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• Gakpo feels 'more dangerous' for Liverpool under Slot

  Cody Gakpo believes he has become a more "dangerous" player after returning to his preferred left-wing role under new Liverpool boss, Arne Slot. 

  Gakpo, who joined the Reds in January 2023, was often deployed in a central striker role under Jurgen Klopp during his first 18 months at Anfield. 

  Across his 53 appearances for Liverpool last season, 27 came as a centre forward, with the remaining 26 coming on either flank or in the attacking midfield position. 

  The Dutchman, however, has registered eight goal contributions (six goals, two assists) in 17 appearances in all competitions this season, all but one of which has come from the left wing. 

  Gakpo has found the net four times in his last four outings for the Reds, which included a brace against Brighton in the EFL Cup to propel them into the quarter-finals. 

  Speaking about the switch, he told Men in Blazers: “Before I came to Liverpool I also played as a left-winger. Then I came here, and I started to play more as a central striker.

  “At the Euros, I played as a left-winger again. Then this season the new manager came in. I had a talk with him, and he said, ‘You have to focus on the left-winger position.

  "This is your position when you come on or when you start.’ Because he said there’s a lot of competition here, so you just have to show yourself. But he said, ‘That is going to be your position.’

  “It felt a little bit, for me, like the old me, like what I did at PSV [Eindhoven] as well. I feel really good in this position. I try to show my best to everybody, what I’m capable of.

  “I think I come into more one-v-ones now with my face towards the opponent, where I can really go inside and give a cross, shoot or go outside and give a cross – which is more my game, I would say, and where I think I can be really dangerous and help the team the most.”

  Liverpool have enjoyed a fine start to the season, sitting top of both the Premier League and Champions League tables heading into the November international break.

  Slot has earned 28 points from his first 11 top-flight games in charge (W9 D1 L1), the joint-most by a manager after as many games in the competition along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.

  The Reds also remain the only side with a 100% record in the Champions League and have edged closer to defending their EFL Cup crown this season. 

  And Gakpo, who played a part in the Reds' win over Chelsea in the final of that competition last year, is eager for that fighting spirit to help bring more success to the club.

  “I see those [as] separate,” he said. “When I’m on the pitch, [I’m] really there to win the game, to show my quality," Gakpo said.

  “I think one of my qualities is going inside and going for a goal or maybe going for an assist. As an attacking player, I think that’s also part of the job.

  “Outside of the pitch, I tend to be a different guy – it’s more about life and development, mental growth, health growth with family, with friends.

  "I just try to be myself and I’m very happy that people speak so nicely of me, so thank you everybody!

  “Obviously when you come on the pitch, it’s game on. You have to think a little bit different – maybe not that nice in some ways because you have to win.

  "But for me, it will never be personal. Out there, [I’m] just trying to do my best for the club and to win these games for the fans, for myself, for the team.

  "When the referee blows the last whistle then the switch flips again and then I’m back to normal again.”

• Premier League MD11: Lucky winners and unlucky losers

  The final international break of 2024 is here, and we can safely say the Premier League is starting to take shape.

  Opta's supercomputer now has Liverpool, who are five points clear at the top following their win over Aston Villa on Saturday, as the favourites to go on and win the title.

  Manchester City lost a fourth straight game in all competitions as they went down 2-1 at Brighton, while Chelsea and Arsenal are third and fourth respectively after sharing the points.

  When assessing the underlying metrics, it looks like Sunday's draw at Stamford Bridge was a fair result, but that was not the case across the board this weekend.

  Here, we pick out the lucky winners and unlucky losers from matchday 11.

  Lucky winners: Manchester United

  Manchester United are now under new management, with Ruben Amorim officially starting as head coach on Monday. But interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy ensured he went out with a high as the Red Devils beat Leicester City 3-0 on Sunday.

  However, it is fair to say United were rather fortunate to net three times at Old Trafford, with the data suggesting they did not even create chances worthy of one goal, never mind three.

  United's expected goals (xG) was 0.69, the third-lowest total in the league this weekend and behind Leicester's 0.77.

  Bruno Fernandes scored one and set up another on his 250th appearance for the club, either side of Victor Kristiansen's own goal, but from 13 shots, United, who had only 17 touches in Leicester's box, really did not create much in the way of quality opportunities.

  Indeed, their attacking quality instead told, with Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho finishing well. At the other end, Leicester failed to make their moments count, despite hitting the target with five of their six shots.

