Key events
We are certainly starting to see the best of Florian Wirtz in a Liverpool shirt now. He always looked tidy and creative but he seems to be adapting more to the physical side of the game in the Premier League. Ominous for next season?
Not long ago everyone was saying that Wirtz was a waste of money.I sometimes think that no one knows less about football than football supporters.
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Andy Hunter
Konaté offered to make early Liverpool return after father’s death, Slot reveals
Arne Slot revealed Ibrahima Konaté was not due to face Newcastle after the recent death of his father. The centre-back was rewarded for responding to Liverpool’s defensive crisis with his first Premier League goal at Anfield.
Konaté returned from compassionate leave after three matches out to cap Liverpool’s convincing 4-1 comeback win against Eddie Howe’s team. The France international was in tears after scoring in front of the Kop and admitted he did not “have words to describe what I feel right now” after the poignant goal.
The Liverpool head coach revealed: “He has had a very difficult two weeks. He was planning to be back for the end of this week and it would have meant he could not play this game, but when he saw the problems we had defensively, he called me early this week and said: ‘I want to be back to help the team against Newcastle’.
Let’s start at the top…
Arsenal extend lead at the top with easy win over Leeds
Arsenal ended a run of three games without a win by strolling past Leeds at Elland Road. This looked a potentially tricky fixture but the Gunners made light work of Daniel Farke’s side. Arsenal are seven points clear of Manchester City, who face Tottenham in the 4.30pm (GMT) kick-off today. Read Aaron Bower’s report here.
Liverpool put four past Newcastle
Newcastle haven’t won at Anfield since 1994 and will have to wait another season to try and end that record. Anthony Gordon gave the visitors the lead but Hugo Ekitike lead the comeback for Liverpool, scoring twice before half-time before the Reds pulled away to win 4-1. Andy Hunter was there for this one.
Rosenior continues impressive start at Chelsea, the hard way
Chelsea beating West Ham at home should not be a huge surprise but given Liam Rosenior’s Blues were 2-0 down at the break, it ended up being a rousing win. Rosenior deserves some credit for correcting his mistake of a heavily-changed starting XI as two of his half-time changes scored in a dramatic 3-2 comeback win where Jean-Clair Todibo saw red late on. Jacob Steinberg was at Stamford Bridge.
Elsewhere… David Moyes danced on the pitch after Beto scored an equaliser with the last kick of the game to earn Everton a 1-1 draw at Brighton. The Seagull’s failure to collect all three points meant that Bournemouth’s 2-0 win at Wolves moved the Cherries up to 13th.
Preamble
Good morning and welcome to Sunday’s matchday live. Decent day in the Barclays yesterday wasn’t it? Goals aplenty. Let’s hope for more of the same today. We’ll be building up to four fixtures in the Premier League, five in the WSL and a Women’s Champions Cup double-header at Emirates Stadium, where Arsenal will be going for the inaugural title in the final.
Before we get to that, let’s have a quick look back at yesterday’s headlines…
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/feb/01/premier-league-and-wsl-buildup-transfer-news-and-more-matchday-live
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