Jurgen Klopp said there was "no chance" James Milner was not going to be brought on for his 600th Premier League appearance on Saturday.
Milner came on as a 68th-minute substitute during Liverpool's 3-1 win over Southampton at Anfield.
That saw the 36-year-old become the fourth player in Premier League history, after Gareth Barry, Ryan Giggs and Frank Lampard, to make 600 appearances in the competition.
Klopp, who was watching from the stands as he served a one-match touchline suspension handed to him by the Football Association (FA) on Friday, knew Milner was closing in on the milestone, and said there was little chance the former Manchester City and Aston Villa midfielder would not play.
"Wow! I don't know how many have reached that mark in England. Most of the games probably for Liverpool so it's an honour to be around when he reaches that number. Even Millie is proud today," Klopp told reporters.
"It's a big number, a big career and won pretty much everything. A role model for us, for everyone in the room. I knew he was on 599 and there was no chance he wouldn't play today.
"He did well, you could see that he is still important to us. He doesn't just play to get him number 600.
"He sets the tone very often, has the right amount of aggression. He knows that at 36, he has room for improvement, it's crazy. But I'm glad to have him. Congratulations James."
Liverpool have won 10 of their last 11 league meetings with Southampton, with Darwin Nunez's double seeing off the Saints, who were playing for the first time under new manager Nathan Jones.
Roberto Firmino's opener – his 18th headed goal in the Premier League – had been cancelled out by Che Adams, whose four top-flight goals this season have come away from home.
The victory sees Liverpool go into the break on 22 points, having won their last two league games following successive defeats to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.
"Very, very pleased," said Klopp. "Three points was the most important thing. The performance in the first half was really good as well.
"Early goal, early goal then for them but a good reaction. We got in behind and used our speed, used our football skills.
"Second half wasn't as good. We needed Alisson. He enjoys that but as a manager I enjoy it much less. We didn't control the game well enough in the second half. Defensively we were too passive, too deep and that's how they were able to get through.
"But 22 points was the maximum we could reach before the break, we knew that for a little while and that's what we've got."
Bayern Munich signed off for the World Cup break by moving six points clear at the Bundesliga summit, as the outstanding Jamal Musiala laid on both goals in a routine 2-0 win at Schalke.
Rock-bottom Schalke gave a decent account of themselves in repelling several waves of early pressure, but Musiala's neat flick allowed Serge Gnabry to fire Bayern ahead on Saturday.
The Germany international then teed up in-form striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to slot home against his former club, ensuring Julian Nagelsmann's men clinched a sixth consecutive league win.
The result lifts Bayern six points clear of second-placed RB Leipzig ahead of the two-month hiatus, though either Union Berlin or Freiburg could cut that gap by two points when they face off on Sunday.
Bayern began the game by dominating possession, but Manuel Neuer was the first goalkeeper to be drawn into action when he denied Marius Bulter at his near post.
Choupo-Moting headed Joshua Kimmich's corner against Alexander Schwolow's right-hand post as Bayern continued to press, and the breakthrough finally arrived after 38 minutes.
Gnabry fed Musiala before continuing his run to meet the teenager's backheel, and his low effort caught Schwolow off guard to give Bayern the lead.
Musiala again played a key role when Bayern doubled their advantage within seven minutes of the restart, driving through midfield before slipping a pass to Choupo-Moting, who finished coolly.
The 19-year-old was then denied a richly deserved goal by the offside flag when he weaved between two challenges before prodding into the bottom-left corner, but Bayern ultimately did not require a third.
Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch said he felt "like someone has ripped my heart out" after watching his side implode in Saturday's 4-3 loss at Tottenham.
The visitors took the lead three times in north London and were ahead with nine minutes of normal time remaining, only for Rodrigo Bentancur to score a late double.
Leeds have shipped 26 goals in 14 Premier League games this season at a rate of 1.86 per 90 minutes – only Nottingham Forest (2) and Bournemouth (2.13) have fared worse.
Marsch, who had seen the pressure on him ease following back-to-back league wins prior to the Spurs loss, admits it has been a familiar theme for his side this campaign.
"I'm gutted, I feel like someone has ripped my heart out," he told BBC Sport. "I thought we had control of the match but then we let it slip.
"There's obviously positives in there because in our good moments we look like we have quality, but in our bad, we still look vulnerable and naive.
