Liverpool
Slot: Liverpool Still Favourites but Questions Remain Over Squad Depth
Slot: Liverpool are favourites after last season, but spending, fitness and window will decide. 2025
Arne Slot has acknowledged that Liverpool enter the 2025–26 season as favourites to retain the Premier League title, but he insisted that tag reflects last season’s achievement as much as recent transfer activity. Slot said the club earned that status before what has been described as record-breaking transfer spend and emphasised that previous seasons of relatively low net spending complicate any suggestion the position rests on money alone.
“That we are favourites because we won it last season and we played so well, that’s clear,” Slot told the media.
The manager accepted the new signings strengthen the squad while warning that perceptions based solely on outlay would be misleading. He pointed to the club’s net spend over the last two seasons and the departures that followed the title-winning campaign.
“For me, it would not be normal if it’s about spending, because the net spend of us compared to the other teams is not in our favour, if you look at the last two seasons. So if we are only favourites because we’ve spent a bit, I would see that as weird, because we’ve lost a lot as well.”
Slot also stressed it is too early to conclude whether the current group is stronger than the one that won the title. With the transfer window still open, he said final judgement must wait until after it closes.
“That is something I can only tell you on September 1, because the window is still open for three weeks,” he continued. “I do feel that the players we’ve brought in have already done really well, as expected.
“But I cannot tell you now if these players are able to perform at the same level every three days. Therefore, we first have to start the season [to see].
“And I did know that Luis Díaz was able to do that, and all the other ones were able to do that. So that is another challenge at the Premier League, because we play so many games. And for Milos Kerkez, it’s going to be his first time, probably, that at this level he might have to play every three days.
“Florian Wirtz comes from the Bundesliga, where he was used to playing every three or four days, but we have to ask him in two months if the intensity levels of the Premier League are comparable with the Bundesliga.
“So in terms of talent and the quality we’ve brought in, we see that we have a very good team again. But we have to wait and see, will they stay fit?
“There are multiple factors you need to take into account. I am really happy with the players we’ve brought in. But we’ve also lost starters that have had a big impact on our title-winning season last year.”
Liverpool
Willem II Rename Youth Stand in Honour of Virgil van Dijk
Willem II rename youth main stand the Virgil van Dijk Tribune ahead of the U13s Legacy tournament..
Willem II have given a permanent tribute to one of their academy graduates by renaming the main stand at their youth stadium the Virgil van Dijk Tribune.
Van Dijk’s connection to the Tilburg club runs deep. He spent 11 years within Willem II’s youth setup before joining Groningen in 2010. He never made a senior appearance for Groningen but remains closely tied to his boyhood club.
The renaming coincides with the launch of Virgil’s Legacy Trophy, an Under-13s tournament organised with Van Dijk’s involvement. The competition will bring together the clubs the defender represented during his career, with Liverpool, Southampton, Celtic, Groningen and Willem II among the invited sides. Eleven other teams will also take part at the tournament in Tilburg this September.
On the recognition, Van Dijk said: “It makes me very proud,” Van Dijk said of the tribute . “Willem II has played an important role in my life and in my development as a young player.
“That this is now recognised in this way means a lot to me and my family. It is a very special tribute and I appreciate the warmth and connection I still feel with the club.”
Willem II’s general manager Merijn Goris spoke of the wider purpose behind the gesture: “Virgil means so much to Willem II and to our youth academy. We wanted to give him something lasting.
The new stand name will be visible throughout youth fixtures and serves as a nod to the club’s role in Van Dijk’s early development as the tournament brings young players from the involved clubs together in Tilburg. The move is both a local acknowledgement and a practical celebration of the link between the first steps taken in a club academy and the career that followed for one of the game’s leading centre backs.
Liverpool
David Coote Charged Over Indecent Video After Earlier Dismissal and Officiating Bans
David Coote charged over an indecent video of a child; due in court after Premier League dismissal..
David Coote, the former Premier League referee dismissed in December 2024 after comments about Liverpool and Jürgen Klopp, has been charged with making an indecent video of a child. He was charged on Aug. 12 and is due to appear at Nottingham Magistrates Court on Thursday, Sept. 11. Coote has been released from custody on conditional bail.
Coote’s top-flight refereeing career was ended by Professional Game Match Officials Limited after those comments were judged a “serious breach of the provisions of his employment contract.” The Football Association also imposed an eight-week ban in August related to the remarks about Liverpool and Klopp.
Earlier, Coote initially disputed the legitimacy of the video but later admitted it was genuine. In a lengthy interview with The Sun he acknowledged drug abuse and spoke about his struggles with hiding his sexuality. He said that he “didn’t recognise” himself in the video where he called Klopp a derogatory term.
UEFA has already barred Coote from officiating until June 30, 2026. That suspension followed the publication of photographs showing him snorting a white powder, after he had been selected to appear as an assistant VAR official at Euro 2024.
The sequence of sanctions and allegations has removed Coote from match duties at domestic and European levels while criminal procedures proceed. He faces the upcoming magistrates court hearing in September and remains on conditional bail as the legal process continues.
Liverpool
EA FC 26: The Premier League’s Top 26 Rated Players Revealed
EA Sports released the top 26 Premier League player ratings for FC 26, led by Salah and Rodri Online
EA Sports has published the list of the top 26 rated Premier League players in EA FC 26, a list headlined by Mohamed Salah and Rodri. The rankings double as an early look at Ultimate Team walkouts, the in-game term for player items rated 86 or higher.
Liverpool and Arsenal each register seven walkouts in FC 26. The coverage notes summer signings Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak among those for the league champions. Arsenal’s entries include Saliba, Saka, Rice and Gyökeres. Manchester City record six walkouts, including new goalkeeper Donnarumma, leaving City just behind the two sides that finished above them in the league.
Bruno Fernandes keeps the same overall rating from FC 25 to FC 26 despite a difficult season for Manchester United. Other Premier League clubs with multiple walkouts include Newcastle United and Chelsea.
Mohamed Salah is the highest rated player in the Premier League for EA FC 26 and is also the joint-highest rated Ultimate Team player alongside Kylian Mbappé.
A number of notable players receive downgrades at the start of the year, with Rodri, Haaland and Ødegaard listed among those reduced. Several familiar names are absent from the walkout list this year in the Premier League, including Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Emiliano Martínez. Players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Son Heung-min also miss out on walkouts in FC 26, a situation attributed in the notes to players transferring clubs over the summer.
The EA FC 26 reveal offers an early snapshot of how Ultimate Team will represent Premier League talent this season, and the distribution of walkouts underlines how summer moves and seasonal form have influenced opening ratings.
