Liverpool climbed up to fourth in the Premier League as they beat Brighton 2-0 at Anfield.

Another Alexander Isak strike and an own goal from Pascal Gross ensured Andoni Iraola's men saw off the Seagulls.

And this latest post-match podcast suggests it was a performance that underlined just how far this team has come already und…

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As is often the case, journalists filing their post-match copy in the Anfield press room on Tuesday evening did so to the soundtrack of Sky Sports News playing out on the enormous televisions adorning the walls.

And anyone who had a moment to listen during that typically frantic period will have heard a fairly scathing assessment of the thrilling win over Villarreal they had just witnessed in which the phrase “unconvincing” was used.

This was the second time in four days that a comeback victory for the Reds was being discussed in such withering terms, with Match of the Day’s Danny Murphy being similarly unimpressed by their efforts at Brentford on Saturday.

It seems that Liverpool are winning under Andoni Iraola, but not quite well enough to have convinced anyone that they are heading in the right direction.

And in truth, that doesn’t seem quite fair.

Clearly, the Reds aren’t perfect, but it is slightly baffling that anyone expected them to be so after just 11 matches under Iraola.

What’s more, the criticisms aimed at them do not appear to tally with the fact they have won seven, drawn three and lost just one of those games all while battling challenges far beyond simply embedding a new style of play.

Take Murphy’s evisceration of the Brentford performance, which seemed to ignore that the Bees had suffered just their third home defeat in the last 12 months.

It was also only the third time they had been outperformed on xG at home in 2026, with Sunderland (thanks to a penalty) and Crystal Palace (also thanks to a penalty and by just 0.01xG) the others to have managed it.

Yes, the first red card was hugely influential, but what more could Liverpool have done to make the most of that than both comfortably outshoot their opponent (21-10) and win the xG (1.64-0.88) en route to victory?

Well, in explaining his key gripe, Murphy said: “Liverpool are too easy to play through, they really are. Although Liverpool show moments when they go forward, they are conceding far too many chances to be competitive at the top of the table at the minute.”

Yet this suggestion is somewhat undermined by Liverpool having conceded the third-lowest xG in the Premier League this season (8.3) and the fourth-fewest big chances (15).

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Liverpool kept up their 100% record in the Champions League as they came from two goals down to beat Villarreal 4-3.

Two goals from Alexis Mac Allister and further strikes from Ronald Araujo and Florian Wirtz helped Andoni Iraola's side produce a brilliant comeback.

But this latest post-match podcast suggests it was teenage w…

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Liverpool returned to winning ways in the Premier League as they beat Brentford 2-1 away from home.

Goals from Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak saw the visitors over the line after they had trailed, but the key moment of the game was undoubtedly Yehor Yarmoliuk's red card just before half-time.

That it remained a tight contest d…

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The immediate aftermath of a 6-3 win might feel like a strange time to start picking holes in Liverpool’s attacking play.

But, as good as Wednesday’s victory over LASK was, nobody involved is under any illusions as to the level of the opponent in comparison to that faced each weekend in the Premier League.

And it is in that competition that, thus far, the Reds have struggled to show sufficient cutting edge under Andoni Iraola.

Given the Basque’s reputation for free-flowing football, it is perhaps a surprise that he has - that half-hour with a one-man deficit against Manchester City aside - largely fixed the defence first.

Only one Premier League team (Brighton) has more than Liverpool’s three clean sheets this season, and their goals against record was similarly impressive until Sunday’s late flurry at Anfield.

However, Iraola was appointed primarily to bring back the front-footed, attacking football last seen under Jurgen Klopp, and that is his next task after building a solid defensive base.

Clearly, he has work to do, with the Reds’ seven goals in six league games placing them behind 12 other teams by that measure, the vast majority of whom have far less expensively assembled attacks.

And it isn’t like they have been particularly unlucky, either, as a ninth-best xG for tally (9.3) and eighth-best shots on target per 90 count (5) prove.

