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Slot is asked where the FA Cup sits among his priorities for the season – he puts it on an equal footing with competing in this year’s Champions League, and ensuring qualification for next season.
He also praises Brighton, who knocked Manchester United out in the third round but are in a bad run of form – “we have a lot in common; they are so much better than their league position suggests.”
Slot adds that Wataru Endo will be out for “quite a long time” after suffering a serious injury while filling in at right-back at the Stadium of Light. “We don’t expect a positive outcome. We have to wait and see. We expect not to have him for quite a long time.”
“That is not the first time with our right full-backs,” adds Slot, who is without Conor Bradley and Jérémie Frimpong. Dominik Szoboszlai could return after missing the Sunderland game due to suspension.
Liverpool host Brighton on Saturday evening, and Arne Slot says he’ll be keeping a close eye on training in order to make “the best possible decision” on the strength of his line-up. Liverpool have played Man City and Sunderland in the last six days, but will have a week’s break before going to Nottingham Forest next Sunday.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot is the first top-flight manager facing the media this morning – his press conference is under way now.
We’ll also hear from Eddie Howe (9.30am GMT), Mikel Arteta (12pm), Pep Guardiola (12.30pm), Rob Edwards (1pm), Marco Silva, Régis Le Bris, Scott Parker (all 1.30pm), Unai Emery (2pm) and Daniel Farke (2.15pm).
Over in Spain, Atlético Madrid are closing on their first Copa del Rey final appearance for 13 years after thrashing Barcelona in the first leg of their semi-final. Sid Lowe saw it all:
And here’s the fourth-round fixture list …
Friday (7.45pm GMT)
Hull City v Chelsea
Wrexham v Ipswich
Saturday (3pm unless stated)
Burton Albion v West Ham (12.15pm)
Burnley v Mansfield
Manchester City v Salford City
Norwich v West Brom
Port Vale v Bristol City
Southampton v Leicester
Aston Villa v Newcastle (5.45pm)
Liverpool v Brighton (8pm)
Sunday (2pm unless stated)
Birmingham v Leeds (12pm)
Grimsby v Wolves (1.30pm)
Oxford United v Sunderland
Stoke City v Fulham
Arsenal v Wigan (4.30pm)
Monday (7.30pm)
Macclesfield v Brentford
Here’s what to look out for in the FA Cup’s four-day, fourth-round weekend …
Another grand old club currently without a manager are Blackburn Rovers. BBC Sport and others are reporting that Michael O’Neill is set to take over at Ewood Park – but will also continue in his Northern Ireland role for the World Cup playoffs, and this summer’s finals if they qualify.
Blackburn’s current interim manager is the former Northern Ireland international Damien Johnson, and he will reportedly stay on as part of O’Neill’s coaching staff. Rovers sacked Valérien Ismaël on 2 February, with the club mired in the Championship relegation zone.
Hello. The first domestic football match I ever saw on live TV was in 1991 – the FA Cup final between Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur. Two historic clubs led by long-serving managers Brian Clough and Terry Venables, who walked out at Wembley holding hands. Jumpers for goalposts, isn’t it? Marvellous.
Spurs won the Cup but Venables was soon moved upstairs by Alan Sugar, so maybe managerial turmoil is nothing new. But it’s still sad to see the current state of affairs at both of these storied clubs, who both dispensed with their managers earlier this week. Relegation is a real threat for two teams who really should be nowhere near trouble, and nobody is 100% sure who to blame.
Forest are lining up Vítor Pereira, the Premier League’s new Winston Wolf, to replace Sean Dyche, while Spurs didn’t appear to have anyone in mind to replace Thomas Frank. We’ll keep track of developments and look ahead to a busy FA Cup fourth-weekend – although Tottenham and Forest are helpfully both already out, freeing up time for their recruitment searches.
