Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp joked his close friend David Wagner asked him to make major changes for Norwich’s visit to Anfield in the FA Cup.
Klopp and Wagner have known each other more than 25 years – Wagner was best man at his wedding – after being team-mates at Mainz but more recently have found themselves on opposite sides of the technical area.
Wagner was manager for Huddersfield’s brief stay in the Premier League but lost all three matches against Liverpool.
Now he brings the Canaries to Anfield for a fourth-round tie on Sunday looking for a favour he knows he will not get from his long-time friend.
“We had already conversations about it. He asked me for massive rotation. I told him that doesn’t help, obviously,” said Klopp of Wagner’s request to face a weakened team.
“It’s cool to have the game. When he worked at Huddersfield, he watched a lot of games here in the stadium, when they didn’t play he was here, and now he’s back.
“We didn’t see each other for a long time, the next time probably would have been in the summer, so now it’s good to catch up and to lock horns again.”
Wagner has a 40 per cent win ratio since taking over at Carrow Road last January but, after a sticky patch between September and November when his side won just twice, he has got them back in form.
Wednesday’s defeat to fellow Championship promotion-chasers Leeds was only their fourth loss in 16 matches.
“(He did a) really good job but a really difficult job. I think the start of the season was really good and then they lose more or less their offensive department and that’s when they struggled a bit,” said Klopp.
“Now they are in touching distance of the play-off spots and they obviously have big games coming up.
“The Championship season itself is already pretty intense but if you have a longer FA Cup run in it, it’s obviously very similar to a very successful Premier League season with international football or something like that, because of the amount of teams in the league and the amount of games you have.
“I follow it as much as I can because I’m just interested in everything he is doing.”
Rice to miss Inter trip as Arsenal welcome back Odegaard
Declan Rice will miss Arsenal's Champions League match at Inter through injury but Mikel Arteta is hopeful of having Martin Odegaard available after two months on the sidelines.
Rice has not travelled to Milan after picking up an injury during Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.
The England international will now undergo further tests to determine his availability for Sunday's London derby at Chelsea.
"Declan unfortunately picked up an injury against Newcastle. He was able to finish and he wasn't feeling good the last few days," Arteta told a press conference.
"We'll have to assess him on Thursday and see if he's ready for Chelsea."
Meanwhile, Arteta will wait to see if Odegaard can feature at San Siro after recovering from an ankle injury he suffered while on international duty with Norway in September.
"The positive news, Martin, it's great to have him back," the Spaniard said.
"He trained with us first time today. He's a bit earlier than expected. But it's great to have him here and we will decide if we use him tomorrow."
Both Arsenal and Inter have seven points apiece after three Champions League games.
Arteta's side will look to restore morale after a three-game winless streak in the Premier League, in what will be the team's first game after sporting director Edu surprisingly announced his departure.
"Everything happened very quickly. I loved working with him, I really enjoyed being alongside him in this incredible journey. I'm very grateful for everything he's done for me and the club," Arteta said about the Brazilian.
"He's had an amazing opportunity now to do something else in a different role. He feels that's best for him. We have to respect that. From the bottom of my heart I wish the best for him.
"We have a very strong leadership team and we're not going to stop right now. The passion to fulfil this journey is not going to stop. That means opportunities for someone else. We say thank you and we have to move on."
Martinez red 'decisive' in PSV defeat, say Girona's Michel and Blind
Michel and Daley Blind were in agreement that Arnau Martinez's sending off was pivotal in Girona's 4-0 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Girona found themselves two goals down at the break thanks to strikes from Ryan Flamingo and Malik Tillman, though the LaLiga side were still in the contest.
Michel's team managed seven shots in the first 45 minutes compared to their opponents' 13, but boasted an expected goals (xG) tally of 0.76 to PSV's 0.61.
However, hopes of a comeback were dashed 10 minutes after the break when Martinez was shown a second yellow card before one-way traffic ensued.
Johan Bakayoko notched PSV's third seven minutes from time before Ladislav Krejci's own-goal confirmed a disappointing result for the LaLiga outfit.
"The first half of both teams was very good in terms of the pace of play, looking for the opponent's goal," Michel told reporters.
"The expulsion was decisive. From there, PSV had chances and deserved to win. In this competition, the small details make a difference."
At the age of 21 years and 194 days, Martinez became the fifth-youngest Spaniard to be sent off in a Champions League match and the youngest since Gavi for Barcelona against Porto in October 2023, aged 19.
Girona have also now conceded four own goals in four games in the Champions League this season, already the most by a team in a single campaign.
They sit 26th in the Champions League table after just one win from their four games in the competition, with Sturm Graz up next for Michel's men.
Blind echoed the thoughts of his manager at full-time, insisting his side had played well up until Martinez's dismissal.
"The first chance was for us, but we conceded a goal from a throw-in, which cannot happen," Blind said.
"After that, we tried to play. It was an open game. We had a lot of movement when we had possession, but overall, PSV had the upper hand.
"We missed a few players through injury. It's a difficult situation. But I don't want to give that as an excuse. We need to do it with the players we have.
"We fought hard. We came out of the dressing room with good spirit. But after the red card, the game was over."
Martinez back in Argentina squad for World Cup qualifiers
Emiliano Martinez has been recalled by Argentina for this month's World Cup qualifiers versus Paraguay and Peru after serving a two-match suspension.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper sat out a 1-1 draw with Venezuela and a 6-0 rout of Bolivia in October after being banned for "offensive behaviour and violation of the principles of fair play" by CONMEBOL.
Martinez had made a lewd gesture with the Copa America trophy ahead of a match against Chile in September, then hit a local television camera after a loss to Colombia.
Valencia midfielder Enzo Barrenechea has been handed his maiden call-up by Lionel Scaloni, while Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho and Leicester City's Facundo Buonanotte have also been recalled.
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi will lead the world champions – who are top of the CONMEBOL qualification group with 22 points – in Paraguay on November 14, before they host Peru five days later.
Argentina squad: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Walter Benitez (PSV), Geronimo Rulli (Marseille), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), German Pezzella (River Plate), Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Nehuen Perez (Porto), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Leandro Paredes (Roma), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis), Enzo Barrenechea (Valencia), Thiago Almada (Botafogo), Facundo Buonanotte (Leicester City), Nicolas Paz (Como), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Nicolas Gonzalez (Juventus), Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Valentin Castellanos (Lazio).
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