In fairness to Iraola, these problems preceded his arrival, arguably starting in the second half of Arne Slot’s first season in charge of the club.

That entire campaign was built on the back of Mohamed Salah’s greatest-ever individual season, albeit credit is due for the decision to feed so much through the Egyptian.

But once he began to fall away from those incredible heights, the fundamentals weren’t in place to prevent an overall attacking slide that has yet to be corrected.

And while that is also partly due to turnover in personnel, the job of the new man in charge is to make sure the many recently added pieces gel into a functioning frontline.

Despite those relationships still building, Liverpool currently sit sixth in the Premier League for both shots (89) and shots on target (30).

Unfortunately, the biggest failing of their attacking unit is that it does not generate particularly high-quality opportunities, as evidenced by the fact that no side has created fewer big chances (9) than them this term while Brighton lead the way with 27.

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Liverpool returned to winning ways as they thrashed LASK 6-3 in Austria in the Champions League.

A Bradley Barcola hat-trick and goals from Ronald Araujo, Jeremie Frimpong and Lewis Koumas saw the visitors ease to victory.

And, as discussed in this latest post-match podcast, it was a night that saw Andoni Iraola get everything he could possibly want.

That …

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Liverpool’s hotly anticipated Anfield clash with Manchester City ended in a 3-0 defeat on Sunday.

Ryan Gravenberch’s sending off past the hour was the key moment in a contest that the hosts had otherwise been bossing.

Until then, Andoni Iraola had plenty of positives to take, as detailed in this latest post-match podcast.

Howeve…

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Liverpool’s games against Manchester City have defined the majority of the Premier League’s last decade.

In fact, it could even be argued the titanic title tussles that saw both sides surpass 90 points under Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola represent the peak of top-flight football in this country.

Yet it isn’t just because of the absence of the key ingredients of those battles - both managers, Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah - that Sunday’s meeting between the pair won’t feel the same.

Rather, that is because it is almost impossible to say whether this latest clash has any meaning at all.

Manchester City are to blame for this strange situation, having recently been found guilty on all but one of the charges brought against them by the Premier League relating to financial misconduct and non-cooperation.

An appeal against those findings is yet to be heard, but the experts are gloomy on City’s prospects given the extent to which the Independent Commission eviscerated their arguments.

Should that fail, then thoughts will turn to a punishment, and many are already tripping over themselves to come up with inventive points deductions formulas they deem worthy of the crime.

In the end, you suspect the Premier League might end up viewing expulsion (along with a commitment from the EFL not to accept City) as the neatest, most effective option, along with the stripping of titles.

Either way, it will still be some time until any sanctions are handed down - if they are at all, of course - and so the issues around not knowing what we are watching in the meantime remain.

For example, if league leaders City go on to win the title this season but are subsequently expelled, will they get to keep it?

And should teams like Liverpool aggressively chase second place just in case there is potential for a reallocation?

This farcical situation is exactly why the Reds could justifiably argue that they have every right not to fulfil their fixture against City this Sunday.

However, it is understood that they are happy to quietly let the appeal process run, a fact that has led many to place responsibility for short-term ‘revenge’ firmly on the club’s supporters.

Clearly, this is the fanbase that has been most hurt by any City wrongdoing, having been pipped by them to the title on the final day of the season on three separate occasions across the last 12 years.

But it still does not feel right to ask these supporters to deliver an angry rebuke on behalf of the nation’s football fans while once again engaging in a contest that may ultimately prove illegitimate.

Sunday’s fixture may throw up captivating images to broadcast around the world, and the headlines we as journalists crave, but the entire endeavour is certain to be framed by matters off the pitch rather than on it.

And that is not the reason anybody falls in love with football as a child.

We do not want to spend our lives as fans of the sport reading about endless legal challenges, diplomatic pressure being placed upon the UK by a supposed ally, or unhelpful contributions from the prime minister that compromise due process.

And it is this wider distortion of the beautiful game that should perhaps be considered City’s biggest crime, meaning its architects are, in fact, more worthy of punishment than the club itself.

