Category World News

Who: Liverpool vs. Brentford
What: English Premier League
Where: Brentford Community Stadium in London, United Kingdom
When: Saturday at 8pm (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 5pm (16:00 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.

Liverpool’s four-game losing streak was ended on Tuesday when they came from behind to win at Eintracht Frankfurt, but Brentford’s continued Premier League dominance will likely put the title defense under serious pressure.

When fierce rivals Manchester United defeated the Reds 2-1 at home on Sunday, their fourth straight defeat, three of which came in the league, was a 2-1 defeat.

Brentford, who had already put pressure on United with a 3-1 home win on September 27, have had a mixed season in comparison to their impressive recent performances following their long-awaited top flight debut.

The selection of Liverpool’s mercurial Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah will be the favorite to win three points, but Brentford Community Stadium in West London is rarely an easy place to visit.

Our featured Premier League game on Saturday is examined more closely by Al Jazeera Sport:

What has been Isak’s most recent status at Liverpool?

Alexander Isak’s poor start to his Liverpool career was compounded by a groin injury in the Champions League victory in Frankfurt.

At the halftime of the 5-1 victory, the Sweden striker, who was signed from Newcastle for a British record fee of 125 million pounds ($170m) at the end of the summer transfer window, was withdrawn.

After right back Jeremie Frimpong fell off midway through the first half due to a hamstring issue, this was Liverpool’s second injury of the night.

After training with the main Newcastle squad in the offseason while battling for a move to Liverpool, Isak has been improving his match sharpness over the past few weeks. For his new club, he has only one goal in eight games in all competitions.

Given the player’s turbulent preseason, Slot stated last week that only now could be fairly evaluated.

The Liverpool manager said, “I hope it’s not that bad, but he had to go off because he felt his groin.” “Many people wanted me to play him more, and we needed to strike a balance, and sadly, today, that balance wasn’t exactly what we wanted to achieve. But let’s hope for the best.

Slot expressed concern about managing Isak’s playing time over the past month and how the striker’s recent international success strengthened his belief that he was prepared to string together starts.

The Dutchman claimed that when he arrived at the club, he had hardly trained. You bring him slowly forward, and then you realize there must be a time when he can play twice per week, and the first time we try, he did it with Sweden, he must go off.

You typically try to get players ready for once-a-week football, but if you’re Liverpool, you play three days or three times in eight days, but we’ve had a bad season this year. In a week, we must play three times.

We’ve made an effort to get that ready for him. He returned from the national team on Sunday after being rested, and we were extremely cautious. Although the margins at the top are small, we believed he was well-prepared for that.

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Could Isak’s injury benefit Liverpool?

The Premier League’s most expensive player’s departure could actually aid Slot in discovering the winning formula to turn around Liverpool’s fortunes.

The Sweden attacker’s only goal has been scored since moving from Newcastle to second-place Southampton in the League Cup.

Isak was substituted at halftime in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 5-1 Champions League victory on Wednesday.

Liverpool quickly jumped into action in the second half thanks to Florian Wirtz playing his preferred role behind the striker and Hugo Ekitike returning as the center-forward.

Since making a 100-million-pound ($133m) transfer from Bayer Leverkusen, Wirtz has had his first two assists. He has been dropped for the last two Premier League games.

Ekitike has started his side’s three Premier League defeats against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and United despite his impressive start, which includes five goals in 11 of his team’s 11 appearances with Liverpool.

The 23-year-old should have the opportunity to pursue his desired side despite Isak’s absence.

Should Salah be dropped from the EPL at Liverpool?

After the Liverpool forward’s barren run for the club stretched to six games, Slot said on Friday that Salah’s return is the “last thing” he is concerned about.

The Egyptian international was dropped from the starting lineup for Liverpool’s midweek victory in Frankfurt, where he has not scored a Premier League goal from open play since the season’s opening weekend.

He missed two important chances as the home team fought fervently for an equalizer in Liverpool’s defeat by Manchester United late in the match.

Slot claimed he had no idea why Salah, who won the Premier League’s Golden Boot last year, was struggling.

At his pregame press conference, he said, “Players miss chances, and Mo is a human being as well.”

“We’re used to him missing chances, let alone a few games in a row, but these things can happen,” he said.

The manager, however, expressed confidence that Salah, who has only scored two Premier League goals this season, would rediscover his prowess.

Mo starting to score goals once more, he said, is the last thing I worry about.

Because he has done that his entire life, and I anticipate that he will do that as well for our club in the coming weeks and months.

In the summer transfer window, Liverpool splashed out about 450 million pounds ($600m) on new players after winning the Premier League last year.

Dominik Szoboszlai, a midfielder, and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure from Real Madrid combined with other injuries have caused a number of different players to play right back.

Slot acknowledged that Salah, 33, who plays to the right of Liverpool’s attack, was taking time to adjust.

He has frequently been in promising positions, and he may have even scored more goals with Trent. He continued, “I don’t know.”

“But I believe that everyone in your squad needs to find new connections again in general, which is typical for every player, especially if you have a lot of changes in your squad over the summer.

Mo is not a case in point.

Head-to-head

The teams have only won once in their 24th meeting, with Brentford winning once and Liverpool winning 15 of the matches.

