start at right-back again.

And of course, Pep Guardiola’s side are expected to offer a much tougher test than Qarabag or Newcastle did. “What a force City still are and always will be,” Slot insisted. It was back at the Etihad Stadium in November when Liverpool were largely “outplayed” by City.

After Slot’s comments this week on The Reds Roundtable, an in-house Liverpool production, where he stressed his desire to play “good football”, all eyes will on Anfield on Saturday and whether Slot's side can entertain.

'The only thing as a manager is to keep trusting them and believing in them'

Liverpool v Man City (Sun, 16:30 GMT)

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on Milos Kerkez improving: "This is what you get if you keep playing those players who maybe sometimes have moments that are not as good as other moments or games not as good as other games. I think that's normal for younger players and the only thing as a manager is to keep trusting them and believing in them because we know who we signed.

"We saw that potential and we knew and, has already been shown, that that potential will be seen if you keep playing them."

'Of course we kept him and the situation hasn't changed'

Liverpool v Man City (Sun, 16:30 GMT)

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on the performances of Curtis Jones this season and keeping hold of him in the transfer window: "He's played a lot of minutes, not all of them, but he's also unlucky in the sense that it's the only line where we haven't had injuries, but he's still played a lot of minutes and that's of course why we kept him.

"We have a lot of players in that line but we need these midfielders in different positions as well and the moment you need that, the line in midfield gets smaller and smaller.

"Of course we kept him and the situation hasn't changed. To us, he is one of the 16 players we have available for long-term and also in this moment in time. Would be a bit strange if we let anyone go if we only have 16 of them."

Van Dijk can stay 'even longer if he keeps staying fit as he is now'

Liverpool v Man City (Sun, 16:30 GMT)

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot was asked about the recent recruitment of young defenders and if that was with an eye on replacing Virgil van Dijk: "Everything that is done here is never in panic, it's always a long-term idea or something that has been thought about for a long time.

"Of course, we are aware of the fact that Virgil will not play for this club for 10 more years but he has a one-and-a-half year contract left so he will be with us for that period of time and maybe even longer if he keeps staying fit as he is now. As I've said before, what a compliment to him at his age to play every three days, not only for his club but also for his country.

"Hopefully he can stay as fit as he is for multiple years but this club, we are not stupid, we know somewhere in the upcoming years there is life without Virgil. I can say for every position that this club is not only thinking about short-term but mid-long term future in the decisions we make."

'We want to show a different side of us this time'

Liverpool v Man City (Sun, 16:30 GMT)

Liverpool

More from Liverpool boss Arne Slot: "We've shown that, except that first half [against Man City] and the first half against [Crystal] Palace, that we can compete with any team that we've faced. Unfortunately, we haven't found the consistency to get consistent results but we've shown against all of the names that we are ready to compete.

"They were the better team and I think we want to show a different side of us this time."

'Off the ball is where I see the biggest improvement with Wirtz'

Liverpool v Man City (Sun, 16:30 GMT)

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on the recent upturn in form of Florian Wirtz: "First and foremost, credit to the player because he has to do the work. Not only on the pitch but also in the gym. Then as a manager, even if he is struggling a little bit at the start, you have to keep playing him because that is the only way he can improve. He is an example of that.

"I think he didn't improve that much on the ball because from the start he was special maybe now he has a better connection with his teammates because they've played more and more together. Off the ball is where I see the biggest improvement with him, and some others, and that combination makes you ready for the Premier League."

Slot sidesteps Jones question

Liverpool v Man City (Sun, 16:30 GMT)

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot dodged a question on the future of midfielder Curtis Jones quite well at the end there.

Jones was linked with a move away from the Reds during the transfer window but no transfer ever developed.

Slot says "the club are aware that he only has one-and-a-half years left" on his deal and that is all he will say on the matter.

We'll bring you full quotes from this and everything else Slot had to say shortly.

'In the last two games we've been really good in both boxes'

Liverpool v Man City (Sun, 16:30 GMT)

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot on the performance against Newcastle last weekend: "I think we've played much better than that. It was a good last hour, first half hour wasn't what we wanted it to be again for obvious reasons because if you dive in data, the first half we didn't play that much and there were a lot of set-pieces which took a lot of time so it was difficult to find momentum and pace.

"I liked our last hour but I don't think it was our best [match] - I think we've played many games with really good football. Unfortunately, we're not always able to be that good in both boxes, now in the last two games we've been really good in both boxes and people are starting to notice that our football might be better as well. But that football part has always been, for 95% of the minutes we've played, far above the acceptable level."

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