Premier League LIVE: Chelsea director makes statement on Maresca’s future, Liverpool hand Arsenal lifeline, Man City out of UCL

Friday, February 21

Saturday, February 22

Sunday, February 23

Slot on City

Arne Slot is expecting to 'suffer' against Manchester City if Liverpool are to beat the Premier League champions.

The two sides meet at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

City go into the match following their Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points by drawing with Aston Villa.

Slot told reporters: "What I always expect from City since Pep [Guardiola] is there, a great football team.

"I can see them coming back already, you see the result against Newcastle. What you expect is what everyone expects when you go to the Etihad to play City."

He added: "You have to suffer as well and work really hard to keep them away from your goal.

"The style of play has always been the same from when Pep was at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now Manchester City. Even he needs quality players to get results."

Downes 'problems' over

Southampton boss Ivan Juric has revealed Flynn Downes is available for selection again this weekend.

The Saints host Brighton at St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon.

Downes has been absent from the squad for the last three matches in all competitions after Juric admitted the pair had 'problems'.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Juric explained: "Like in a family when you have a really bad moment.

"We had a really good chat and I think he understands the mistakes and everything.

"Even now, after everything, I think what I think when I first came here, that he is a very good player and a good guy who made a mistake. But's he's OK, he's fit and training very well."

Juric also confirmed that Jack Stephens is fit again for the visit of the Seagulls.

However, Adam Lallana and Taylor Harwood-Bellis will both miss out.

Paqueta ruled out

Lucas Paqueta will miss West Ham's trip to Arsenal on Saturday, Graham Potter has confirmed.

The Brazilian has been sidelined with an ankle injury suffered in training this week.

Potter told reporters: "It was a training incident: really just an innocuous one.

"He went over on his ankle in a little collision with Aaron [Wan-Bissaka].

"So rolled his ankle and he'll be missing for the [Arsenal] game, and probably Leicester as well.

"We'll see how he is, but it has swollen up a bit. Apart from that, it's pretty much as you were."

Paqueta has made 23 Premier League appearances so far this season, scoring four goals for the Hammers.

The midfielder joins the injured quartet of Niclas Fullkrug, Vladimir Coufal, Crysencio Summerville and Michail Antonio.

Varane and Ten Hag 'didn't agree'

Raphael Varane has lifted the lid on his time at Manchester United.

The former French defender spent three years at Old Trafford after being signed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021.

During that time, he made 95 appearances and scored twice from central defence.

Of those matches, 66 were during Erik ten Hag's tenure, although Varane has admitted the pair fell out during their time working together.

He told The Athletic: "We told each other some truths but then I didn't play for almost two months. I said I didn't agree with certain ways of doing things."

Varane was also surprised that Ten Hag initially remained in charge last summer as he left the club to join Como.

The 31-year-old added: "I was surprised he stayed. The connection with the group no longer existed."

United were also compared to Real Madrid by Varane, who spent a decade with the Spanish giants before joining the Red Devils.

He explained: "At Real Madrid they have a defined way of doing things at every level of the club.

"At Manchester (United) it was not clear or defined enough to know how to recruit, how to play, how to communicate."

Nunez will 'never give up'

Darwin Nunez has taken to social media to send a message to Liverpool supporters.

The forward has come under fire after missing a crucial chance in his side's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on Wednesday night.

In a post on X, Nunez wrote: "I wasn't the best three weeks ago, and I'm not the worst now. If I fall, I get up. You'll never see me give up.

"I'm going to give it my all until the last day I'm here in Liverpool. Resilience!"

Nunez has scored six goals in 35 appearances across all competitions so far this season.

Those strikes include a late brace to beat Brentford away from home last month.

However, his miss last night meant Liverpool missed the chance to move 10 points clear at the top of the table.

Instead, Arsenal sit eight points adrift with a game in hand on their title rivals.

Maresca backed

Enzo Maresca has received the backing of Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein.

The Blues boss has been told he will '100 per cent' see out the rest of the season.

Chelsea are currently a point off the top four in sixth after losing to Brighton last week, with the same opponents also knocking them out of the FA Cup.

Goldstein told Bloomberg: "Enzo has clearly done a great job in bringing the team together, bringing the talent through and we’re very optimistic for the rest of the season."

Asked if Maresca will continue in the job for the rest of the campaign, Goldstein said: "100 per cent".

