Liverpool moved above Manchester City at the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Watford in Saturday's early kick-off at Anfield.

The Reds knew that victory would see them leapfrog City, who face Burnley later in the day, for the first time since November 27 – even if only for a matter of hours.

Diogo Jota headed in from a Joe Gomez cross after 22 minutes to open the scoring and substitute Fabinho sealed a battling win with a penalty in the final minute.

Liverpool have now won 10 league games in a row ahead of next weekend's huge showdown with City, who are two points worse off with their game at Turf Moor to come.

Watford more than held their own in the early stages of the game and would have been in front if not for a good stop from Alisson to deny Juraj Kucka.

That proved a huge save as, a little over 30 seconds later, right-back Gomez – filling in for Trent Alexander-Arnold – whipped in a cross for Jota to turn in from four yards. 

Jota nearly made it 15 league goals for the season shortly after, only to be denied by Ben Foster when he had Jordan Henderson screaming out for the pass alongside him.

Watford, in action for the first time in three weeks, continued to cause Liverpool problems as Joao Pedro fired wide in plenty of space once played in by Ismaila Sarr.

Jota saw a couple of headed chances come and go but Fabinho made certain of the win when thumping in a late penalty, awarded for Kucka dragging down Jota in the box.

What does it mean? Reds set up tantalising showdown

Liverpool were never at their best but got the job done to become the second club, after City, to record five different runs of 10 or more victories in the Premier League era.

The Reds have kept eight clean sheets during that incredible run and will head to the Etihad Stadium next weekend with wind in their sails.

They have now won 13 of their 14 home league games against Watford, who remain in the relegation zone and are running out of fixtures to drag themselves out of danger.

Gomez fills Trent void

No player has scored more opening goals in the Premier League this season than Jota (six), who had a brilliant Gomez cross from the right to thank for his latest headed goal.

That was Gomez's first assist in the top flight since December 2017 and means Liverpool have had 22 players involved in league goals this term, two more than any other side.

Salah's off day

Salah had previously been directly involved in 11 goals in seven league games against Watford, averaging a goal involvement every 57 minutes, but he was off the pace here.

He suffered World Cup qualifying heartbreak with Egypt in the week and that perhaps told as he failed to find the target from any of his three attempts.

What's next?

Liverpool travel to Benfica for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday, while Watford host Leeds United on their return to league action in a week's time.

Jurgen Klopp is confident Trent Alexander-Arnold will be fit for Liverpool's potentially pivotal trip to Manchester City next weekend.

Reds right-back Alexander-Arnold sustained a hamstring injury last month that ruled him out of the FA Cup win at Nottingham Forest and England's two international friendlies.

Reports earlier this week claimed Alexander-Arnold was back in full training on Wednesday, suggesting he was likely to feature against Watford on Saturday.

Klopp dismissed those claims when addressing the media on Friday, claiming the 23-year-old only fully re-joined the rest of the squad earlier that day, only committing to it being "possible" that he plays on Saturday.

But any worries about the influential full-back missing the trip to City next Sunday – in what is being billed as a potential Premier League title decider – have seemingly been put to bed.

He told reporters: "Trent trained yesterday [Thursday] in parts and is in full training today.

"We will see what we do with that. Trent wanted to play for England, just to make sure everyone knows that, but he couldn't.

"The scans showed he could not go anywhere but sometimes injuries are not that serious and you are not out for five or six weeks, it's two weeks for Trent. It's tight for tomorrow, but possible.

"It depends what he does in team training. He was with the rehab and fitness department before, it was really intense what he did before with us, he should be fine. I'll make the decision."

Asked if will be ready for the midweek trip to Benfica in the Champions League, Klopp added: "I think so."

As such, Liverpool should be able to count on his services away to City in what is surely the Reds' biggest game of the season.

That will be a major boost given Alexander-Arnold's significant influence as a creative hub for Liverpool, even from right-back.

Only Alisson and Virgil van Dijk (both 2,430) have played more Premier League minutes for Liverpool than Alexander-Arnold (2,313) this term, while he leads the way for total chances created (77) in the squad.

Only Mohamed Salah (51) can better his 42 chances created in open play, though Alexander-Arnold's 11 assists is a Liverpool high.

