Liverpool have an incredible African sensation at the club.
Pedro Marques is one of those figures behind the scenes who very few people talk about yet plays an imperative role in the structure of the club.
His official role is described as the Director of Football Development for FSG and Liverpool. Although without a second club for FSG, Marques has been just working for the Reds since he was appointed in 2024.
Marques came from an impressive background. He worked wonders at Benfica and has continued his excellent reputation at Anfield.
The Portuguese man isn't in charge of senior recruitment per say, but he plays a key role in the identification of talent across the globe and in bringing some of the best young players to the club.

#role

Harvey Elliott went to Valencia in search of calm, minutes and the sort of fresh start that can rescue a career from drift. Instead, as Liverpool.com reports, he has arrived in the middle of turbulence, and for a young footballer trying to rebuild belief, that can be a cruel place to begin again.
The move to Spain felt, on the surface, like a sensible answer to a difficult year. Elliott had returned from an underwhelming loan at Aston Villa, a spell that promised more than it delivered, and came back to Liverpool needing clarity. Under Andoni Iraola, opportunities in pre-season were there in glimpses, but the direction of travel soon became obvious. He was not an obvious fit and early omissions from matchday squads told their own story.
So Valencia offered possibility. A big club, a demanding crowd, a league that can reward intelligence and craft, it seemed a place where Elliott might reconnect with the qualities that once made him such an exciting young midfielder. Yet football has a habit of mocking tidy plans.
IMAGO | Anfield Index
Valencia are bottom of La Liga after five matches, with only one draw to show for them. Supporters are restless, results are poor and the mood has soured quickly. Elliott, still working his way towards full sharpness, has managed only two substitute appearances. That was already a delicate situation. It has now become even more unstable.

#valencia #place #obvious

Andoni Iraola's words confirm Liverpool have a new Roberto Firmino.
The Brazilian is one of the most underappreciated club icons in recent memory. Firmino never really sought the acclaim of the Anfield crowd.
He was more like a cog in a machine. He kept Jurgen Klopp's side running and he helped provide the stamina and fuel for Sadio Mane and Mo Salah to play at their very best.
Firmino was unselfish. Yet he was capable of doing magnificent things. He worked tirelessly and embraced Klopp's philosophy of gegenpressing to the max.
Without him, who knows whether the Reds would have been able to achieve everything they did. That's how essential the Brazilian was to the operations at Anfield.

#andoni #roberto #salah

Two Premier League matches at Anfield. Two draws.
For just the third time in 63 years, Liverpool have failed to win both of their opening home games of a league season - not exactly the flying start new boss Andoni Iraola would have been dreaming of.
After such an encouraging midweek performance against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, full of urgency, Saturday's goalless draw against Fulham was a flat follow-up, especially with the Cottagers lacking in confidence and having conceded seven goals in their first three league games.
The Reds looked physically and mentally tired and, to put it bluntly, like an entirely different team to the one that won against a Diego Simeone side that made it to the Champions League semi-finals last season.
On the first real look at how Iraola's style will cope with two games a week, this was certainly not what the Liverpool head coach, nor the Anfield crowd, would have wanted to see.

#league #games #champions #premier

If part of the challenge for Andoni Iraola when he took the Liverpool job was mastering the art of winning Premier League games after midweek Champions League dates, he failed his first test. An Anfield afternoon against a side with the wrong sort of 100 percent record ought to have been the ideal introduction to such ******* ignments.
Instead, Fulham got their first point of the season. A Spanish manager with a playing career at right-back had much to savour; but it was Alvaro Arbeloa, not Iraola. A terrific defender under Rafa Benitez, Arbeloa contributed to many a clean sheet in his time at Liverpool. Now Fulham have a first in the Premier League in his reign. Having conceded three goals to left wing-backs against Crystal Palace last week, they conceded none to Liverpool's three £100m men.
Alvaro Arbeloa could celebrate a first point in the Premier League with Fulham (Getty)
"Happy with the point and more happy with the performance," said Arbeloa. "We were more balanced today. We defended so well." He had made the bold decision to give the Austrian centre-back David Affengruber a debut at Anfield. "He proved how good he is," Arbeloa said.
But Iraola's side delivered a disjointed display, failing to touch the heights they reached in their comeback against Atletico Madrid and failing to score for the first time under him. "What was lacking was quite clear. It is the first game we had problems to create chances and score goals," he admitted.

