Category Sports News

Arne Slot believes his Liverpool side can still achieve “very special things” this season but refused to discuss what an “acceptable” outcome would look like.

Liverpool have won just five of their past 18 Premier League games, leading to “noise” that is making life uncomfortable for the head coach and his players.

Slot says Liverpool may struggle to “shut down” criticism, given the trophy holders appear to be already out of the domestic title race.

However, they can secure automatic qualification for the Champions League last-16 stage when they take on Qarabag on Wednesday.

Slot’s team could have a deep run in Europe and they also remain in the FA Cup.

“If we can improve in both boxes, we can do very special things this season,” Slot said.

“But if we can only improve in one box, then it will probably be an acceptable season but not more than that.

Pushed on what his definition of an “acceptable” season would be, Slot said: “When you are Liverpool, the aim is to win the league. We’ve only done this twice in the last 30 years. The aim is to be competitive in every single competition we are in.

“That’s always the aim, but the reality is that in the last three years we’ve won one League Cup and one Premier League title.

“What is acceptable? I have my opinion but I’m not going to share that.

“The outside world has an opinion. As we all know, a lot has been said about the £450m [that Liverpool spent in the summer], but people tend to forget the £300m we bought in.”

Liverpool are sixth in the Premier League and have won none of their past five games (D4, L1) in the competition.

“I think it’s going to be really difficult to quiet the outside noise with the position we are in in the league,” Slot said. “So even if we win a few games, every loss or every disappointing result will start the noise coming back again.

“That’s what you can expect if you started the season as we did – not started, but at a certain moment with so many losses. So it’s impossible to shut down the noise at a club like this if you are not competing for the league.”

The Liverpool boss expects a tough challenge against a Qarabag side who held Chelsea to a draw earlier in the season.

Liverpool sit fourth in the group phase entering the final round of games, with the top eight going through to the last-16 stage automatically.

A defeat could knock them out of that group of eight, so Slot wants to impress on his players the need to be wary of Qarabag’s threat. The visitors to Anfield sit 18th in the 36-team league table.

“It is always the players that make things difficult. They are very direct, fast players,” Slot said of the opposition.

“They go very direct and fast towards goal and have players who are comfortable on the ball. They have shown against big clubs that they are a very good team. Even Chelsea, they were able to keep them to 2-2.

Andy Robertson’s move to Tottenham now looks unlikely and Slot confirmed that he expects his vice-captain to stay at the club.

Tottenham and Liverpool were in talks for the left-back to make the move in a deal worth £5m, but as it stands Liverpool are not in a position to sell Robertson, who is out of contract in the summer, without having a replacement left-back.

Liverpool have so far been unable to recall Kostas Tsimikas from his loan at Roma.

“Robbo is part of the team tomorrow evening and he has been part of this club for so many years. I’m happy to have him and it’s good that he is available,” said Slot.

Asked if Robertson was staying at Liverpool, Slot added: “It is hard to say anything definite in this world we are in, but I expect him to.”

The Liverpool boss also confirmed Joe Gomez will miss the game against Qarabag with a hip injury after he was forced off in the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth, but Slot insisted the defender would only be out for a “relatively short amount of time”.

Ibrahima Konate is still absent due to a death in his family, and Slot is in touch with the France international.

“He’s having a hard time. I’m hoping and expecting him back soon, but he’s not available for tomorrow,” said Slot.

Arne Slot believes his Liverpool side can still achieve “very special things” this season but refused to discuss what an “acceptable” outcome would look like.

Liverpool have won just five of their past 18 Premier League games, leading to “noise” that is making life uncomfortable for the head coach and his players.

Slot says Liverpool may struggle to “shut down” criticism, given the trophy holders appear to be already out of the domestic title race.

However, they can secure automatic qualification for the Champions League last-16 stage when they take on Qarabag on Wednesday.

Slot’s team could have a deep run in Europe and they also remain in the FA Cup.

“If we can improve in both boxes, we can do very special things this season,” Slot said.

“But if we can only improve in one box, then it will probably be an acceptable season but not more than that.

Pushed on what his definition of an “acceptable” season would be, Slot said: “When you are Liverpool, the aim is to win the league. We’ve only done this twice in the last 30 years. The aim is to be competitive in every single competition we are in.

“That’s always the aim, but the reality is that in the last three years we’ve won one League Cup and one Premier League title.

“What is acceptable? I have my opinion but I’m not going to share that.

“The outside world has an opinion. As we all know, a lot has been said about the £450m [that Liverpool spent in the summer], but people tend to forget the £300m we bought in.”

Liverpool are sixth in the Premier League and have won none of their past five games (D4, L1) in the competition.

“I think it’s going to be really difficult to quiet the outside noise with the position we are in in the league,” Slot said. “So even if we win a few games, every loss or every disappointing result will start the noise coming back again.

“That’s what you can expect if you started the season as we did – not started, but at a certain moment with so many losses. So it’s impossible to shut down the noise at a club like this if you are not competing for the league.”

The Liverpool boss expects a tough challenge against a Qarabag side who held Chelsea to a draw earlier in the season.

Liverpool sit fourth in the group phase entering the final round of games, with the top eight going through to the last-16 stage automatically.

A defeat could knock them out of that group of eight, so Slot wants to impress on his players the need to be wary of Qarabag’s threat. The visitors to Anfield sit 18th in the 36-team league table.