"We get leads and then we give it away immediately because we don't stick to our principles. If we can then we can be a good team.
"Mentally, the guys have invested so much, there's been ups and downs. We need to gather ourselves, have a break and then come back and keep pushing.
"A little bit of everything needs strengthening, we need to learn to manage the game as a group at all moments."
Crysencio Summerville and Rodrigo both scored for a fourth straight game for Leeds, with the latter netting twice following Harry Kane and Ben Davies equalisers.
But Argentina midfielder Bentancur scored in the 81st and 83rd minutes – his first brace in Europe's top five leagues on his 164th such outing – as Spurs returned to winning ways.
Tottenham have trailed in 14 of their 22 games in all competitions this term, including the past eight in a row, but Antonio Conte was delighted with his side's fighting spirit.
"I think this game made many people very happy," he said at his post-match news conference. "If you're in the stadium you've seen a 4-3 score, with attractive football.
"In a lot of games we were losing and then we came back. I think we showed great character, desire and great will not to give up, to believe in the win.
"I try every day to transfer this concept. We need to fight and never give up. Never give up is our mantra. This is the positive side.
"The negative side is that we conceded three goals, which is never good. A team that wants to be competitive, to concede three goals is never positive."
Saturday's thrilling victory was Tottenham's 13th game since the beginning of October and their last until Boxing Day, with domestic top-flight football now pausing for the World Cup.
"If you want to reach a good result, you want to show stability," Conte added. "The last period was really tough for everybody, all the clubs, to play 13 games in 43 days is tough.
"It was impossible to work on the pitch on the tactical aspect. For sure, when you don't work on that you are going to lose something defensively."
Spurs have now scored 31 goals in 15 games in the Premier League this term – they have only bettered that tally at this stage of a season on one occasion, with 35 in 2009-10.
England international Kane has been responsible for 12 of those, making this his joint-best start to a campaign at this stage since the 2017-18 season.
"Harry has played a really important role in this period," Conte said. "If we finished this period in the top four and qualified for the top four, I think we have to praise Harry a lot.
"I think Harry honestly deserves great praise because he is always an important player, but in this period there was a lot of weight on his shoulders and he played in a great way.
"He's arriving at the World Cup with lots of enthusiasm, in a great physical condition and mentally stronger. He's ready. I can see in his eyes he's ready to be the protagonist."
Dave Rennie admits his Australia team were "not good enough" as they were beaten by Italy for the first time ever on Saturday.
Full-back Ange Capuozzo scored two tries as Italy claimed a 28-27 victory over the Wallabies in Florence.
Australia's debutant fly-half Ben Donaldson missed a late conversion to win the game as his team fell to a historic defeat.
Rennie was frustrated with his side's performance, telling reporters: "We didn't play well enough.
"We gave them a head start at 17-3, gave them hope and enthusiasm and brought the crowd into the game.
"We didn't dominate up front as we would have hoped. We gave them field position through penalties and turnovers
"It is hugely disappointing and not good enough. All I can say is the boys are hurt; they know we are better than that."
Rennie refused to blame Donaldson for the loss, despite his late miss.
"It's tough. He's hurting but we have an arm around him," Rennie added.
"You can always look at the last few seconds of the game, but there was lots we did wrong earlier to put Ben in that position.
"We feel for him but it is not the reason we lost today."
Italy had previously lost all 18 meetings with Australia, stretching all the way back to 1973.
Hooker Gianmarco Lucchesi spoke of his delight at the win, saying: "I have so many amazing emotions – it's an incredible victory.
"We felt we could do it from the first minute. We went out on the field with the right spirit, and attacked and defended really well."
England head coach Eddie Jones secured a 59th win in charge against former side Japan to equal Clive Woodward's record.
After a shock defeat to Argentina last time out, England responded on Saturday with a dominant 52-13 victory against Japan at Twickenham, where Guy Porter scored his first two international tries and Marcus Smith also went over twice.
The record-equalling win left Jones pleased with his side's performance, stating that his team "looked like England".
"We played more like ourselves. Last week we were too long term in our view, which was my fault and today we were focused. We left 20 points out there and played some really good rugby," he told Prime Video.
"It's about playing to our strengths. You want people to recognise an England team playing, and we need to adopt a new style. But today we looked like England. We were in white shirts which might have made a difference."