The Premier League and the Independent Football Regulator both have processes by which they assess owners’ and directors’ fitness against criteria such as integrity, financial soundness, and competence.

And it is hard to see how senior figures at City would meet the expected standards given the Independent Commission’s findings suggest they have acted in extreme bad faith while participating in a competition that cannot exist if one of its members does so.

In that context, the IFR’s powers to force a sale may ultimately prove relevant, but that does not help us now during a lengthy wait for potential sanctions to be handed down to a party that has yet to show a glimmer of remorse.

And that is why, for all the excitable attempts to bill Sunday as something of a grudge match, it is difficult to summon enthusiasm around a fixture that feels like just as much of a sham as the years that preceded it.

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It is an unfortunate consequence of the recent shift in how the Premier League is played that it is compulsory to periodically check in on Liverpool’s set-piece record.

But the fact is, the Reds’ first half of last season was proof that an entire campaign can be derailed by not paying sufficient attention to this aspect of the game.

At the halfway point of 2025-26, Arne Slot’s side had scored three and conceded 12 (a goal difference of -9) from such situations, a record that led to the dismissal of set-piece coach Aaron Briggs.

In the second half of the season, they managed to score 15 and concede just eight (+7), a rare area of improvement that helped ensure Champions League football was narrowly secured.

Insiders later hailed that upturn as a collective effort, but there was still a feeling that a specialist set-piece coach would be sought come the end of the season.

However, the dismissal of Slot and subsequent appointment of Andoni Iraola somewhat shifted things because of the make-up of the latter’s coaching staff.

At Bournemouth, Iraola had delegated responsibility for attacking set-pieces to Shaun Cooper, while his other trusted lieutenant Tommy Elphick took charge of defending.

And so it was agreed that this same setup would be tried at Anfield, albeit boosted by the input of the club’s set-piece analyst Lewis Mahoney.

That decision was understandable given Bournemouth had scored a fairly respectable 14 goals from corners and free-kicks last season, a figure bested by just seven sides.

It was also noted that they had been one of the biggest exponents of the inswinging corner, having delivered a league-leading 96.4% last term in that manner.

To Liverpool that was a sign of a forward-thinking approach given that they themselves had only landed on the effectiveness of inswingers in the second half of the campaign and could trace much of their improvement back to that.

Admittedly, Bournemouth’s defending of set-pieces did offer some cause for concern, with only Liverpool (20) conceding more than the Cherries’ 18 in 25-26.

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Although he bears no ill will toward Liverpool, you can only imagine Arne Slot is watching their promising start to this new season cursing his luck.

For all that Andoni Iraola’s first few games in charge have been encouraging in different ways, it doesn’t half help to have a £125m striker available to finish off moves.

And it could be justifiably argued, even at this early stage, that Alexander Isak’s contributions are proving a key difference between this campaign and the last.

The Swede has already netted four Premier League goals this term, eclipsing his debut-season tally of three despite having played just five games.

That is the sort of output that convinced Liverpool to break the British transfer record to bring him to Anfield last summer, yet it is only being delivered 12 months later.

Slot can hardly shoulder the blame for that, having initially been given a half-fit version of Isak due to the protracted and hostile nature of his transfer.

Although they would always say signings are made for the long term, you wonder if Liverpool’s recruitment staff now believe that process could have run more smoothly given the wait still ended in such a huge outlay.

Newcastle, too, are likely to harbour regrets over a hardline stance that was never going to hold and which only created a damaging delay to signing a replacement.

Either way, that slow start would have mattered slightly less had it not been followed by a broken leg suffered at Tottenham once had finally got himself match fit.

Micky van de Ven’s reckless challenge essentially ended any hopes of Isak showing the best version of himself in his first season as a Liverpool player, and perhaps sealed Slot’s fate.

Still, while his successor has had better fortune in terms of the striker’s availability, he is still deserving of credit for capitalising on it.