In fact, his 10.9 expected assists (xA) shows that his goal creation comes from incredible creative reliability, rather than him benefiting from especially exceptional finishing – no one else in the Liverpool group has more than 5.6 xA this season.

Pep Guardiola has indicated Manchester City will have to cope without Ruben Dias for crucial games against Atletico Madrid and Liverpool.

Centre-back Dias has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury in the FA Cup win at Peterborough United on March 1, and it was revealed he faced four to six weeks on the sidelines.

It appears the Portuguese defender will be available again closer to the six-week mark than Guardiola might have hoped, with City facing Atletico in the Champions League either side of a Premier League clash with title rivals Liverpool.

First comes a trip to Burnley on Saturday, with Dias a confirmed non-starter for that game.

"I don't know," Guardiola said, when asked how much longer Dias faced on the sidelines.

"The doctor said four to six weeks. I think we need 10 more days, two weeks more. Everything is going well."

The first leg of the Atletico quarter-final is coming up at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, with Liverpool visiting on Sunday, April 10, three days before Guardiola's men are back in European action in Madrid.

The timeframe suggests Dias may struggle to play any part in those three games, which are followed by an FA Cup semi-final, also against Liverpool, on April 16 at Wembley.

Although Dias has been an integral figure in Guardiola's first-team plans, his absence from four Premier League games this season has not had a majorly adverse impact to date.

Without him, City have won three times and drawn once in four games (average points: 2.5), while with Dias in the side they have won 19, drawn three and lost three (average points: 2.4) – though the sample sizes are significantly different.

City would have good cause to be cautiously optimistic of taking three points at Burnley without Dias involved, however.

After taking five points from their first 12 available against City in the Premier League (W1 D2 L1), Burnley have managed just one point from the subsequent 11 games between the teams (D1 L10).

Indeed, City have won their last nine meetings with Burnley in all competitions by a 32-1 aggregate score.

Jurgen Klopp is confident Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will deal with their international rivalry "in the right way" after Senegal beat Egypt to World Cup qualification.

The Reds boss also condemned fans for targeting Salah with laser pens as he skied Egypt's first spot-kick in their penalty shoot-out loss, with Senegal qualifying for Qatar after a 1-1 aggregate draw in the African play-offs.

Tuesday's defeat represents the second time this season that Salah has been bested by his club team-mate on spot-kicks after Senegal accomplished the same feat to win the Africa Cup of Nations in February.

Salah and Mane have hit a combined 32 Premier League goals this season, with the Egyptian scoring 20 and the Senegalese forward netting 12.

Speaking ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Watford, Klopp, while condemning the laser pens, expressed his pride for Mane's achievement and backed the duo to move on in the correct manner.

"I'm obviously really happy for Sadio that he could make it, and I'm obviously very disappointed for Mo," Klopp said.

"I don't think that the situation around the penalty and the laser was particularly cool, so I feel for him [Salah]. But I'm happy for Sadio as well, that's football. 

"It's different when two mates are in such a big game, playing against each other, but they are both top professionals, very emotional people as well, but I'm pretty sure they will deal with it in the right way. 

"There's no doubt about it, at the moment, Senegal are the best team in Africa, and Egypt did really well to take them twice to the wire, twice to a penalty shoot-out.

"Senegal have an extremely talented squad and Egypt did really well. I'm not sure they can see it like this exactly, but from my point of view they should.

"They got unlucky with the draw, against pretty much all other [African] teams, Egypt would have qualified for the World Cup."

No player has scored the opening goal in more different Premier League games this season than Mane (six), while Salah has scored the joint-most winning goals in the competition this term (also six).

Salah has now faced penalty heartache twice this calendar year with Egypt, but Klopp claims the 29-year-old's international disappointment will simply spur him on at club level. 

"There's no doubt about it, Mo wants to win everything he can," Klopp added. "That's why he was very disappointed about the fact they couldn't win the [AFCON] tournament or qualify for the World Cup.  

"That's different competitions, his desire will be bigger now, and he's a very smart person who sees the difference between all these things. 

"We didn't speak about it in detail, to be honest, but he knows that Senegal are a tough team. Mo was unlucky in moments, especially with the penalty shoot-out, but nobody has to worry about him."

Salah has been directly involved in 11 goals in just seven Premier League games against Watford, scoring nine and assisting two.