The Reds have won each of their previous four games.

news from the Brentford team

Antoni Milambo is still sidelined because of an ACL issue, while Aaron Hickey is out with a knee injury. Josh Dasilva recently left the team, but he will also have a knee problem.

news from the Liverpool team

Due to hamstring issues, Jeremie Frimpong and Alisson Becker are both out of Brentford, and slot is keeping an eye on Isak and Midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.

Starting lineup for Brentford was anticipated

Kelleher, Collins, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg, van den Berg

Starting line-up for Liverpool is anticipated

UNRWA, according to US Ambassador Marco Rubio, is “not going to play any role” in Gaza’s aid delivery, and he also refutes the possibility that Hamas will be a part of any future Israeli government.

The US secretary of state claimed that UNRWA had become “a subsidiary of Hamas,” in line with an Israeli government position that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has discredited. She made this claim during a press conference while on a Friday trip to Israel.

UNRWA reacted by insisting that its presence “remains vital to meeting urgent humanitarian needs” throughout the bombarded and starved enclave, where more than 68, 000 Palestinians have been killed by an Israeli offensive in the past two years.

The organization added that the ICJ has acknowledged that “no organization can replace the UNRWA’s role in supporting the people of Gaza” in a statement published on X.

Rubio’s characterization was also refuted by Farhan Haq, the UN Secretary-General’s deputy spokesperson. He told UN reporters, “You’ve already heard us talk about how UNRWA is not connected to Hamas.” The foundation of our humanitarian operations in Gaza is UNRWA.

After accusing some of its employees of participating in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 without providing any evidence, Israel forbade the organization from operating.

Nour Odeh, a journalist for Al Jazeera, described Rubio’s declaration that UNRWA was a “subsidiary” as “quite shocking” and “devastating” for UNRWA and all those involved in Gaza.

The ICJ and two independent commissions of inquiry exonerated UNRWA, according to Odeh, and it also has the largest, most comprehensive aid system in Gaza.

She said, “It has thousands of employees and has the knowledge to give Palestinians aid in a timely manner and with dignity.”

In Gaza, “nobody has that kind of history and infrastructure.”

Israel has continued to launch attacks across Gaza in spite of a US-mediated ceasefire that began earlier this month and kept the Rafah crossing close to Egypt closed, preventing the large-scale aid deliveries mandated by the agreement.

Rubio said on Friday that he hoped to set up a global security force soon to enshrine the ceasefire in Gaza and that Israel, which opposes Turkiye, could veto participants.

Rubio said the force will need to include nations that Israel is “comfortable with.”

After largely indirect involvement, NATO member Turkiye, one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s occupation of Gaza, has mediated the ceasefire negotiations. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Donald Trump met last month at the White House, and their increased role followed.

Erdogan stated on Friday that the task force is still in discussion and that “the methods are not yet clear.”

He declared, “We are ready to offer Gaza any form of support on this issue.”

The largest Muslim-majority state in the world, Indonesia, has stated that it is prepared to send troops to Gaza.

The United Arab Emirates has already participated in ceasefire monitoring, having already resumed relations with Israel in 2020.

“Daily struggle for survival”

The main Palestinian factions, including the PA, announced on Friday that they had agreed to have an independent committee of technocrats take control of Gaza, despite Rubio claiming that any potential role for the Palestinian Authority (PA) has not yet been determined.

A temporary Palestinian committee made up of independent “technocrats” who will oversee daily life and basic services in collaboration with Arab brothers and international organizations, was agreed during a meeting in Cairo.

All Palestinian factions agree on a “unified vision,” according to Husam Badran, the head of Hamas’s national relations and political bureaucrat.

The 2.1 million people who have largely been displaced in Gaza have remained severely affected by the situation there.

Homes are still destroyed, bodies are still trapped beneath the rubble, according to Mahmoud Basal, the civil defense spokesperson in Gaza, and roads are blocked by debris.

He claimed that teams are still operating “with almost no resources” despite the “dragon of destruction” that has been felt throughout the Strip.

After one building abruptly collapsed on Palestinians in Gaza City, the civil defense warned residents to stay away from buildings that have been damaged by Israeli bombings in a separate statement.

Many families in northern Gaza have chosen to go back to their homes because of a “daily struggle for survival,” according to Hani Mahmoud of Al Jazeera.

He claimed that people are only returning to the “skeletons of these buildings” when reporting from Gaza City.

We’ve seen people searching for flour, lentils, or some canned food for hours, sometimes days, to survive these difficult circumstances because there is nothing inside, no access to water, or food supplies.

As aid levels remain significantly below what the ceasefire agreement requires, according to Haq, Israel must permit entry of “more]aid trucks at more crossing points.

He claimed that there has never been a time since the ceasefire’s implementation that 600 UN trucks have reportedly entered Gaza, the most frequently required daily transportation for Palestinians there.

The aid flow into Gaza has decreased significantly, according to the World Health Organization, and there has also been no discernible decrease in hunger.

According to WHO’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “the situation continues to be catastrophic because what is entering is not enough.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says Ottawa “can’t control” US trade policy but will “stand ready” to resume discussions when Americans are ready. His remarks came after Donald Trump halted discussions and accused Canada of “cheating” over US tariffs-related advertisements.

At the Kerem Shalom crossing, Israeli protesters are seen blocking aid trucks. Hamas is accused of violating the ceasefire. WHO estimates $7 billion will be spent on reconstruction of Gaza’s crumbling health system and warns that deliveries will continue to be “fraction of what is needed.”