Maresca has been in charge at Stamford Bridge since the summer after arriving from Leicester.

The Italian penned a five-year deal with the club through to the end of the 2028/29 season.

Chelsea have so far won 21 of his 37 matches in charge across all competitions.

Jota missed 'easier' chances

A Liverpool fan has jumped to the defence of Darwin Nunez after his miss against Aston Villa.

The Reds supporter pointed out that Diogo Jota had missed 'two sitters' earlier in the match.

Speaking to White & Jordan, the caller explained: "There’s this narrative from the media of picking on Nunez all the time, but Jota missed two sitters - easier ones.

"Nunez was running onto the ball, full pelt, and some idiot said it was an open goal, it wasn't an open goal. He was hailing towards the goal and the defender was throwing a challenge in. The keeper was slightly off his line and he probably should have buried it.

"But Jota missed easier chances. But there's no mention of Jota missing sitters.

"But no, let's poke a stick at Nunez again, we'll have a go at Nunez and we'll destroy his confidence as much as we can.

"I'm never convinced by anyone until he starts smashing goals in, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn around and hang him out to dry just because he misses a chance.

"Jota's a good player, but he's injury-prone… but Nunez has built this reputation where maybe he gets more focus on his shortcomings than others get on theirs."

Slot supports Nunez

Arne Slot has backed Darwin Nunez after his costly miss against Aston Villa on Wednesday night.

The Liverpool forward missed the chance to snatch all three points as the Reds were held to a 2-2 draw at Villa Park.

Explaining how he is supporting Nunez, Slot told reporters: "I can accept every miss, especially from a player that has scored two very important goals against Brentford.

"In the game against Villa, I would prefer him to score, but the word 'chance' says it all - it's a 'chance. It's not 100% sure that the ball goes in.

"But what was a bit harder for me to accept was his behaviour after that chance. And by 'behaviour' I mean I think it got too much in his head and he wasn't the usual Darwin that works his a** off and makes sure he helps the team.

"I think he was too disappointed after missing that chance."

The Liverpool boss added: "Unfortunately, too many times this season we have missed chances. And what I mean by that is I don't think we've stolen many points.

"I always come back to the Chelsea game when maybe a draw was maybe a more fair result.

"But for every other game I think we got what we deserved, or we deserved more - and that is more of a thing for me than Arsenal playing on Saturday and we on Sunday."

Liverpool team news

Arne Slot has provided updates on three of his Liverpool stars ahead of their trip to Manchester City.

The Reds travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon for another key match in their bid for the Premier League title.

Slot spoke to reporters this morning and was asked if Cody Gakpo would be fit for the fixture.

The Dutchman admitted 'we will see' as he confirmed Gakpo has not trained this week and would be a 'close call'.

Meanwhile, Joe Gomez has undergone surgery on his hamstring injury but could return before the end of the season.

As for Conor Bradley, the full-back is set to miss the next two matches against City and Newcastle after limping off against Aston Villa.

Press conferences

Several Premier League managers will be speaking to the media today ahead of this weekend's action.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot is amongst them following last night's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.

The Reds are eight points clear at the top of the table following their point at Villa Park.

Slot will hold his pre-match press conference for Sunday's clash with Manchester City at 10.30am.

Arsenal will have the chance to cut the gap to the league leaders at home to West Ham on Saturday.

Fans can expect an injury update on Conor Bradley from Slot this morning.

The full-back limped off against Villa on Wednesday and is set for a spell on the sidelines.

Injury updates on Cody Gakpo and Joe Gomez could also be provided ahead of the trip to the Etihad Stadium.

Arsenal reunion

Arsenal could face one of their former players in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Robin van Persie has reached an agreement to become the new manager of Feyenoord, according to 1908.nl.

The Dutch side will be drawn against either Arsenal or Inter Milan in the round of 16 after dumping out AC Milan on Tuesday.

Van Persie previously scored 132 goals in 278 appearances for the Gunners.

He also enjoyed two spells with Feyenoord as a player, including ending his career with the club in 2019.

The 1970 European Cup winners are currently without a permanent boss following Brian Priske's exit last week.

Van Persie began his coaching career with Feyenoord as a forward coach before leading their under-18 side.

He has been in charge of Heerenveen since the summer, winning nine of his 26 matches to guide the club to the top half of the Eredivisie.