He averages a goal or assist every 57 minutes against the Hornets, the fourth-best ratio any player has against a club in Premier League history having played a minimum of 600 minutes against that opponent.

Jurgen Klopp made an impassioned plea to Liverpool supporters to create the best atmosphere possible during Saturday's clash with Watford to build momentum ahead of next weekend's crucial trip to Manchester City.

The Reds are back in action for Saturday's early kick-off, hosting Watford at Anfield with all eyes on the Premier League table ahead of a massive few weeks.

Liverpool head into that game a point behind leaders City having played the same number of games, meaning victory over Roy Hodgson's Hornets will put the Reds top, even if only temporarily with Pep Guardiola's men facing Burnley soon after.

The two title challengers' results on Saturday take on greater importance given they will go head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium the following Sunday in a contest that could have a decisive say in where the Premier League title goes.

As such, Klopp is not taking any chances against Watford and is calling on fans to create the kind of raucous atmosphere that he seemingly does not usually associate with early kick-offs.

"It's a good example of how important it is to be top of the league at 14:30 on a Saturday when everyone is playing after… It's not too important," Klopp told reporters.

"Most of the time City play before us, and I couldn't care less what is after that. It's just how well we prepare for the 12:30 kick-off situation, because we face a Watford who won the last game, smells the chance to stay in the league.

"Obviously [Watford have] a very experienced manager with the way they set up, very well organised, a lot of individual talent. When you watch in the Premier League to analyse, you see they are good here, there, here, but then they don't have many points.

"It's just because of the quality in the league, but individual talent in the group is really good, that's what we need to be aware of.

"But what we need for this game is a sensational, the best 12:30 atmosphere ever. Not nervous, not tense… if you can’t shout and sing or whatever then stay at home and give your ticket to someone else, please.

"Really, we need all you have.

"The boys have come back from all over the world, played completely different systems and we have one session to make sure they are reminded on what we do.

"Then we go against a well organised Watford team and we need each voice for that."

It's matchday 31. The run-in requires points, and lots of them.

Of course, picking the players who earn surprise points is a big part of fantasy football, but at this point of the season, do you really want to be taking risks?

With that in mind, let Stats Perform lead you by the hand with Opta data as we pick four players who might just give you those precious extra points in the latest Premier League gameweek.

EDOUARD MENDY (Chelsea v Brentford)

Edouard Mendy provides value, given Chelsea have won their previous five matches and will be facing a Brentford severely down on form, having won only two in 11 (against Norwich City and Burnley).

Despite the turbulent circumstances the Blues have faced of late, they powered into this past international window, with four clean sheets in their past five league games.

Among all Premier League goalkeepers with a minimum of 450 minutes played in 2022, only Alisson has kept more clean sheets and conceded fewer goals per 90 than Mendy.

BEN WHITE (Crystal Palace v Arsenal)

Aside from their loss at home to a Liverpool side that is rolling at present, Arsenal have been in otherwise solid form of late.

Clean sheets against Aston Villa and Leicester City sandwich the Liverpool defeat, and Ben White has been a pivotal figure in the Gunners' defensive output.

Among Premier League central defenders this season, Ben White has the second-highest tally of clean sheets with 13, behind only Virgil van Dijk's 17. The last time Arsenal kept more in a single campaign was in 2015-16 (18).

MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool v Watford)

This might be stating the obvious, but if you can afford Salah, bring him in and make him your captain straight away like he's an old professional playing Sunday League.

Mohamed Salah has been in intimidatingly great form this season, and in the thick of a Premier League title race, rotation from Jurgen Klopp coming out of an international break is unlikely.

The Egyptian attacker averages a goal or assist every 57 minutes against Watford, the fourth-best ratio one player has against a club in Premier League history, with a 600-minute cut-off.

With nine goals and two assists in seven games against the Hornets, only versus West Ham (12 goal involvements) has Salah been more productive since he arrived in Liverpool.

SON HEUNG-MIN (Tottenham v Newcastle United)

Despite Tottenham's somewhat volatile form in the New Year, Son Heung-min has been one of the few constants for Spurs since his return from a hamstring injury.

In the nine games since his February return, the 29-year-old has provided five goals and two assists. He has come to life under Antonio Conte in 2022, with his eight Premier League goal involvements this calendar year bettered by only Harry Kane (12).