Woodward, who managed England to Rugby World Cup glory in 2003, had criticised Jones after England's loss to Argentina, writing in the Daily Mail: "It was more than a bad day at the office and I had the feeling that few really cared.
"The RFU kept playing naff music throughout the match and I spent half the afternoon standing up because people were back and forth buying beers.
"The atmosphere felt artificial and contrived and, to top it off, England's performance was so bad. Everyone was bored out of their brains."
England are back in action next Saturday against New Zealand, then conclude their Autumn Nations Series against South Africa the following week.
Neymar is unsure whether he will get the opportunity to represent Brazil at another World Cup after this year's tournament in Qatar.
The Paris Saint-Germain forward will appear at his third World Cup later this month, where he will be looking to lead Brazil to their first triumph at the tournament for 20 years.
Neymar will be 34 years old by the time the 2026 World Cup begins, and with little certainty whether he will feature in that tournament, he hopes to cement a place in football history by leading Brazil to glory in Qatar.
"I'll play like it's the last," Neymar told Globo. "I talk to my father, we always talk. [I'll] play each game as if it were the last because you don't know what will happen tomorrow.
"I can't guarantee that I'll play another [World] Cup. I honestly don't know. I'll play like it's the last.
"Maybe I'll play another one, maybe not. It depends. There's going to be a coaching change [when Tite steps down after the World Cup] and I don't know if that coach will like me.
"I've already built a long history in the national team and, for sure, I want to finish it well.
"I'm happy. I like to play football and I like to win. I like to be better than I am every day. I like helping my team-mates, which is the main thing. I hope my name is engraved in football history."
Asked about Brazil's chances of glory in Qatar, Neymar added: "I want to play this cup, dedicate myself to it, because I'm sure we have the potential to go very far.
"Although a lot of people don't believe in us, we will prove otherwise. I see that this national team has a lot of good things, and I see that we can go very far."
Since making his World Cup debut on home soil in 2014, Neymar has been directly involved in 42 per cent of Brazil's 19 goals in the tournament (six goals, two assists).
Meanwhile, the 30-year-old has scored 75 times in 121 appearances for Brazil, putting him just two goals short of Pele's Selecao record of 77.
While Neymar will be expected to trouble that record when Brazil face Serbia, Switzerland and Cameroon in their Group G campaign in Qatar, he says he is not driven by the desire to better Pele's feats.
"It's more than I imagined, than I dreamed. I never thought about numbers, I never wanted to overtake anyone, to break a record. I always just wanted to play football," Neymar said.
"Pele is the reference. Pele is football. Pele is practically everything for our country. The respect and admiration I have for him is enormous."
James Milner joined an exclusive club as he became just the fourth player to make 600 Premier League appearances.
Milner replaced Harvey Elliott, who is 17 years his junior, midway through the second half in Liverpool's 3-1 win over Southampton at Anfield on Saturday.
In the process, the former Manchester City and Aston Villa midfielder - who made his debut in the competition for Leeds United as a 16-year-old on 10 November, 2002 - joined Gareth Barry (653), Ryan Giggs (632) and Frank Lampard (609) as the players to have played in 600 Premier League matches.
Milner hopes he can set an example for Liverpool's youngsters, as he hailed Anfield as a "perfect place to be" for developing players.
"It's a big number isn't it? It's unbelievable," said Milner said in an interview with BBC Sport.
"It's been a very long time. You see someone like Ben Doak come on the other night at a similar age and do well. Hopefully they can have a long career as I have.
"For our young guys it's an unbelievable place to be. You can learn so much. You won't go too far wrong watching these guys here and learning off them."
Darwin Nunez's double secured the points for Liverpool, whose opener had been cancelled out by Che Adams.
Stephen Crichton kicked the decisive drop-goal as Samoa made Rugby League World Cup history, beating England 27-26 after golden point extra time to reach the final.
Samoa were underdogs having lost 66-6 to England in the tournament opener, but held a 10-6 lead at the break after first-half tries from Tim Lafai and Ligi Sao, with Elliott Whitehead scoring for England
Tommy Makinson dotted down under the posts after a Samoa error handling a kick and gave England the lead with his conversion, but a sensational move featuring slick handling from Jarome Luai and Junior Paulo sent Crichton over for Samoa.