Last 16 draw

Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool will discover their Champions League round of 16 opponents on Friday.

The draw is set to be held for the remaining rounds of the competition in Nyon at 11am GMT.

All three remaining English clubs advanced directly to the last 16 by finishing in the top eight of the league phase.

As a result, they know which two clubs they could face next month for a spot in the quarter-finals.

After topping the opening stage table, Liverpool could face either Paris Saint-Germain or Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are guaranteed to take on Dutch opposition in the next round.

The Gunners will be drawn against one of PSV or Feyenoord.

As for Villa, they will be pitted against either Club Brugge, who beat them in the league phase, or last year's finalists Borussia Dortmund.

Extra spot

The Premier League remains set to earn an extra Champions League spot for next season, despite Manchester City's exit.

Pep Guardiola's side became the first English club to be eliminated from Europe this term after their defeat to Real Madrid.

However, six English clubs remain across the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

England currently sits top of the coefficient rankings with 106.6 points.

Nearest challenger Italy has 93.2 points and is down to only four clubs left in Europe.

Spain and Germany also have six clubs remaining but are further back in the rankings.

The Premier League missed out on an extra berth in the competition for this season, with the bonus spots going to Italy and Germany.

At present, the extra spot would go to Bournemouth, who sit fifth in the table with 13 matches remaining.

No complaints

Pep Guardiola accepted Manchester City had been outplayed as their Champions League campaign came to a limp end with a 3-1 defeat at Kylian Mbappe-inspired Real Madrid.

Mbappe scored a brilliant hat-trick in the second leg of their play-off at the Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday to power the holders into the last 16 6-3 on aggregate.

City had led the tie 2-1 heading into the closing minutes at the Etihad Stadium last week only to surrender their advantage.

Yet this time they were hardly in the contest as Real took charge with Mbappe's opener on four minutes and the Frenchman ended all doubt with two more either side of the break.

City manager Guardiola said: "The plan was to extend the result that we brought from Manchester as long as possible but we conceded so early and with the injury to John (Stones) it was a little bit (more of) what has happened his season.

"We couldn't defend well with the movement from Mbappe and it was more difficult.

"The best team won, they deserved it. They were better. What we have to do is accept the reality and move forward."

Rare comment

Co-owner Avram Glazer has insisted that Manchester United will not be sold.

Glazer was asked about the future of United on the day the club published their quarterly accounts and the £14.5million cost of getting rid of manager Erik ten Hag, sporting director Dan Ashworth and other members of football staff was revealed.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United's co-owner, has a 28.94 per cent stake in the club through his Ineos group and has made cuts at Old Trafford amid a substantial drop in revenues and operating profit.

The Glazer family remain majority owners of the Premier League side.

Asked by Sky Sports in Miami whether he would sell the club, Glazer gave an emphatic one-word answer: "No."

Slammed

Robbie Fowler has condemned Darwin Nunez for 'criminally' missing a glorious chance to win Liverpool's end-to-end clash at Aston Villa.

Nunez was a second-half substitute in the 2-2 draw and at 2-2 he produced a miss of the season contender.

Dominik Szoboszlai was one on one with goalkeeper Emi Martinez but unselfishly played the ball across the box to his onrushing Liverpool teammate.

Nunez had an almost open goal to aim for but sent his effort over the bar to leave head coach Arne Slot in disbelief on the touchline.

Liverpool would have likely won and secured a ten-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League had Nunez scored.

However, they failed to do so and legendary Reds striker Fowler, who scored 183 goals for the club, was critical of the Uruguayan.

Fowler said: "It's a bad miss, it's a really bad miss, probably up there with one of the worst we've seen this year.

"I'll try and help him out a little bit by saying, 'Szoboszlai maybe should've shot himself'.

"But, he's played a great ball to him and he's missed the target, criminally from seven, eight yards. That can't be happening."

'Could have nicked it'

Ollie Watkins believes Aston Villa could have stolen all three points against Liverpool.

Villa came from behind to lead against the Premier League leaders during an eventful Premier League clash.

They also had two goals disallowed and speaking to TNT Sports, goalscorer Watkins feels as though they could have won on the night.

"It was a tough game. They are at the top of the league for a reason. We have a strong record here and always make it hard for teams.

"Even though we went behind we reacted well and could have nicked it at the end.