Meanwhile, of the Premier League's top ten players in goal involvements, only Bruno Fernandes (29) and Kevin de Bruyne (23) have created more chances than Son (21), which is all the more impressive given he's not Spurs set-piece taker.

Thiago Alcantara is relishing the most "exciting" month of his career as Liverpool prepare for a crunch April schedule.

Jurgen Klopp's side face eight matches in April as they strive to pull off an unprecedented quadruple. 

The Reds are in the hunt for the Premier League title, the FA Cup and Champions League glory after lifting the EFL Cup.

They face leaders Manchester City in the Premier League and an FA Cup semi-final against Pep Guardiola's side following two Champions League quarter-final showdowns with Benfica.

Spain midfielder Thiago is excited about playing in so many matches with so much at stake.

"The other day I was talking with some friends about it," he told the club's official website.

"I never had, in the years that I have been involved in football, I never had a month so exciting like this with such important and exciting matches every three days. So it will be amazing.

"For sure it is exciting because you are competing against the best, in the best competitions as well, but also because it reminds you that we are in finals. 

"It looks like a World Cup, a European Cup, where every game is a final. With that we are in a one-mission mood and we are there."

Liverpool can go top of the table if they avoid defeat to Watford at Anfield on Sunday, with City travelling to Burnley later in the day.

Thiago does not believe that would give the Merseyside club a psychological boost in the title race.

"No, I don’t think so," he added. "I don’t think to see us on top before City plays would be a boost.

"No, it’s just that we are in a moment where every three points count and we are really glad to arrive at this position and fight and depend on us."

Premier League rivals Liverpool and Manchester United will face off in a pre-season friendly in Bangkok.

The game will be played at the Rajamangala Stadium on July 12, where Jurgen Klopp's men will battle the Red Devils for the Bangkok Century Cup.

It is the only pre-season fixture confirmed by Liverpool so far, but United announced they will also play Melbourne Victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on July 15, before facing more familiar opposition again in Crystal Palace at the same venue four days later.

The last time Liverpool and United played in a friendly was in 2018 and saw the Reds win 4-1 in front of more than 100,000 fans in Michigan as part of the International Champions Cup.

United will be hoping to have a new permanent manager installed by the time pre-season begins, with Erik ten Hag and Mauricio Pochettino among the favourites for the role, and the Liverpool fixture could be the first game for whomever is appointed.

Patrik Berger is delighted to see Liverpool in quadruple contention as the former Anfield hero reminded Jurgen Klopp's side there is an expectation on them to lift trophies.

Liverpool overcame Chelsea in a marathon penalty shoot-out to win the EFL Cup in late February, and they remain hot on the heels of Premier League leaders Manchester City.

Klopp's men sit just a point behind Pep Guardiola's defending champions, who they face on league duty at the Etihad Stadium on April 10, and again at Wembley six days later in an FA Cup semi-final.

The Reds also have to contend with a two-leg Champions League quarter-final against Benfica, either side of their first clash with City, while they return to action after the international break at home to Watford on Saturday.

Berger played for Liverpool from 1996 to 2003, lifting the UEFA Cup and FA Cup in the 2000-01 season under Gerard Houllier.

"As a player, you want to win everything and if you are at Liverpool the football club is about that, it's about winning trophies," Berger told Stats Perform.

"They have already won one, and they are still in the race for the other three. It's a great time for them, for the players, for the manager, for the supporters and for the football club.

"At the end of the season you want to compete for every single trophy you can, and they are in that position right now, and I'm sure they're all happy and ready to compete for every single one of them."

Former Reds captain Sami Hyypia urged Liverpool to not get ahead of themselves and take one game at a time heading into the decisive part of the season.

Asked about the Reds' schedule and quadruple hopes, Hyypia told Stats Perform: "It's still interesting, but you can't look too far ahead, you have to look for the next game and win the next game, that is it."

The 2005 Champions League winner added: "It's nice to talk about it now, but we will see, we will see what is going to happen."

Sadio Mane is proud to have helped Senegal overcome Egypt and qualify for the World Cup and says he was "luckier" to get the better of Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah.