“It is always the players that make things difficult. They are very direct, fast players,” Slot said of the opposition.

“They go very direct and fast towards goal and have players who are comfortable on the ball. They have shown against big clubs that they are a very good team. Even Chelsea, they were able to keep them to 2-2.

Andy Robertson’s move to Tottenham now looks unlikely and Slot confirmed that he expects his vice-captain to stay at the club.

Tottenham and Liverpool were in talks for the left-back to make the move in a deal worth £5m, but as it stands Liverpool are not in a position to sell Robertson, who is out of contract in the summer, without having a replacement left-back.

Liverpool have so far been unable to recall Kostas Tsimikas from his loan at Roma.

“Robbo is part of the team tomorrow evening and he has been part of this club for so many years. I’m happy to have him and it’s good that he is available,” said Slot.

Asked if Robertson was staying at Liverpool, Slot added: “It is hard to say anything definite in this world we are in, but I expect him to.”

The Liverpool boss also confirmed Joe Gomez will miss the game against Qarabag with a hip injury after he was forced off in the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth, but Slot insisted the defender would only be out for a “relatively short amount of time”.

Ibrahima Konate is still absent due to a death in his family, and Slot is in touch with the France international.

“He’s having a hard time. I’m hoping and expecting him back soon, but he’s not available for tomorrow,” said Slot.

England striker Tammy Abraham has completed an £18.25m return to Aston Villa from Besiktas.

The 28-year-old has signed a four-and-a-half-year deal at the Premier League title challengers, as he moves back to England for the first time since joining Roma in 2021.

Abraham was on loan at Besiktas from Roma, but the Turkish club activated their buy option on Monday for £11m, so Villa will pay the fee of 21m euros (£18.25m) to them.

Villa boss Unai Emery had been looking for a striker to support Ollie Watkins and has a long-standing interest in Abraham, who had a loan spell at the club in 2018-19 and helped them earn promotion from the Championship.

Teenager Villa midfielder Yasin Ozcan, who has been on loan at Anderlecht this season, is joining Besiktas as part of the deal.

Roberto Olabe, Villa’s president of football operations, flew to Turkey to watch Abraham play as Besiktas beat Kayserispor 1-0 last week.

The forward could feature against Brentford on Sunday but is not registered to play in Thursday’s Europa League game against Red Bull Salzburg.

Meanwhile, former Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz is set to return to the club on loan.

The 27-year-old Brazilian is on loan at Nottingham Forest from Juventus, but he is set to leave the City Ground before Monday’s transfer deadline.

Abraham moved to Roma in August 2021 from Chelsea for £34m and scored 27 goals in his debut season as the Italian side won the Conference League.

His 17 Serie A goals made him the highest English scorer in a single league campaign in Italy.

Nine goals in 54 games followed in 2022-23, but an anterior cruciate ligament injury on the final game of the season kept him out for 10 months.

On his return Abraham made 12 appearances, scoring once, then joined AC Milan on loan in 2024 after Jose Mourinho, who had brought him to Roma, left the club.

He scored 10 goals in 44 games in all competitions for Milan but made just 12 league starts and returned to his parent club at the end of last season.

In total, Abraham made 120 appearances for Roma, scoring 39 goals, before joining Besiktas last summer.

It is not the first time Villa have tried to re-sign Abraham – they remained interested in him and were at the table when the striker previously moved.

However, in 2021, when Abraham opted to join Roma, Villa were not the club they have since been transformed into by Emery.

Abraham also turned down Arsenal on that occasion, as he viewed Roma’s project under Mourinho as the ideal platform to progress – and the forward’s time in Serie A should be viewed as a success.

One of the key factors behind his decision to return to the Premier League is a desire for an England recall, with this summer’s World Cup looming.

Abraham has not played for his country since starting against Italy in the Nations League in 2022 – and would have remained on the periphery if he stayed in Turkey.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has rediscovered his form in the Premier League for Leeds -so if Abraham can hit the ground running under Emery it could put him back in the selection conversation, almost four years since his last cap.

Abraham also has two young children and the lure to return home for personal reasons was strong.

Chelsea had a buy-back option, but with the change of ownership at Stamford Bridge that was never on the cards.

He has taken a wage cut to join Villa, underlining his commitment, and having won the Champions League and Conference League he has the chance to complete a European hat-trick in the Europa League with his new club this season.

The return to Villa Park is seen as perfect timing, even if it has come sooner than expected and just six months into a spell at Besiktas.

But Emery’s plan and vision for the striker convinced him – not that he needed much persuading.

Celtic have had their appeal dismissed against Auston Trusty’s red card during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Scottish Premiership leaders Heart of Midlothian.

The United States centre-half brought down Hearts striker Pierre Landry Kabore with Celtic leading 2-1 and was originally shown a yellow card by referee Steven McLean.

But the video assistant referee (VAR) advised an on-field review and McLean deemed Trusty had denied a goalscoring opportunity, upgrading the yellow card to red.

That view has now been backed by a Scottish Football Association’s fast-track tribunal.

Hearts went on to equalise through Claudio Braga and earned a draw that maintained their six-point lead over the defending champions.

Interim Celtic manager Martin O’Neill insisted afterwards that Trusty should not have been dismissed.

“I’ve seen it back and I have to say I don’t see it,” said the Northern Irishman.

“Maybe I’ve been out of the game too long or have misread the rules. But, first of all, the ball that’s played is going away from goal and we have a man round on the cover.