#first #league #point #alvaro

Liverpool still have a fair few things to sort out this season.
The Anfield outfit are still nowhere near ready to start challenging for the Premier League **** le despite their almost £200 million spend in the summer.
Many players have their futures hanging in the balance with some even already looking for potential ways to exit L4 in January.
However, it's not only the potential exit of players that Liverpool need to worry about.
Virgil van Dijk is still one of Liverpool's most important players.

#league

| Saturday, September 12th |
Premier League | Anfield
3PM BST/10AM EST
A couple of words maybe a single short para serving as a micro preview for the match, why it's important, what the main concerns are, or whatever. Mostly it's to make sure the word count gets up to 170 so that the story gets picked up by search.
PREVIEW & HOW TO WATCH
Full Match Preview: Liverpool vs. Fulham
Television & Streaming: No Legal Coverage Still in 2026 (UK); NBCSN & Peacock (USA); Stan Sport (Australia); FuboTV (Canada); Star Sports 3 Asia (India); Astro Premier League (Malaysia); SuperSport Maximo 2 (Nigeria); StarHub TV+ (Singapore); SuperSport Maximo 2 (South Africa); other listings at LiveSoccerTV

#league #match #september

Liverpool head into another Premier League test with momentum building, and Virgil van Dijk has made the message clear. Good performances matter, results matter more, but consistency is what separates serious sides from the rest.
After a comeback win over Atletico Madrid in midweek and a 2-0 league victory against Ipswich Town before that, Liverpool now have the chance to make it three wins on the bounce at Anfield against Fulham. The captain is not interested in noise or sentiment. He is focused on standards.
In his programme notes, Van Dijk said: "After an important and, in my opinion, well-deserved win over Atletico Madrid, it is great to be back at Anfield again this afternoon as we return to Premier League action against Fulham.
"I thought the atmosphere on Wednesday night was exceptional, particularly in the second half as we chased the victory.
"I have said many times that we are at our best when everyone is pushing together, and I hope you can see how hard we are all working to give you a team to be proud of."

#premier #dijk #fulham

Alexander Isak is excited to build an understanding with Bradley Barcola and has hailed the winger as a 'big signing' for Liverpool.
Barcola became Liverpool's latest marquee signing after arriving from Paris Saint-Germain for an initial £106m at the end of the summer transfer window.
The France international made his full debut during Liverpool's 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid in midweek, featuring for an hour at Anfield.
Barcola has won theChampions League in each of the last two seasons and Isak said there has been excitement in the squad at his arrival. Speaking to liverpoolfc.com, he said he was confident Barcola could have a big impact.
"Of course, it's a big signing for us and he's a great player that we all know very well from what he's done previously," said Isak.

#isak #Paris

There's a new Sadio Mane on the scene, and he's incredible.
Liverpool fans will forever remember the memories of that incredible trio under Jurgen Klopp. Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino were unplayable on their day.
They could do whatever they wanted. Defenders were terrified of facing them.
It was a spectacular era. One of the best periods of many supporters' lives. Witnessing their magic at Anfield was truly an indelible experience.
Liverpool are now trying to recreate that with a new exciting trio. In Bradley Barcola and Alexander Isak they have two of the three attackers they need.