Senegal beat Egypt on penalties in Tuesday's qualifying play-off in Dakar after winning 1-0 on the day to level the tie at 1-1 on aggregate.

Mane sunk the decisive spot-kick in a shoot-out overshadowed by the Egypt players – including Salah, who missed the opening kick – being targeted by lasers from the stands.

Senegal's triumph comes seven weeks on from beating the same opponents – again on penalties – in the Africa Cup of Nations final.

While happy at getting the better of Liverpool colleague Salah, Mane accepts the outcome of both games could have been a lot different.

"I won twice and he lost twice. I was luckier to come out on top," Mane told OnTime Sports.

"I am very proud that we won the Africa Cup of Nations and now qualified for the World Cup, it's a dream I had.

"It was a difficult game for both teams. Our fans pushed us to win and we didn't stop fighting. We knew the game wouldn't be easy but we pressed to score."

Senegal join Ghana, Tunisia, Morocco and Cameroon as Africa's representatives at Qatar 2022, with Nigeria, Mali, DR Congo and Algeria falling at the final hurdle.

Mane and Salah could reunite on the pitch next weekend, meanwhile, when Liverpool return to Premier League action against Watford.

Virgil van Dijk has backed Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah to "turn disappointment into success" after Egypt failed to qualify for this year's World Cup.

Salah, who had lasers directed at him from the crowd as he lined up his spot-kick, blazed over in the penalty shoot-out on Tuesday as it was Senegal – spearheaded by fellow Liverpool star Sadio Mane – who booked their spot in Qatar following a 1-1 aggregate draw across two legs.

It was the second time this year that Salah and Egypt have suffered shoot-out agony against Senegal, who triumphed in the same way in the Africa Cup of Nations final.

Salah has been one of the standout players in European football this season, yet will not get the chance to show his quality on the biggest international stage.

While Van Dijk is disappointed for Liverpool's talisman, he is confident the forward will use Egypt's failure to spur the Reds on to more success this season, with a quadruple still on the cards for Jurgen Klopp's team.

"Well obviously, I feel sorry for Mo and for Egypt, but football is sometimes like this," Van Dijk told reporters after featuring in the Netherlands' 1-1 friendly draw with Germany.

"I am sure he will turn the disappointment into success for the rest of the season.

"We still have everything to play for so there is a lot of things still to achieve for him."

While Salah will return to Liverpool disappointed, Mane will come back knowing he is set to lead Senegal, who exited in the group stage in Russia in 2018.

Van Dijk was thrilled for Mane, but could not resist firing a warning shot his team-mate's way.

"As for Sadio, I wish him all the best and if he is in our group, he is going to need that good luck," the defender added.

Sadio Mane fired Senegal to the World Cup as Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah suffered penalty shoot-out agony with Egypt after being targeted with lasers by fans.

Senegal recovered from a 1-0 first-leg deficit to land victory by the same margin at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium on Tuesday.

That meant the play-off, tied at 1-1 after 120 minutes of the second leg, went down to a battle of spot-kicks to decide who would go to Qatar 2022, and Salah missed Egypt's first penalty when he fired over the bar.

Lasers flashed across the pitch and were directed at Egypt's star man, who could not find the focus to convert from 12 yards.

The first four penalties were missed, with Salah's the second of those, before both sides netted their third kicks.

Egypt's Mostafa Mohamed failed with the visitors' fourth penalty, seeing his shot blocked, and that allowed Mane to step up and crack a fierce spot-kick past Mohamed El Shenawy, booking a place in Friday's draw.

Barcelona are reportedly too restricted by LaLiga financial rules to enter the race for the world's best players, even after inking a deal with Spotify worth up to $235million.

Xavi's side have gone from strength to strength recently, finding form and re-establishing Barcelona as a prime destination, with a number of strong signings rumoured to be heading to Camp Nou in the next transfer window.

While there may be interest in bringing in the biggest names in the world, Barcelona supporters will likely need to lower their expectations.

TOP STORY – BARCELONA OUT OF SALAH RACE

It was reported that Barcelona have interest in signing Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, but The Daily Mirror claims that it will not be possible due to LaLiga's financial rules.

Salah – who boasts 28 goals and 10 assists in 36 matches for Liverpool this season – is likely to fetch a price similar to Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, who Barcelona president Joan Laporta ruled out when talking with RAC 1, as well as Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe, due to the lofty figures.

