Egypt’s plans to take Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush into camp ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations are creating a scheduling headache for Liverpool and Manchester City.

Reports say Egypt would like to fly Salah and Marmoush to Cairo for a friendly against Nigeria on Dec. 14. That date sits uncomfortably with Premier League commitments. City are understood to be keen on keeping Marmoush for the Crystal Palace match scheduled the same day. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah would face an even tighter turnaround. The Reds play Brighton & Hove Albion 24 hours earlier and Salah would not have enough time to play, travel and then recover to feature for Egypt.

Liverpool will also be conscious of form. The Reds have lost six of their last seven games in all competitions and need their best players to turn things around. For City, the club must balance selections while also preparing for the absence of Rayan Aït-Nouri, who will join Algeria for international duty.

Pep Guardiola addressed the potential clash in his news conference. He said, “Always I try to solve the problem when the problem is in front of me. Right now I don’t think [about it],” and added, “I have to use them for Sunday and next Wednesday and next Sunday before the international break. When it is going to happen they cannot be here and we will see the situation and take the decisions.”

If Marmoush departs after City’s game with Palace as the club hope, the 26-year-old could miss up to eight games if Egypt reach the final. Liverpool would lose Salah for a similar period but one game fewer because they were eliminated in the Carabao Cup fourth round by Palace.

Upcoming fixtures referenced in the discussion include Tottenham (A), Brentford (H) in the Carabao Cup, Wolves (H), West Ham (H), Leeds (H), Nottingham Forest (A), Fulham (A), Sunderland (A), Arsenal (A), Chelsea (H), Burnley (H), Brighton (H), Marseille (A), Man Utd (A), and Bodø/Glimt (A).

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has made clear the club will resist moving its Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace to Dec. 23, after Palace asked for an alternative date amid a severe fixture pile-up.

The quarter-final is currently scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 16. Arsenal and Palace reached this stage by overcoming Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool in the fourth round respectively. Palace say the proposed date leaves them with three matches in five days: Manchester City are due to visit Selhurst Park two days prior in the Premier League and Palace then face KuPS in the Conference League two days after the scheduled cup tie.

Palace sought options after playing on Christmas Eve was ruled out following consultation with the Metropolitan police and Transport for London, and the Eagles proposed Dec. 23 as a possible alternative. Arsenal, who face Wolves a day before City travel to south London, have not agreed to that change.

“I don’t think that’s fair, because we have other competitions as well we have to try to accommodate,” Arteta said at his news conference. “We knew at the start of the season the competitions that each club is playing in … On balance we have to try to accommodate the best possible way for everybody.”

Asked specifically about the Dec. 23 option he added: “No, there are others. There are others, believe me, there are other options much better than this one. We already suggested that.”

The EFL, which governs the Carabao Cup, has yet to make an official ruling and both clubs expect a decision in the coming week.

Concerns about fixture congestion and player workload are not new. This summer’s Club World Cup provided little respite for players from Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid and other leading clubs, and there have been suggestions that strike action might be needed to force governing bodies to listen.

On that point Arteta was clear about his hopes and priorities: “Hopefully not. If we look after the players’ welfare and our supporters, I think we’re never going to get to that point. And that’s it. We have to close the window there. We cannot open that window. It has to be closed. It’s our most precious value.

“We have the best league in the world and we cannot just open any window for anything just to lose that because we don’t respect that, and we forget what we are made of and what makes this game and this league so, so special. And if we respect that, I’m sure we’re going to be totally fine.”

Ruben Amorim has admitted he briefly questioned his future at Manchester United after the club lost the Europa League final, but says the mood around the squad has shifted as players have started to show their true ability.

A summer overhaul brought Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Šeško to refresh United’s frontline and to provide profiles suited to Amorim’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system. That recruitment, combined with a run of three straight wins, represents a clear change of direction. United had failed to win back-to-back matches of any kind during Amorim’s first 11 months in charge and had won only one of their first five games in 2025–26.

Victory over Nottingham Forest on Saturday could temporarily lift the club to second in the Premier League, a sign of how recent results have eased some of the gloom that has surrounded Old Trafford.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Amorim opened up about the pressure he felt after the Europa League disappointment and the struggles early in the season. He said: “It’s hard to say that. Sometimes, in some moments,” Amorim said, reflecting on the fact United also won only one of their first five games in 2025–26. “There were some moments that were tough to deal with, to lose so many games. That was so hard for me because this is Manchester United .

“The position that we had in the last year, putting all the attention on the Europa League and not winning. That was massive. I had some moments that I struggled a lot and I was thinking that maybe it’s not meant to be.

“Today is the opposite. So you can write this one. Today I feel and I know that was the best decision in my life. I want to be here but for that I need to win against Nottingham Forest.”

Amorim also warned that progress must be protected and that the team still has work to do. “It’s hard to say. We need to think positively, but we also need to be prepared that football is [up and down]. And we are not that team that I can say to you, no, no, no.

“Now we can lose here or there, but we are going to maintain. I trust in my players more. I think they trust me more. That will come with wins. And you can sense that because everyone now is saying that, how connected they are and they believe in the manager.

“It’s about winning games. It didn’t change a lot because against Arsenal , I saw the same team, so I don’t know.

“I think that we are in a better place, but it’s also really good to be always with that feeling and prepare that something can change. If we have that feeling, we’ll pay attention to the details and we’ll maintain that course of our path.

“I can say that we are a better team in this moment, and we feel that and we know that, and that can help us to overcome better the bad moments.”