"Unai Emery is really demanding of us and we haven't been performing as well of late so he will be happy with that performance.

"It is nice playing with quality players and I am sure in the future games I will get more opportunities. They haven't had that long to show what they can do and they are still finding their feet.

"When they get a few games under their belt I am sure it will flow and connect together nicely.

"Any team we play, we want to win the game and we will focus on ourselves and see where we are come the end of the season."

Heads up

Virgil van Dijk won't let Liverpool's draw at Aston Villa distract them from their tough upcoming fixtures.

The 2-2 draw at Villa Park saw them fail to go ten points clear at the top of the Premier League.

It's only the eighth match Liverpool have failed to win in the league this season and with Manchester City around the corner, Van Dijk isn't dwelling on the dropped points.

"A bit disappointed but we fight," he told TNT Sports.

"We had chances to win the game, took a bit of a risk at the end so it got more open at times. We take a point and move on and focus on a big one at the weekend, again.

"In possession we did quite well, created good opportunities to score the second. Disappointing to concede from a set-piece. We tried everything and unfortunately it wasn't enough for three points.

"We should have scored 3-2, but credit to Aston Villa, they made it very difficult.

"We have a very tough one on the weekend again, then we play Newcastle, our focus now will be on Man City, a very difficult game, we know that.

"Do everything in your power to win games, the focus will be that on Sunday again."

Aston Villa 2-2 Liverpool

The full-time whistle has gone and it's finished 2-2.

A thrilling Premier League match saw Liverpool take the lead through Mohamed Salah, only for Aston Villa to lead at half-time.

The travelling Reds ensured they go home with a point thanks to Trent Alexander-Arnold's strike.

Liverpool remain top of the Premier League and eight points clear of Arsenal, who have a game in hand.

Villa are ninth and still in contention to qualify for Europe.

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-2 Liverpool

Liverpool have clawed back and are level again!

It's taken the league leaders a while to respond to their first goal but they've added their second just after the hour mark.

Trent Alexander-Arnold fires a low shot from the edge of the area, which takes a deflection of Tyrone Mings and goes in.

GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Liverpool

Aston Villa have completed the turnaround!

Some neat play on the left leads to a cross from Lucas Digne.

Ollie Watkins is the man run onto the end of it and he heads past Alisson to send Villa Park wild.

The half-time whistle blows moments later and Villa are now in control.

GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Liverpool

Aston Villa have taken just minutes to fight back.

Liverpool fail to clear a free-kick and allow John McGinn to head the ball back into the danger area.

It finally falls to Youri Tielemans, whose volley bounces into the ground and over the head of Alisson.

Liverpool very nearly restored their lead moments later but Diogo Jota wasted a great opportunity.

GOAL! Aston Villa 0-1 Liverpool

Mohamed Salah gives Liverpool the lead!

Andre Garcia has a moment to forget as he passes the ball straight to Diogo Jota near the Aston Villa box.

Jota then unselfishly plays it across to Salah who fires in the opener.

It's his 24th goal in the Premier League this season, and his 38th goal involvement for the campaign that sees him usurp Cristiano Ronaldo.

Salah has also set a new record for Liverpool by scoring the most away goals in a single Premier League season with 15.

Doesn't count

Aston Villa have the ball in the net but the goal isn't given due to offside.

Good play on the left by Marcus Rashford saw him play a nice one-two before crossing for Ollie Watkins, who put the ball into an empty net.

However, the referee's assistant immediately put his flag up signalling Rashford was offside when receiving the ball before supplying Watkins.

And replays clearly show that the decision was accurate.

Liverpool have looked threatening having almost pounced on some slack passing by Villa on multiple occasions without fully testing Villans goalkeeper Emi Martinez.

Team news!

The lineups are in at Villa Park.

Marcus Rashford makes his first start for Aston Villa, joining Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins in a strong attack.

Mohamed Salah is also included from the off, with Arne Slot naming four midfielders in his starting XI.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Garcia, Disasi, Mings, Digne, Asensio, Tielemans, McGinn, Rashford, Rogers, Watkins

Subs: Olsen, Zych, Cash, Bogarde, Maatsen, Malen, Ramsey, Jimoh-Aloba

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Jones, Szoboszlai, Jota, Salah

Subs: Kelleher, Endo, Diaz, Nunez, Chiesa, Elliott, Tsimikas, Quansah, Bradley