It says something that despite playing 415 minutes this season to last term’s 703, he is just two shots shy of matching his debut campaign’s overall tally of 17.

The quality of opportunities (3.54xG to 2.6xG) he is receiving has also improved, no doubt as a product of Iraola’s knack for platforming centre-forwards.

In fact, only Erling Haaland is currently bettering him on the latter statistic, and that is the sort of conversation we were used to Isak being in during his time at Newcastle.

Of course, the demanding Iraola remains unsatisfied, and in private has challenged Isak to up his workrate at the top end of the pitch.

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Liverpool are heading into the international break on a high after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bournemouth.

Alexander Isak's goal decided a scrappy contest on the south coast, but there were plenty of positives for the visitors.

This latest post-match podcast highlights the battling qualities shown as key among them, particular…

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Alexis Mac Allister’s performances for Argentina at this summer’s World Cup came as a surprise to many of those who had watched him toil so badly for Liverpool last season.

But not his colleagues at the AXA Training Centre, who had privately speculated that a response to a difficult season was coming on the biggest stage of all.

Their suspicions were partly driven by a feeling shared at executive level that so many in the Reds’ squad were far better than they showed last term.

In fact, that was a key reason behind Arne Slot’s dismissal, and has been further evidenced by Cody Gakpo’s own return to form.

But Mac Allister’s revival was also predicted because of the sheer bloody-mindedness he has regularly shown since arriving at Anfield in 2023.

The Argentine has long been regarded as a standard-setter on the training ground, a fact the many youngsters who have found themselves dressed down by him can attest to.

Those clashes are also a product of his passionate nature, a quality brought to the surface most recently by Liverpool’s refusal to offer a new contract.

You can see why the club viewed the younger pair of Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai as the better bet for new deals, given the stronger likelihood they would retain value even amid struggles with form.

However, this move has clearly wounded Mac Allister and, when combined with the aforementioned factors, has lit a fire that has resulted in him roaring back to his best in the early stages of this new season.

What is perhaps most confusing about this renaissance is that the player’s struggles last term looked less like a form problem and much more like a physical drop-off.

Mac Allister was too often slow to press, weak in challenges, and then lacked zip on the ball in a way that was familiar to all those who had witnessed fellow midfielder Fabinho’s sudden decline.

And, rather intriguingly, his physical statistics so far this term support that theory given they are worse than the last.

In a supposedly more aggressive team, Mac Allister’s top speed (31.6km/h vs 31.3), distance covered per 90 (11.4km vs 11.1) and number of sprints per 90 (7.91 vs 5.37) have all fallen.

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Liverpool secured their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Andoni Iraola rang the changes for his first domestic cup assignment at Anfield and was rewarded with a victory.

And there were plenty of positives for the Basque to take, not least the performance of midfielder Trey Nyon…

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Liverpool were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Fulham at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

Andoni Iraola's men failed to build on victories over Ipswich Town and Atletico Madrid as they were held at home.

And this latest post-match podcast focuses on the fact that the new head coach's biggest challenge was spelled out by the thi…

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Liverpool kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid.

Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister ensured Andon Iraola won on his managerial debut in the competiion.

And this latest post-match podcast suggests this was a significant evening as much for the performance as the result.

Here, Iraola’s half-time t…

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The worst kept secret in football was confirmed on Sunday as Al-Hilal announced the appointment of Richard Hughes as their new sporting director.

The Scot’s long-awaited move to the Saudi Pro League has brought an end to a two-year stint at Liverpool, and was celebrated on social media by fans who blame him for the failings of both last season and the most recent transfer window.

That is quite the fall for a man who was being hailed by the same supporters just 12 months ago for having appointed Arne Slot, delivered a league title, then backed it up with a summer of unprecedented spending.

But this change in sentiment speaks to how, outside of results alone, difficult it is to fairly assess the work of sporting directors when they are so beholden to a crazy market, the limitations imposed by their owners, and of course luck.