Lafai doubled his tally after more excellent ball handling, but Herbie Farnworth barged over before John Bateman's try levelled matters. Crichton's interception score looked to have won it for Samoa, only for Farnworth's second try after a George Williams break and Makinson's conversion to force sudden death.
England lost all composure in the extra period, though, and Crichton was fittingly the hero with a superb kick as Samoa became the first side other than Australia, New Zealand or Great Britain to reach the final since the tournament expanded beyond four teams. They will face the Kangaroos in next Saturday's final.
Darwin Nunez scored twice as Liverpool went into the World Cup break on a winning note with a 3-1 victory over Southampton at Anfield.
With Jurgen Klopp watching on from the stands on Saturday due to his one-match suspension, Liverpool claimed a victory that lifts them to sixth in the Premier League.
It was not always easy, with Che Adams scoring Southampton's first goal under new boss Nathan Jones to cancel out Roberto Firmino's opener.
But Nunez, who will feature for Uruguay in Qatar, bookended a thrilling opening 21 minutes to make it 2-1, with his second goal late in the first half enough to secure the points.
Firmino was left out of Brazil's World Cup squad this week but continued his fine scoring form after six minutes when his looping header caught Gavin Bazunu flat-footed.
Liverpool's lead lasted only three minutes, though, with James Ward-Prowse's wonderful free-kick headed home by Adams.
Bazunu prevented Liverpool from restoring their lead with a brilliant save in the 16th minute, lunging out to deny Mohammed Salah, but could do nothing to stop Nunez making it 2-1 when he prodded in from Harvey Elliot's weighted ball.
Nunez had his second just before the break, sliding in to divert Robertson's cross beyond Bazunu.
Salah headed over from Trent Alexander-Arnold's centre and Liverpool would have been punished had Alisson not denied Mohamed Elyounoussi at the other end.
Liverpool wanted a penalty when Salah took a tumble after testing Bazunu, though another terrific Alisson stop - this time a dive down to his right to keep out Adams' header - ensured there would be no nervy finish for the hosts.
What does it mean? Reds rediscover their form
Successive defeats to teams starting the day in the bottom three (Leeds United and Nottingham Forest) had left Liverpool's season swiftly spiralling downwards, but Klopp's team have corrected course and will go into the World Cup break in the top six should Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion lose.
New Southampton manager Jones, meanwhile, will hope to use the hiatus to work on his system and approach as the Saints bid to get out of the bottom three when the league restarts in late December.
Nunez hitting his stride
Maligned in the opening weeks of his Liverpool career, Nunez is starting to hit his stride in English football. He might lack the craft or poise of some of his fellow Reds attackers, yet it is this direct, blood-and-thunder approach that is paying dividends.
The 23-year-old now has five Premier League goals, adding to three in the Champions League. All three of his shots on Saturday hit the target, while he also created two chances.
Robertson matches Baines record
Robertson teed up two of Liverpool's goals, playing in the free-kick that Firmino turned in before supplying a crisp low delivery for Nunez to make it 3-1.
In the process, he joined former Wigan Athletic and Everton left-back Leighton Baines on 53 Premier League assists – the record for a defender in the competition.
What's next?
Both sides are in EFL Cup action after the World Cup, with Liverpool facing Manchester City.
Rodrigo Bentancur struck twice in the final 10 minutes as Tottenham battled back from behind three times to snatch a dramatic 4-3 victory against Leeds United on Saturday.
Spurs conceded the opening goal in a game for the eighth time in a row when Crysencio Summerville scored for a fourth Premier League match running inside the first 10 minutes.
Rodrigo Moreno matched that scoring streak when scoring either side of equalisers from Harry Kane and Ben Davies to give Leeds a 3-2 lead in the 76th minute.
But Bentancur equalised in the 81st minute and earned Tottenham a thrilling victory two minutes later as Leeds, who had Tyler Adams sent off late on, imploded in north London.
Napoli saw off a late comeback from Udinese to seal an 11th consecutive Serie A victory, the first time they have done so in a single season.
Goals from Victor Oshimhen, Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas had the hosts in full control but two goals in the final 11 minutes, from Ilija Nestorovski and Lazar Samardzic, led to a nervy finish for Luciano Spalletti's side.
Standing firm to hold on for a 3-2 victory, Napoli moved 11 points clear of Lazio at the summit of Serie A.