#sadio #trio #jurgen #roberto

CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN) – It's the ultimate collision: a historic rivalry renewed under the Friday night lights, with both teams fighting to save their season.
Read next:
Fall and Halloween events 2026
Attendance numbers released for the 180th Canfield Fair
Suspect identified after incident during Amy Acton's fair appearance

#ohio #fall

Liverpool still have a lot of work that needs to be done on their team.
The Anfield outfit's depth outside of their starting XI isn't the best with players such as Lewis Koumas and Trey Nyoni taking up prominent places in their squad.
Indeed, the fact that youngsters are being used as regular first-team players is obviously a breath of fresh air from Arne Slot's time in charge of the club but, for a team of Liverpool's calibre, they shouldn't have to be relying on players such as Koumas to play regular roles.
In the future, he could obviously come good and meet his potential but, at the moment, it's not ideal for the Reds to be using him week-in and week-out.
Obviously, some additions need to be made to Liverpool's attack before they're on the same level as some of their ***** le rivals but, there are also other areas among their ranks that could do with another upgrade or two.

#obviously

| Wednesday, September 9th |
Champions League | Anfield
8PM BST/3PM EST
Liverpool kick off the league phase of their 2026-27 Champions League campaign on Wednesday night under the lights at Anfield and while reality might always play out differently, on paper at least it seems likely to be the toughest test they will face before the knockout rounds—assuming, of course, that they make it that far.
It's also the first time new head coach Andoni Iraola will manage in the Champions League, having previously only managed AEK Larnaca in the Europa League in 2018-19, which required him to navigate six qualification matches before finishing third in their group behind Bayer Leverkusen and FC Zürich.
Wednesday, then, will be a much sterner test than he's faced before, at least in Europe. The Premier League though is no walk in the park, and Iraola has played and managed against Diego Simeone sides from his time as a player at Athletic Bilbao and then as a manager at Rayo Vallecano. One wouldn't expect, then, for anything he does see on Wednesday night to be truly unexpected or beyond his ability to prepare for.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-2-3-1)

#least

Liverpool's Champions League campaign begins at Anfield on Wednesday, with Atletico Madrid providing an immediate test for Andoni Iraola and a squad still adjusting to life under their new head coach.
Iraola arrives at his first European fixture with some momentum. Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town on Friday ended a run of two successive 2-2 draws, with Alexander Isak scoring twice and Cody Gakpo supplying both ****** ists. It was the sort of result that gives a new manager some breathing room, although Atletico Madrid will represent a very different proposition.
Alexis Mac Allister was the first Liverpool player to face the media at the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday, and inevitably, his future was one of the main talking points.
The Argentina international confirmed there had been a genuine possibility of leaving Liverpool during the summer, following uncertainty over a new contract.
"There was a chance, of course," Mac Allister said. "I received the news that the club wasn't in a position to offer me a new contract, which made me sad."

#atletico #allister #Liverpool

Alexis Mac Allister has admitted he was left "very, very sad" after being told Liverpool were not in a position to offer him a new contract.
The midfielder ultimately decided to remain at Anfield this summer despite having opportunities to leave, and insists he will continue to give everything for the club.
But he says seeing team-mates Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch sign new deals has made his own situation more difficult.
"There was a chance [I could have left the club in the summer]," Mac Allister said.
"As everyone knows, I received the news that the club was not in a position to offer me a new contract, which makes me very, very sad.

#allister #offer #contract #alexis

Turkish Airlines will become Liverpool's new front-of-shirt sponsor from the start of the 2027/28 season, the Premier League giants announced on Tuesday.
No fee was disclosed by the club, but the BBC reported that the five-year deal was worth £300 million ($406 million) in total.
A contract worth more than £60 million a season, would represent an increase on the current £50 million-per-season deal with retail bank Standard Chartered, who have been the Reds' front-of-shirt sponsor since 2010.
Liverpool's new deal is believed to be the most lucrative purely front-of-shirt agreement in Premier League history, with **** nal and Manchester City's agreements with Emirates and Etihad Airways respectively also involving stadium naming rights.
By contrast, six-time European champions Liverpool's home ground is still solely known by its original name of Anfield.

