Liverpool

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "We were poor in the first half. We improved a lot our performance in the second half, we came from behind twice, but I think the first half didn't allow us to win the game at the end.

"We were quite passive without the ball. We were allowing them to pass and both goals, which came from throw-ins, we didn't defend properly. The general feeling is that we were passive defensively.

"In the second half when we were more aggressive and played with more intensity we attacked better. I hope this serves as a lesson for the future.

"Victor [Munoz] has played really well. Defensively and offensively he did a very good job and was always a threat.

"With the penalty, the situation has already finished when the contact appears. And it's not an aggressive contact.

"But more than this we complained about the subs. We had to wait about three minutes. He was having an issue with the board, I don't know if it was not working, but we definitely wanted to do the subs the last two or three stoppages before the goal. It wasn't just that reason but everything helps."

Reds goalscorer Alexander Isak, speaking to TNT about new boss Iraola: "It's been good, there is always time to get used to a new style. We are really working hard to try to play the game he wants us to play, when we start doing that better I have no doubt the results will come as well."

On his goal: "That's the job ultimately as a striker. I am very happy to score the first one. Every striker wants to score every game he plays."

Did you know?

• Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola is only the 12th manager to enjoy a run of 20 consecutive unbeaten Premier League matches, though he is the first to do so across spells with two different clubs (18 with Bournemouth, 2 with Liverpool).

• The Reds have failed to win either of their opening two Premier League games in a season for only the second time in the last 14 seasons, also doing so in 2022-23 when they started with two draws.

Listen to Iraola on BBC Sounds

Sam Drury
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

With a new manager, a new system and relatively new stars tasked with leading this new era at Anfield, patience was always going to be needed at Liverpool this season.

But with two forwards brought in for nine-figure fees - and a third on the way - Iraola is not likely to receive the same grace that saw him backed even after failing to win any of his first nine league games at Bournemouth.

This was another frustrating Liverpool performance with Forest able to limit them to few chances as they sat deep and invited the hosts to break them down.

The wide open spaces in midfield that proved so costly at Newcastle last weekend were not quite as evident after Iraola made the bold decision to drop Ryan Gravenberch in favour of Alexis Mac Allister, but the simplicity of the Forest goals will still have irked him.

One long ball caught them out for the first, while they appeared to switch off for the throw-in that led to the penalty.

That Wirtz and Isak were each involved in a goal was certainly a positive, though. They hold the key to Liverpool having a successful season and, quiet as Isak was otherwise, there will be few complaints if the goals keep coming.

Wirtz was brighter, albeit still with room for improvement, but then that could be said of the whole side.

More reinforcements may yet follow Bradley Barcola through the door before Tuesday's transfer deadline but regardless, Iraola will be hoping things start to click soon after another disjointed performance.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Liverpool's performance

What did you make of Nottingham Forest's display?

Reaction and analysis to follow - and come back on Monday for a selection of your replies.

There are four games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Liverpool v Nottingham Forest (12:30)

• Bournemouth v Everton - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

• Coventry v Hull City - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Tottenham v Newcastle (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated.

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Nottingham Forest travel to Liverpool looking to secure a hat-trick of league wins at Anfield for the very first time. BBC Sport looks at the key themes.

Andoni Iraola's first Premier League game in charge of Liverpool may have ended on a positive note with their last-gasp equaliser at St James' Park, but it was a 90 minutes that also shone a light on the weaknesses his side currently have.

The Reds enjoyed 61% possession and had a whopping 27 shots to Newcastle's 13 but at times they were cut apart with ease by the home side's direct and pacy counter attacks.

The Geordies' opening goal from Anthony Elanga came just 10 seconds after Newcastle won the ball in their own box, while their second took just 12 seconds from Malick Thiaw winning possession to Joe Willock finishing past Alisson with aplomb.

It raised the tally of goals the Reds have conceded from fast breaks in all competitions since the start of last season to nine, the highest of any Premier League side.