  Spare a thought for Erik ten Hag, given when he was in charge, United's attack was underperforming. Now Amorim just needs to pick up where Van Nistelrooy left off...

  Unlucky losers: Manchester City

  Man City are suddenly the crisis club, having lost four straight games for the first time since August 2006. Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, has lost four games in a row in all competitions for the very first time in his managerial career.

  Erling Haaland also lost a Premier League match in which he scored a goal for the very first time, having put City ahead before Joao Pedro and Matt O'Riley clinched the points for Brighton.

   

  Brighton finished with 2.29 xG, so they did deserve to score at least twice. However, City can still consider themselves unfortunate, given their 2.22 xG was the third-highest of any team across the weekend.

  Their post-shot expected goals on target (xGoT) also rose to 2.98, showing that Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was on fine form.

  City also created five big chances, missing four of them, and hit the woodwork once. That being said, they conceded eight big chances, with Brighton letting them off for six of those, so it was not a good day at the office for Guardiola.

  Unlucky losers: Bournemouth

  If Man City were unfortunate, then the team to have created the highest xG (2.61) this past weekend – Bournemouth – can consider themselves hard done by.

  Andoni Iraola claimed his team were worthy of the three points against Brentford, despite the Cherries losing 3-2, and the underlying metrics suggest the Spaniard was fair in his assessment.

   

  Only Tottenham (35 in their loss against Ipswich Town) had more touches in the opponent's box than Bournemouth's 34 at the Gtech Community Stadium, but Iraola's side were made to pay for some dismal finishing.

  Their xGoT dropped to 1.68, while Brentford's rose from 1.48 xG to 1.84 xGoT – essentially, the level of finishing from Brentford's players increased the likelihood they would score, while Bournemouth's finishing was below what would have been anticipated based on the quality of chances they had. That is further backed up by the fact the Cherries only got three of their 15 attempts on target.

• Van Nistelrooy praises Man Utd fight after signing off with win

  Ruud van Nistelrooy praised Manchester United's fight to earn a 3-0 win against Leicester City in his final game as interim manager.

  The Dutchman took over after Erik ten Hag's dismissal last month and went unbeaten in his short stint, winning three of his games and drawing the other, with Ruben Amorim set to take over from Monday.

  Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho got the goals on either side of Victor Kristiansen turning into the back of his own net to earn United just their fourth Premier League win of the campaign.

  United are now unbeaten in 19 straight Premier League games against promoted sides, taking 53 of a possible 57 points across these matches (W17 D2). Their last such defeat came away to Claudio Ranieri's Watford back in November 2021 (1-4).

  It is not yet clear if Van Nistelrooy will remain at the club on Amorim's coaching staff, but the former United striker is proud of his short time in charge at Old Trafford.

  "It was professional, you could see that players were fighting through the game," he told BBC Sport. "We scored two great goals and there were some good bits, but we didn't have real control of the game.

  "I really enjoyed it [being interim manager], it's been a short but amazing period. We are in an uncertain position, but we tried to do our jobs and help the club, which is important.

  "There are a lot of feelings there, the way the fans supported me and the team always in difficult moments. It was a special moment. To close down this block of games with good results and a good connection, I can't thank them enough.

  "We will learn what the plan is now.

  "This spell was a big responsibility; I took it very seriously. I wanted to help and get United into a better place. That was my goal. With three wins and a draw, it's a standard where you want to grow to as a club.

  "The connection with the fans was there, I really felt it. This is what United is really about."

  Going into their match against Leicester, United had scored just nine league goals, their lowest-ever tally after 10 games in Premier League history.

  Fernandes scored four goals under Van Nistelrooy’s leadership, having failed to hit the back of the net in the league before that, bringing up his 100th goal involvement in the Premier League with his assist for Garnacho.

  "You saw the class of the team in our goals, we also gave very little away," Van Nistelrooy added.

  "We tried to stabilise after a difficult and emotional period. We wanted to get players performing at their best, we got the right feeling to them and got them to believe in themselves.

  "It was an important three points. In the four games, Bruno scored some important goals, assisting too, so he is back producing. That's the Bruno that is helping the team the most.

  "I spoke to Alejandro Garnacho before the game, he has played a lot of minutes, and I wanted him to make an impact off the bench, and I'm glad it worked out. We said: 'Let's make the most of these four games', get the maximum out of it and I think we did an OK job."