#million #front #sponsor #worth

Liverpool have finally got a win on the board under Andoni Iraola, beating Ipswich 2-0 at Portman Road with Alexander Isak scoring both goals. Useful, professional, no drama. Now attention shifts to availability, because the fixture list does not slow down and Liverpool's squad still has too many names in the treatment room.
The headline is straightforward. Joe Gomez is the closest of the current absentees to coming back, and that matters. He offers depth, experience and flexibility across the back line, which becomes important very quickly once European games begin.
X: AnfieldAgenda
Gomez lasted fewer than 10 minutes in Liverpool's first pre-season friendly before suffering a muscle injury. At the time, Iraola said: "He will be some weeks off. It's a muscle injury and [with] muscle injuries it is difficult to say one day, but normally I always put [it] as one month."
The situation has improved. Ahead of the trip to Ipswich, Iraola gave a more encouraging update: "Joe will probably start training with us next week, and it has gone normally. The recovery from a muscle injury – more or less, we were expecting the time on this. I hope we can have him before the break, let's say.'"

#ipswich #normally

Due to some sporadic runs of form and a very big helping hand from the footballing Gods, Liverpool found themselves qualifying for this season's Champions League and so the dream of more European nights at Anfield again became reality. For all of us Reds supporters and club it's the bare minimum requirement, and this writer has been luckily enough to have watched all six finals that Liverpool won, the first in 1977 when I was eight years old.
More importantly in the present moment, Wednesday evening is going to be the very first European game for head coach Andoni Iraola as head coach of any club, and let's hope that it will be even more than he could ever imagine because it's at Anfield and against one of the most difficult opponents in the Champions League in recent years in Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid.
Everyone involved in European football probably knows about those Famous European Nights at Anfield under the lights, but it's not all up to the supporters—the players will need to start in the right mood as they did against Ipswich, with intensity from the first whistle but unlike in that game the players won't be allowed to ease up until the final whistle is blown.
There is history between Liverpool and Atleti, with the Reds winning three of the seven times the clubs have faced off in the Champions League whilst Atletico have won two and then two draws between them. More than the match ups being fairly even there are the tough tactics of Simeone, who has a knack of getting under the skin of opposing managers as well his players being very physical in their play. It's going to be an interesting test for Iraola and the players but especially Liverpool's head coach as this will be his first experience of the Champions league and a congested fixture list.
"Big game, the first Champions League for me as a coach," Iraola noted during the post-Ipswich match interviews when he was asked about the approaching match against Atletico. "At Anfield, under the lights. I love to play at night."

#first

An exciting African star is ready to make his move to Liverpool.
The Reds are without a sporting director at the moment after Richard Hughes left the club. But it doesn't mean they are in disarray.
Behind him, Liverpool have a lot of experienced key decision makers when it comes to recruitment. Pedro Marques has done a brilliant job identifying young talent and bringing them to Anfield.
Meanwhile, Julian Ward and David Woodfine have been essential to the club's brilliant recruitment behind the scenes for many years now.
Liverpool may look to promote from within in order to fill Hughes' vacancy or they could look to bring in an external candidate.

#reds

Liverpool are going to be buying another defender in the near future.
Everything is gearing up for the departure of Virgil van Dijk. He is entering the final year of his contract at Anfield. Liverpool decided to extend his deal last year.
However, with Van Dijk set to turn 36-years-old next summer it's really hard to see Liverpool's board extending his stay even further than his current terms.
Obviously, at this stage anything can happen. A lot will depend on the new direction the club is going to take. Especially in terms of who the new sporting director will be and just how involved the new consortium led by Amit Bhatia who now own 33% of Liverpool are going to be as well.
But the truth is the foundations are there for Liverpool to succeed Van Dijk.

#year

Liverpool won their first match of the season on Friday when they took on newly promoted Ipswich Town. Two early goals from Alexander Isak sealed the deal with 81 minutes to spare, and Liverpool returned to Anfield with all three points.
After the match, wing-back Milos Kerkez was asked about the win and what it means to the team.
"It's really nice," he told the official site. "I think we were in the game since the first minute. It's what we talked [about] in the first two games [that] we need to do better. I think we did that outstanding. Obviously Alex is starting to score and I hope that continues. I'm happy with the boys and overall how aggressive we went."
The goals have come in all three games so far, but how's the chemistry coming along, especially now that Mohamed Salah isn't there to partner with him on the left?
"It's your job to adapt. That's why we have training sessions," Kerkez answered. "I think with Cody [Gakpo] this year we understand each other a lot better. I think when Bradley [Barcola] came in we had good actions – I nearly gave him a pass through that was nice. But we're getting the understanding every day in training. We need to just keep going."