Iraola takes charge of his first competitive match at Anfield looking to protect the club's proud record of having not lost their opening league game of the season on home soil since 2003, with 17 wins and five draws from 22 such matches.

However, that impressive run will come under threat from a Nottingham Forest side that have got used to winning at Anfield. Having not triumphed there in any competition since 1969 they enjoyed a 1-0 victory in September 2024 before following it up with a thumping 3-0 success last November.

In fact, since Forest's return to the top-flight in 2022 their three league wins over Liverpool is more than any other side has managed against the Reds in that time.

Forest hope for Delap boost

Like Liverpool, Nottingham Forest are trying to find their feet under a new manager in Oliver Glasner.

He will certainly be glad to see the back of Leeds United after Daniel Farke's side inflicted back-to-back defeats on them within four days in which they failed to score a goal.

A downbeat Glasner said after Tuesday's League Cup loss that the club have to a long way to go before they get to where he wants them to be.

"The reality is, and I think everybody has to understand and accept, nine months of relegation battle, losing maybe your top midfielder (Elliot Anderson), and now we're six weeks together," the former Palace boss said. "The reality is no magician, no Messiah, it's just hard work. This is what we have to do."

A quiet summer by their recent standards in the transfer market was reflected by Glasner including no new signings in his starting line-up for their opener last Saturday.

However, the arrival of club-record signing Liam Delap will give everyone a lift. The £50m striker will be desperate to reignite his career after scoring just one goal in 28 league games in a frustrating spell at Stamford Bridge.

Forest will at least be buoyed by the fact they have scored in each of their last 10 Premier League away games – the longest current run in the top flight - netting 15 goals in their last five on the road alone.

I covered Nottingham Forest against Leeds last weekend and in fairness that was a really tight game. Oliver Glasner's gone into Forest with a big reputation but they went through four managers last year and the owner is notoriously impatient if things don't go well.

They didn't go big in the transfer window but they have got Liam Delap and he'll be hoping to get his career back on track. He had a disappointing season at Chelsea - which I know all about - but I do think there's a player in there and hopefully he'll suit Forest.

It will be interesting to see who plays as that central striker. With the money they've spent on Delap then Chris Wood may not play a major role.

I thought Liverpool deserved a point at least at Newcastle and they got a fair bit of criticism but I can't see past the Liverpool win and I think Alexander Isak will get off the mark.

Last season he shot himself in the foot - forcing the move and then he had injury issues and it didn't quite happen for him. We know there's a player in there and for his sake and Liverpool's sake, the sooner he comes to the fore the better.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Image source, Milltown Partners

New Liverpool investor Amit Bhatia says he recognises what fans want from their football club and has referenced the "enormous responsibility" his consortium of investors now has by buying into the Reds.

Bhatia will be at Saturday's game at Anfield against Nottingham Forest - his first visit since a deal was agreed for his consortium to buy into the club.

The company - 1892 Holdings - includes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and, subject to regulatory approval, will own around 38% of the 20-time English champions.

A beaming Bhatia, who has previous involvement in football with Queens Park Rangers, told Liverpool's website: "The opportunity to be involved in a club like this, with people like this, with management like this, with potential in the way that we know that this club has, is only positive thoughts and only positive feelings. And I get it, I understand that with it comes an enormous responsibility to the supporters, an enormous responsibility to make sure that people always feel the club is moving forwards.

"This club has been around since 1892 and the club will be around long after we're all gone. For a short period of time, if we were lucky enough to be part of an ownership group that can help support the club for a period of time, then all that we can hope for is that we can bring more success to the club. But more importantly, that we can make the fans even more proud of the football club that they support, that they represent, that shapes their Sunday mornings or their Mondays in the office.

"And that's a huge responsibility. But I think that that's something I recognise, something that I have interacted with and it's been very important to me in my heart throughout my involvement in sport.