Lazio face Juventus on Sunday after Spalletti's side became only the second team to win at least 13 of their first 15 matches (Juventus having done so on four previous occasions, most recently in 2018-19).
Stretching back to last season, Napoli stand undefeated in their last 19 Serie A matches and have won 17 of those games, scoring 50 goals in the process.
Napoli now face an extended break due to the World Cup in Qatar, not taking to the field again until January 4 for what could be a stern challenge against Inter.
The Neapolitan side have won Serie A just twice before in their history, with their last such triumph coming in the 1989-90 season.
Pep Guardiola acknowledged Brentford were worthy victors after Ivan Toney's double condemned Manchester City to a damaging Premier League defeat on Saturday.
City approached their meeting with Brentford knowing a win would move them – at least temporarily – to the top of the table, but Toney added to his opener with a 98th-minute winner as the Bees clinched a shock victory.
The champions failed to build on Phil Foden's outstanding first-half equaliser despite subjecting Brentford to long spells of pressure, and Guardiola believes the result was a fair one.
"The best team won, the better team won," Guardiola told BT Sport.
"We struggled a lot from the long balls, direct from [David] Raya up to the striker, and when they lost the ball, they were always behind the ball.
"We had problems up front and we didn't have our rhythm. We had more momentum, but when it was crosses, second balls... we struggled.
"It's difficult, in the small spaces, we need the quality and we struggled. But yeah, they were better, I accept it."
Toney's second strike came after 97 minutes and 16 seconds, making it the latest winning goal scored against City in the Premier League since Opta's exact goal times became available in 2006-07.
The result ended City's 20-match unbeaten run on home soil, but Guardiola does not feel the spectre of the World Cup affected his team's performance.
Asked whether his side played with caution ahead of the tournament, Guardiola said: "Who knows? I don't think so.
"I think the problem was tactical, you saw how the guys ran and how they fought, it was more the long balls and second balls, we weren't able to do it.
"It's football, now there's a break for everyone. I congratulate Brentford. Hopefully the guys at the World Cup can enjoy it, and we'll come back."
Christian Eriksen has described his comeback as "amazing" as he gears up to represent Denmark at the World Cup in Qatar.
The Manchester United midfielder suffered a cardiac arrest in June 2021 during his nation's opening Euro 2020 match against Finland but, fewer than 18 months later, is travelling to Qatar for the mid-season tournament.
It was initially unclear whether he would be able to return to football and Eriksen was released by Inter as he was unable to play competitive football in Italy.
A subsequent return to the Premier League with Brentford caught the eye and earned a transfer to Manchester United, while on the international stage the bond within the team has become "very tight".
"The first thing that I said publicly was that I wanted to be back and having a chance to be at a World Cup and the time that's happened between then has been really amazing," he told Sky Sports.
"The bond the team has is very tight, I mean, it's always been tight but definitely after what happened it's been even tighter. As a group, even without me the whole group really grew together, together with the country.
"I remember days where there was no fans in stadiums and now it's sold out even before the game has been announced. So, it's just amazing to be part of it, the whole group is in a good place.
"Denmark has changed compared to the last tournament [Euro 2020], because the last tournament that we went to we went through to the semi-finals. Now the pressure is on to even get that better than the semi-finals at the Euros. So, I think it's just go as far as possible.
"I think that's changed compared to before where before even the last World Cup in 2018, we had to go through the group and then we take it from there. But I think now we're looking at trying to go as far as possible."
Denmark begin their World Cup campaign against Tunisia on November 22, then facing France and Australia in Group D.
James Maddison limped off injured in his final club game before joining up with England's squad for the World Cup in Qatar.
Thursday's announcement saw him included in Gareth Southgate's squad for the tournament having previously picked up just one cap, three years ago.
But after scoring a superb strike to put Leicester City 1-0 up away at West Ham, Maddison was then forced off through injury in the 25th minute, clutching at his hamstring.
The news will come as a big blow to Southgate, who said Maddison had "earned the right" to be included after registering the second most Premier League goal involvements among England players in 2022 behind Harry Kane.
With the Three Lions' opening group game against Iran just nine days away, Maddison faces a nervy wait to find out the extent of his injury.
If Maddison is ruled out, Southgate could call on Ivan Toney in his place, with the Brentford striker responding to missing out on Southgate's squad by scoring both of his team's goals in a shock 2-1 victory at Manchester City.
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