#first #goals #three #games

Richard Hughes has left Liverpool as sporting director. Now an awful plan can follow him out of the door.
It's the end of the Richard Hughes era at Anfield. He's no longer the Liverpool sporting director and the Reds will move forward with new ideas running the show.
The Hughes era will go down as a strange one. One of the strangest, in fact, as Liverpool tore up a ****** le-winning team and replaced it in controversial fashion. The remaining squad looks unbalanced and has three nine-figure signings in it - a strange combination to say the least.
But the gameplan under Hughes has been strange. Liverpool moved away from their model that saw them sign players for the positions they needed them - or rather, where Jürgen Klopp needed them.
Instead, the 'manager' role became the 'head coach' role. The club signed the 'best' players available and then asked a coach to make the best possible team out of them, something Arne Slot found impossible last season.

#Liverpool #sporting #team #needed

Liverpool are understood to have had scouts in attendance to watch one midfielder in whom they'd reportedly taken an interest during the summer transfer window.
There were reports earlier in the week that Anfield chiefs had asked Monaco to delay the proposed sale of Lamine Camara to Chelsea after the two clubs had agreed a £47m deadline day deal on which the Ligue 1 club ultimately pulled the plug (Sky Sports).
The Monegasques' sporting director Thiago Scuro apparently told the 22-year-old that he would complete a major transfer 'very soon' in what seems an attempt to keep him sweet for this season before granting him a move elswhere in 2027.
According to Graeme Bailey for TEAMtalk, Liverpool had scouts watching at the Parc des Princes on Friday night as they kept tabs on the Monaco midfielder in their Ligue 1 clash against Paris Saint-Germain.
Camara is said to have played 'a significant role' as his side came from behind to beat the European champions 2-1 and continue PSG's miserable start to the campaign.

#monaco #ligue #anfield #lamine

However, thanks to the many fallings out that the Egyptian King had with Arne Slot, Liverpool and the attacker both agreed to terminate his deal a year before it was due to expire.
Most fans thought that this would mean the Reds' main target was going to be a new right-winger.
However, that was far from the case with Bradley Barcola taking until the very end of the window to get brought in.
And, if we're being picky, although the Frenchman can play on the right if needed, Andoni Iraola now has four left-wingers in his squad.
So, realistically, the Anfield outfit still need to find their replacement for Salah but, thanks to their business this summer, they may have already ruined their chances in that department too.

#egyptian #arne

A member of the loan ranks at La Liga champions Barcelona enjoyed something of a breakout performance in the colours of his new club this weekend.
The player in question? Ronald Araújo.
Stopper Araújo of course brought a surprise close to his Barcelona stint earlier this summer, taking his talents to Premier League heavyweights Liverpool on loan for the duration of the campaign.
The Uruguayan had since endured something of a hit-and-miss start to life at Anfield, accused of looking clumsy across a pair of appearances off the bench.
On Friday evening, though, Araújo provided a glimpse at the kind of physical dominance of which he is capable when firing on all cylinders.

#loan #liga #league #uruguayan

Are we really doing this all over again?
Atlético Madrid's desperately poor 3-0 loss to Athletic Club in at San Mamés brought up familiar ghosts from seasons gone by, leaving fans questioning if anything has actually changed ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League trip to Anfield.
A lack of intensity away from home and a vulnerable left side saw Atleti rue missed chances in the first half, before completely capitulating immediately from the restart in the second.
Here are Into the Calderón's key takeaways from this first loss of the 2026/27 season.
Atleti are making me sound like a broken record with no other ways of **** ysing one of their matches at this point. For the best part of two seasons, I have been using the **** ogy of a pool table on uneven ground to describe the way that the entirety of the team's play seems to gently drift over the right side of the pitch, and it's getting tiring.