"How can you not be excited? It's the biggest and the greatest football club in the world. And so to in any way be associated with it, it is the stuff of dreams, right? But it also comes, we know, in time with great responsibilities. And so that responsibility has been shouldered by FSG, we believe, in the most spectacular way over the last 16 years. And so if we as their partners can be involved, help, elevate the club, help the club in any way – and I hope that they see some value in us, which is why they've welcomed us to the table – we are ready, willing, champing at the bit and can't wait to help in any way that we are called upon to help the club. So, incredibly excited, incredibly honoured and very much looking forward to it."

Liverpool fan and author Steve Scragg expects the Reds to finish in the top eight of the league phase following their Champions League draw.

"They should do," Scragg told BBC Radio Merseyside. "That's not wanting to sound arrogant about it or anything like that but you're looking at that set of eight and you're thinking, 'yes, there's potential pitfalls' but given the format of the tournament you can have four pitfalls and still make it through."

Andoni Iraola's side will host Atletico, Porto, Villarreal and Lens while visiting Inter Milan, Brugge, Fenerbahce and LASK in the league phase of the Champions League.

Scragg isn't thrilled at another clash with Diego Simeone's men.

He said: "It feels like so, so often. You are getting to that point where you just feel like you're playing these same teams over and over again. It does kind of take that shine off it and thinking 'that great unknown' or 'it's going to be great to play those'.

"I think I'm looking at it and thinking well, there's Fenerbahce away. We don't always do that well in Turkey. Turkish club football is on the rise. That might be a little bit difficult so there might be a bit of interest in that.

"LASK, what they've done with Celtic, so I think it's kind of the ones that when you scratch beneath the surface, so rather than 'It's Atletico again', 'it's Porto again', it's a case of looking past those repetitive fixtures and where does the interest lie."

Listen to the full chat above or on BBC Sounds here.

Mohamed Moallim
BBC Sport Journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool have twice paid more than £100m for players - midfielder Florian Wirtz and striker Alexander Isak - and could be about to do so again.

Bradley Barcola moved to Paris St-Germain from Lyon in 2023 for a reported £38.5m fee. He is right footed, although he prefers to play on the left wing, but he can also play on the right or through the middle.

With Mohamed Salah leaving on a free transfer at the end of last season, Liverpool clearly need to strengthen their attack.

At first glance, Barcola looks like the natural successor to Luis Diaz, with the underlying data suggesting the forward could fill that void.

Opta's player similarity model rated him as the winger whose output most closely resembled Diaz's across Europe's top five leagues in 2025-26 (78%), with Salah (65%), Lamine Yamal (61%) and Vinicius Junior (61%) the next closest matches.

A closer look, however, suggests Liverpool would not simply be replacing one winger with another.

Barcola is a left winger by trade, but his game is shaped by a centre-forward's instincts.

Last season, he averaged 3.5 shots per 90 minutes in Ligue 1, placing him among the division's most active shooters despite operating from wide areas.

His 9.83 expected goals (xG) ranked in the 95th percentile among wingers across Europe's top five leagues, meaning only around 5% of wide players consistently found themselves in better goalscoring positions.

In addition, no PSG player or Ligue 1 winger recorded a higher xG total during the 2025-26 campaign.

He also averaged 8.69 touches in the opposition penalty area per 90 minutes - the seventh-highest figure among more than 1,500 eligible players - reinforcing the profile of a winger who consistently occupies goalscoring positions.

Read the full article here

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool's draw is complete - Andoni Iraola's side now know the eight sides they will be meeting in the Champions League's 36-club league phase.

The teams were seeded into four pots based on their results in Uefa competitions over the past five years, with pot one being the highest-ranked and pot four being the lowest-ranked.

Each club has been drawn against two teams from each of the four pots, but they can only play a maximum of two teams from one country and they cannot play against a team from their domestic league.