While Barca may not be willing to fork out €100m for a single signing, they are rumoured to have agreed to terms with Robert Lewandowski, who could fetch up to €60m at 33 years old, as well as Franck Kessie and Cesar Azpilicueta, with further interest in Ajax's Antony and Manchester United's Paul Pogba.

ROUND-UP

– Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing Premier League strikers Timo Werner and Anthony Martial from Chelsea and Manchester United, according to 90Min.

– According to The Sun, Newcastle United are keen on signing Watford's Ismaila Sarr in the upcoming transfer window in a deal believed to be worth around £35m.

– Leeds United have placed an asking price of £67m on Brazilian winger Raphinha, per The Daily Mirror, with The Athletic also reporting that the club insists his only release clause is triggered if the Whites are relegated from the Premier League.

– Calciomercato is reporting that Arsenal and Atletico Madrid will be competing for the signature of Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez, with the Italian club said to be interested if the fee hits £58m.

– According to Mundo Deportivo, Paulo Dybala is interested in joining Atletico Madrid when his contract expires after this season, and while Inter also have interest, they would need to sell Martinez to do so.

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard described the appointment of Xavi as head coach by Barcelona as a "masterstroke".

Xavi has made an impressive start to life in the Camp Nou dugout and enjoyed a resounding 4-0 thrashing of El Clasico rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu before the international break.

The former Spain and Barca midfielder was hired after the October sacking of Ronald Koeman, having previously coached Qatari side Al Sadd.

Speaking after a charity match between Liverpool and Barcelona legends at Anfield on Saturday, Gerrard – now in charge at Aston Villa – applauded the return of Xavi when speaking to Barca's media team.

"I think with the appointment of Xavi, it was a masterstroke by Barcelona," he said. "[He is] someone who has got Barcelona in his DNA and who has been a world-class player for many years.

"He obviously knows the style and what all the Barcelona people want to see. And after some challenging times it looks as if they're getting back to where they need to be.

"It was obviously a huge result against Real Madrid, and as a fan of Barcelona from afar, it's good to see them back and firing well."

The Clasico win meant Xavi became just the third coach in LaLiga history to win his first Clasico match by four or more goals, after Ferdinand Daucik in 1951 and Helenio Herrera in 1959.

The Blaugrana are on a 13-match unbeaten streak in LaLiga and won their past five league games, scoring four in all but one of those.

"As a coach in my position you're always trying to learn off everyone you can," Gerrard continued. "There's a lot of media around Xavi because obviously he was a world-class player. He's someone I have the utmost respect for as a player and I'm obviously watching him as a coach as well.

"He's on a similar journey to myself, very young, very new. I'm sure he's learning a lot every day like myself, but I'd like to give him a personal good luck message. I hope he makes it a big success and I'd love to see him at Barcelona for many years."

Gerrard scored in the 2-1 win for Barca's legends on Merseyside, with Rivaldo and Giovanni netting for the visitors.

Barcelona have re-established themselves this term after a strong January transfer window.

Barca head coach Xavi, appointed in November, has overseen a major form reversal culminating in last week's 4-0 Clasico win.

The Blaugrana have their sights set on more additions as they continue to re-build after Lionel Messi's exit last year.

TOP STORY - BARCELONA SET SIGHTS ON SALAH

Barcelona boss Xavi is determined to land Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah , claims Mundo Deportivo.

The cash-strapped Catalans have switched their attention from the race for Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland.

Salah is yet to re-sign with Liverpool where he is out of contract in 2023.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta said he will not put the club at financial risk in order to sign Erling Haaland, per Fabrizio Romano for Mundo Deportivo.

ROUND-UP

- Liverpool will not pursue West Ham United's Declan Rice amid interest from several clubs in the England international midfielder, claims Football Insider.

- Leeds United has rejected a £29million bid from  Barcelona  for 25-year-old Brazilian winger  Raphinha , whose release clause is set at £60million, according to Sport.

- Arsenal midfielder  Granit Xhaka  remains a transfer target for  Roma head coach Jose Mourinho, per the Gazzetta dello Sport.

- According to the Daily Mail, Wolves and Portugal winger  Pedro Neto  is on  Paris Saint-Germain's  wanted list.