#atleti #first #club

Liverpool have named their squad for the 2026/27 Champions League league phase, and there is no point dressing it up, two senior players have been left behind. Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo are not in Andoni Iraola's List A squad, which means they are unavailable unless changes are made later.
That is the headline. It is also the message. Iraola has looked at his options and decided that, for this part of the campaign, neither player is essential.
Chiesa's omission stands out. He stayed at Anfield this summer despite more uncertainty over his future, hoping to rebuild momentum after a stop-start spell shaped by injuries. He has not featured in the Premier League yet this season because of a minor issue, and with Liverpool short of proven width on the right, there was a route back into the picture. This decision closes that route, at least in Europe.
Endo's situation is less surprising, but no less significant. He has been working back from a pre-season injury and has clearly lost ground. Liverpool have younger legs and, in Iraola's view, better fits for the way he wants the side to play. At 33, Endo now looks like a squad player whose role is shrinking fast.
Photo IMAGO

#endo #back

Liverpool turned down a seven-figure offer for Keyrol Figueroa before sanctioning his deadline day loan to Port Vale, according to Liverpool.com, in a move that says plenty about how the club currently view the young striker.
Transfer deadline day was relatively calm at Anfield, but this was one of the more interesting developments beneath the surface. Figueroa, a highly regarded 20-year-old forward, had attracted interest from a number of markets, with Liverpool.com reporting that approaches arrived from Ligue 2 in France, Major League Soccer and Portugal. One unnamed club went further and placed a seven-figure proposal on the table for a permanent transfer, only for Liverpool to reject it.
That stance is significant. Liverpool have clearly decided that Figueroa remains an ***** et worth protecting, even if he is not yet in a position to force his way into Andoni Iraola's first-team plans. The head coach approved a temporary move instead, with the club choosing Port Vale as the destination for a player in need of regular senior minutes.
The immediate picture at Anfield helps explain the decision. Figueroa was involved during pre-season and wanted to make his case ahead of the new Premier League campaign, but the pathway looked crowded. He has found himself behind Jayden Danns and Will Wright in the attacking queue, while Josh Sonni-Lambie has also stepped up into the under-21s environment.
Even so, Liverpool's refusal to cash in suggests they believe there is still substantial upside. The report states that "they feel the frontman has a big future ahead of him and a loan was preferred rather than allowing the player to move on a permanent switch." That is a notable message for a player who is yet to make his professional debut for Liverpool's senior side.

#move #transfer

Everton Women will be away from home in their first three out of four WSL games for the upcoming season, and begin with an opener in the capital against newly promoted Crystal Palace on 6 September at the VBS Community Stadium.
The Blues return to Goodison Park a week later when they welcome another new outfit to the top flight in the form of Charlton Athletic, who won a promotion/relegation play-off against Leicester City, followed by two trips the road against West Ham United before the season's first Merseyside derby completes the opening month in terms of league fixtures.
The Toffees will have to wait until March 2027 to take on the Reds in the return WSL fixture, but can a campaign that will largely be spent on the road actually benefit Scott Phelan's team?
Notoriously slow starters, Everton thought that was behind them on the opening day of last season when an Ornella Vignola hattrick sealed a 4-1 win for the Toffees at Anfield, and a dream debut for the Spaniard.
What would follow was a revert to type as the Blues would fail to find a league win until December, pulling off the upset of the season by defeating Chelsea at Kingsmeadow, but even that momentous result couldn't prevent the inevitable for Brian Sorensen.

#toffees

Transfer deadline day for Liverpool was fairly slow.
The Anfield outfit made a lot of their moves on bank holiday Monday with deals for Lucca Brughmans and Djylian N'Guessan being lined up before the window slammed shut.
Bradley Barcola was also welcomed on 31 August with the Frenchman being one of the Reds' most anticipated deals of the window.
After his arrival, Liverpool had four left-wingers among their ranks and only one right-winger.
However, with the way that Andoni Iraola wants his wingers to play, they all need to be versatile and able to play anywhere across the front three which is why the Reds probably aren't panicking that much about their attacking options.

#Liverpool #reds #transfer #Monday