The Reds will face: Atletico Madrid (home), Inter Milan (away), Porto (home), Club Brugge (away), Villarreal (home), Fenerbahce (away), Lens (home), Lask (away).

The order of those fixtures will be announced by Uefa in due course.

League phase dates:

Matchday 1: 8-10 September 2026

Matchday 2: 13-14 October 2026

Matchday 3: 20-21 October 2026

Matchday 4: 3-4 November 2026

Matchday 5: 24-25 November 2026

Matchday 6: 8-9 December 2026

Matchday 7: 19-20 January 2027

Matchday 8: 27 January 2027

Knockout phase dates:

Knockout phase play-offs: 16-17 and 23-24 February 2027

Round of 16: 9-10 and 16-17 March 2027

Quarter-finals: 6-7 and 13-14 April 2027

Semi-finals: 27-28 April and 4-5 May 2027

Final: 5 June 2027, Madrid

See how the rest of the league phase draw panned out

Aadam Patel
Liverpool reporter

Image source, PA Media

All along, Andoni Iraola has spoken about how he is waiting for 1 September when he knows what his squad will look like come the end of the window and there was certainly a sense inside the media room on Thursday that, even with Bradley Barcola's impending arrival, Liverpool might not be done yet.

Iraola hoped to have "good news" around Barcola as that deal edges closer, but he refused to guarantee that Cody Gakpo would still be a Reds player come the end of the window. Liverpool are in the market for another winger, in addition to Barcola, and there is a possibility the Netherlands forward could leave.

The Liverpool boss also revealed he preferred other options over Harvey Elliott for the 2-2 draw at Newcastle on Sunday and said the magic word is "ideally" when it came to strengthening more areas.

Barcola has been a priority for Liverpool ever since Yan Diomande opted for Real Madrid and those at Anfield are increasingly confident that there will be no complications for what would be a record fee for a player leaving Ligue 1.

Barcola would bring that star factor and inject some real quality into a Liverpool attack that could become widely feared if the likes of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz can step up.

From a PSG perspective, the deal is progressing "extremely well" and there is certainly an element of those in Paris seeing this as an excellent sale, given they signed Barcola from Lyon for £38m in 2023 and would be getting triple that from Liverpool once you account for the add-ons.

Given Barcola would be a bench option, it is certainly a good deal for the back-to-back Champions League winners. It is a result Liverpool wanted too, having held firm earlier in the summer in terms of meeting PSG's initial valuation of £145m.

It promises to be a busy few days for the Reds as the transfer window concludes and "special" too as Iraola takes charge of them at Anfield for the first time in the Premier League.

Tasnim Chowdhury
BBC Sport journalist

Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Nottingham Forest at Anfield (kick-off 12:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Iraola did not speak about signing Bradley Barcola but said "we are trying to sign [wingers]". He added: "I hope we can have good news soon but we are still not there." Iraola said he hopes to keep "very influential" forward Cody Gakpo in the squad, but admitted "I cannot guarantee anything".

• Federico Chiesa is unavailable because of a small muscle injury. Harvey Elliott missed out on selection last week as Iraola could only select 20 players. "It is a matter of finding the balance on the bench," he said.

• On signing players in various positions: "We have to be patient, even myself, and then we will know. I will be comfortable [on deadline day], when they say this is who we are and this is the options we have. Right now, we don't know. I have in my head, what I want". He added that the club knows what he wants and then it is a matter of closing deals.

• Iraola said it will be a "special moment" to step out at Anfield as Liverpool boss as he takes charge of the team for the first time at home in the Premier League. He added: "It is going to be emotional. It is a special place. I had to fight a lot to arrive to this place and I hope everything goes well and I can enjoy the game".

• On defender Jeremy Jacquet's performance in the opening draw at Newcastle: "He played very well considering it was his first game. It's true he finished tired. He has been very confident on the ball and good without the ball. For sure, he will make some mistakes and we have to accept that. But he is performing very well."