In Hughes’ defence, he arrived at Anfield to take on the rather unattractive job of ushering the Reds into the post-Jurgen Klopp era, which comprised replacing a seemingly irreplaceable manager and dismantling his squad so that it might be futureproofed.

His first major decision was to essentially postpone the latter part of that remit for a year, and was followed by the astute call that Arne Slot could provide a degree of continuity in the dugout.

And in terms of vindication on both counts, it doesn’t get much better than the Premier League title win that followed.

But change could not be held off forever, so Hughes subsequently embarked on a remarkable summer that was overwhelmingly endorsed by supporters, even if many have attempted to distance themselves from that opinion since.

Unfortunately, it did not usher in the expected era of dominance, with Slot falling short in a job entirely different from the one he inherited, and the many expensive signings made failing to fire for various reasons.

Hughes has since overseen another big-spending summer (albeit less lavish than 2025) that many feel has left gaps in midfield and defence, ensuring he leaves with a less lofty reputation among fans than just a year prior.

Perhaps some of that ire could have been headed off had communication extended beyond a single press conference at the start of his reign, though that is hardly a unique case among Premier League executives.

Forging relationships with local journalists might also have helped, providing a platform through which decisions and strategy could be explained without necessarily conducting interviews.

Of course, that would have been easier had Hughes relocated to Merseyside, rather than remaining on the south coast for the most part.

Such arrangements never tend to go down well with fans, who want to feel that key figures at their club have bought into the area it represents.

Liverpool look to have learned that lesson with new head coach Andoni Iraola basing himself in Formby, a notable contrast to his predecessor Slot’s decision to live in Hale Barns in Greater Manchester.

Perhaps the next sporting director should follow that lead, and a sense that they viewed Liverpool as the pinnacle of the profession would not go amiss, either.

That never felt like the case with Hughes, who was linked with Al-Hilal for the entire second year of his three-year contract before eventually making the move.

Liverpool are confident that, despite speculation, he was not working for both clubs over the summer, and it is clear that would neither have been tolerated by Fenway Sports Group nor allowed by FIFA given rules relating to conflicts of interest.

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Liverpool picked up their first win of the season as they beat Ipswich Town 2-0 at Portman Road.

And while this was a victory over newly promoted opponents, it was a hugely significant one according to this latest post-match podcast.

Here, the importance of Andoni Iraola getting his first three points on board is reflected on, …

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From the outside, it always seemed strange that, despite their clear need for an elite attacker and potential for a vacancy on the left-hand side, Arsenal never moved for Bradley Barcola this summer.

But the reality is that the Gunners knew they would be wasting their time even trying, because it is understood that the Frenchman only ever wanted Liverpool and had made that quite clear to all his other suitors.

That loyalty owed much to the duration of the Reds’ pursuit of the player, which began following his breakthrough into the Lyon first team in 2021.

A move to Paris Saint-Germain followed two years later, along with three seasons of football that featured 153 appearances, 39 goals, and 13 honours.

Yet Liverpool’s refusal to break off contact despite missing out first time around proved a wise investment, as they hope will be the case for the £106m initial fee and £17m in add-ons they have now agreed with PSG.

That Barcola arrives still aged only 23 and with vast experience of winning at the highest level arguably makes signing him now even sweeter.

And the club certainly believe they have acquired a forward with the pace and quality to reinvigorate an attack that fell short of the expected standard last season.

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Liverpool played out a second consecutive 2-2 draw as they were held by Nottingham Forest at Anfield.

Alexander Isak and Victor Munoz both scored equalisers but it was another frustrating day for the hosts.

And this latest post-match podcast shares the opinion that this was a game that posed big questions to the powers that be at Anfield.

Do they need to d…

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Liverpool scored a 99th-minute goal to snatch a point from a trip to Newcastle United in their Premier League opener.

Dominik Szoboszlai's penalty was the key moment after Cody Gakpo had also earlier equalised.

And this latest post-match podcast opines that it was game that featured plenty of positives and negatives for the vi…

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