Arne Slot has seen "new things" from Joe Gomez in recent weeks and has praised the centre-back's work ethic amid suggestions he could leave Liverpool.
Gomez has been tipped to leave Anfield after falling behind Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konata and Jarell Quansah in the pecking order in the heart of defence.
He made 32 Premier League appearances throughout Jurgen Klopp's final season in charge in 2023-24, yet 15 of those came from the bench and he was often fielded at full-back when the Reds endured injury problems.
Gomez was left out by Slot as his reign began with a 2-0 win at Ipswich Town last week, having been linked with a move to Aston Villa or Newcastle United.
However, speaking ahead of Sunday's clash with Brentford, Slot hinted Gomez could be involved and praised his approach to training.
"He's been in the right place for three weeks. He's worked really hard since he came back," the Dutchman told reporters.
"He didn't play a lot in the Euros, we had to manage his load, that's why he wasn't in the team last week.
"This week he had a good week in terms of load. He's one of the players I see new things from."
In Gomez's absence, Quansah partnered Van Dijk at Portman Road but was replaced by Konate at half-time, with Slot later explaining that change had been made in order to win more duels.
Liverpool won just 41.5% of duels in the first half as Ipswich produced an energetic display, with that figure creeping up to 54.5% after Konate replaced Quansah.
Asked how Quansah reacted to his withdrawal, Slot said: "In a way you would expect a player to react. I spoke to him immediately after the game.
"At the end of that conversation he asked if he could train on Sunday. So he should have done recovery, he wanted to train.
"Unfortunately, I think on Tuesday, he picked up a bit of an injury, so he couldn't train on Wednesday, we will see if he can train today.
"He reacted in a way that every player should react. I don't think there was that much in it, though.
"Maybe the language was a problem, what I said was that he did not lose every duel, but he lost one or two important ones, one of them just before half-time.
"From what's been said to me, it sounds like what I said was that he lost every duel."
Villa draw buys Ten Hag a little time, says Neville
Gary Neville believes Manchester United bought Erik ten Hag time with their 0-0 draw against Aston Villa, but is not sure how much.
United are winless in their last five games in all competitions, with their stalemate at Villa Park the fourth draw in that run, having also lost 3-0 to Tottenham in their last home match.
Ten Hag's side have won just three of their opening 10 matches in all competitions, while their eight points in the league cements their worst-ever start to a Premier League season.
Only 19th-place Southampton (four) have netted fewer goals than United (five) in the competition so far, while only in 1972-73 (four) have the Red Devils ever netted fewer in their first seven matches of a top-flight campaign.
Against a Villa side who beat Bayern Munich in their last outing before this meeting, a draw could be seen as a good result, but Neville believes that shows the "low bar" the team is currently working with.
"It's a small step forward," Neville told Sky Sports. "Before the game, if you offered any Man Utd fan, player or coach a draw, then they would have snapped your hand off.
"That's where, at the end of the game, when you see Erik ten Hag's interview, there's an element of relief because it keeps the wolves at bay for a couple of weeks at least. It gives them a little bit more time.
"I don't think anybody who thought a major incident would happen after the game thought it would happen with a draw. They always thought it would need to be a difficult day or difficult defeat like it was last week against Tottenham. I think it buys Ten Hag a little bit of time.
"It's Manchester United's worst start in Premier League history so we can't celebrate. When we're thinking it's a decent point when you draw at Villa, it tells you how far Villa have come - but it also tells you how low the bar is for United in this moment in time."
Ten Hag, who signed a new contract in the off-season, continues to insist that he has the backing of the club's hierarchy despite the less-than-stellar start to the campaign.
However, the pressure is starting to pile on the manager once more, with United failing to score in each of their last three Premier League games, equalling their worst run without a goal in the competition under the Dutchman (also a run of three in both December 2023 and April 2023).
While Neville does not think the club will rush into a decision on Ten Hag's future, he admits they might have to if things have not changed by the November international break.
"The club did make the decision to keep Ten Hag in the summer, so they won't want to reverse that decision within the first six or seven games," Neville added.
"They have just got to hope [something happens] in this next couple of weeks - through maybe a reset, some thinking time, some planning.
"Manchester United fans, coaches, players have talked about this new structure that surrounds Ten Hag, it needs to go to work quite quickly in the next few weeks.
"If the next international break comes around and Manchester United are still in that 13th, 14th position in the league, I think there's going to be a lot of pressure.
"The next few weeks are critical in making sure they can somehow get some momentum for the rest of the season so that Ten Hag can keep his job."
Fiorentina 2-1 Milan: Gudmundsson seals win after De Gea penalty heroics
David de Gea saved two penalties for Fiorentina, setting the stage for Albert Gudmundsson to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over Milan.
In a pulsating encounter that saw three missed penalties and two red cards, Fiorentina prevailed to halt Paulo Fonseca's Serie A winning run.
The hosts had the first spot-kick of the game, with Moise Kean's tame effort being kept out by Mike Maignan before the forward had a goal disallowed for offside.
Former Milan midfielder Yacine Adli did break the deadlock soon after, ricocheting a low shot in off the far post from the edge of the box, and De Gea kept them ahead at the break, superbly denying Theo Hernandez from the spot.
Kean had a second goal chalked off for offside in the second half and Milan wasted another golden opportunity from 12 yards, as De Gea got down well to keep out Tammy Abraham this time.
On the hour mark, an in-form Christian Pulisic finally pulled the visitors level with a perfect volley, but the drama was far from over as Gudmundsson drilled his low shot past Maignan to put Fiorentina back in front in the 73rd minute.
Emotions ran high in the final moments as Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino was sent off, while Hernandez also received his marching orders for arguing with the referee after the final whistle had gone.
Data Debrief: De Gea's penalty redemption
For all the plaudits De Gea received while at Manchester United, one blip on his record was his struggles against penalties.
However, with his impressive showing against Milan, he became the first goalkeeper to make two penalty saves in a single Serie A match since Federico Marchetti in May 2016.
Since his debut in the top five European leagues (2009-10), the Spaniard has saved 10 of his 52 penalties in the league, including each of the last three, having also saved one against Fulham in May 2023.
Rangers 2-0 St. Johnstone: Cerny double provides Ibrox redemption
Rangers got back on track in the Scottish Premiership as Vaclav Cerny scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over St. Johnstone.
Philippe Clement's side were thrashed 4-1 by Lyon in Thursday's Europa League clash at Ibrox Stadium, where they made amends with a routine domestic victory on Sunday.
Cerny broke the deadlock 11 minutes before the interval, cutting inside and curling a sumptuous effort into the bottom-left corner of Ross Sinclair's goal.
Czech Republic winger Cerny added Rangers' second, and doubled his account, just before the hour after combining with returning midfielder Ianis Hagi before producing a right-footed finish into the far corner.
Hagi – who had not played a first-team game for over a year due to a contract dispute – was sent off with nine minutes left though, following a VAR review for a high challenge on Benjamin Kimpioka's standing ankle.
Rangers still recorded a comfortable triumph to move back within five points of the league-leading Celtic, who are clear of Aberdeen on goal difference, heading into the October international break.
Data Debrief: Defensive recovery after Lyon pain
Rangers were well off the pace in the Lyon hammering in which they shipped four goals, though the hosts rediscovered their defensive solidity here.
Clement's men have now won three matches in a row without conceding in the competition for the first time since doing so across January and February last campaign.
It came as no surprise, however, given St. Johnstone have lost each of their last seven away league games against Rangers without scoring a single goal in the process.
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