• Iraola said he "expected" the reaction that came after the result at St James' Park: "Everything is going to be magnified, for the good and the bad. I think I am starting to understand everything that happens. It is a matter of myself and my coaching staff, the players, how we can maximise the potential."

• On Nottingham Forest: "[Oliver Glasner] has been very successful. You can see, straight away, the shape and they don't concede a lot of chances. The other day against Leeds was a very tight game, with not a lot of chances. Leeds won because they scored a free-kick in the 90th minute. But, probably, Forest had more chances than Leeds, until that moment."

• More on facing Forest: "We will have to earn every chance. They don't give you anything for free. You have to be very good on the ball and be patient, because defensively they are very solid. We have to control those situations, especially in the transitions, because they have good threats on the counter."

Hit play above to hear more from Iraola or listen on BBC Sounds here

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We asked for your views on Paris St-Germain forward Bradley Barcola, who Liverpool are in advanced talks to sign for a fee that could rise to £120m.

Here are some of your comments:

Sean: We need a player like him. The market price is very high, but poor planning got us to this point.

Matt: Worth every penny! We struggled in the final third all summer, so Barcola's class and quality will be worth every penny. He'll help Florian Wirtz, who unfairly has had stick, and Alexander Isak will get better balls in the box. Just wish we'd got it over the line sooner!

James: I'm a bit conflicted. I'm not totally convinced he solves our issues, but I am glad we have finally done something. We need a right winger now desperately, but we've left it so late I feel it will either be a panic buy, or we do nothing. Praying I'm wrong.

Ravi: Sadly, this looks like another deal where we're paying a significant premium. Hopefully, he proves to be more in the Hugo Ekitike mould than Wirtz or Isak in terms of delivering value and making an immediate impact. Regardless, there are still two glaring weaknesses in the squad that need addressing urgently: a genuine defensive midfielder and a high-quality right winger.

Arron: He is undoubtedly an upgrade on the left-hand-side. However, it feels like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist there. Rio Ngumoha and Coady Gakpo were surely enough? We are buying a lot of expensive talent in areas that won't transform the team into an elite force.

Gabriel: Seems like a good deal for a very good young player, assuming the add-ons aren't too easily achievable. It's not exactly what we need most though. An inverted version of Barcola who played on the right wing would be perfect.

Margaret: We don't need any more forwards. When are Liverpool going to get to grips with a leaky defence? That's where they should be looking to fill the gaps.

Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Bradley Barcola is a right-footed forward who prefers to play on the left wing, and his likely arrival adds further doubt around Cody Gakpo's future at Anfield.

Multiple sources have told BBC Sport both Tottenham and Manchester City have shown interest in the Netherlands forward.

Barcola has become a main target for Liverpool, as they look to add potency to their attack following the departures of Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah in the past two summers.

He moved to Paris St-Germain from Lyon in 2023 for a reported £38.5m fee and has won three Ligue 1 titles, two Champions Leagues, the French Cup twice, as well as the Uefa Super Cup and the Fifa Intercontinental Cup there.

Barcola can also play on the right or through the middle, so he could provide cover for Alexander Isak as Hugo Ekitike recovers from a serious Achilles injury.

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool are in advanced talks to sign Bradley Barcola from Paris St-Germain for a fee that could rise to £120m, as reported by BBC Sport's senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel.

PSG had valued the France forward at £145m but Liverpool are poised to agree a package that will be worth a minimum of £100m and can rise to £120m based on significant individual and team success.

The 23-year-old made 49 appearances last season, scoring 13 goals and registering seven assists, as Luis Enrique's side secured the club's fifth league title in a row, won back-to-back Champions Leagues and lifted the French Super Cup.

Is Barcola good business for Liverpool? And if this one gets over the line, what else still needs to happen in terms of both incomings and outgoings before 23:00 BST on 1 September?

Have your say here