Pep Guardiola urged his Manchester City players to seize a potential “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity after reaching the Club World Cup final.

The Champions League winners set up a clash with Brazilian side Fluminense in Friday’s showpiece in Jeddah with a comfortable 3-0 win over Japanese outfit Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday.

City needed an own goal in first-half stoppage time to get their campaign up and running in Saudi Arabia, but strikes from Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva after the break secured a straightforward victory.

City manager Guardiola told reporters at a press conference said: “We didn’t win it (before) – it’s the first time Manchester City are here.

“This is the last step – a title the club doesn’t have, so we’ll go for it.

“To play this final you have to have done incredible things – mainly to win the Champions League.

“Once we are here, maybe it is a trophy we play for once in a lifetime.

“It’s against Fluminense, a South American team, experienced, a lot of quality. I saw yesterday how good they are.

“But we are there. Tomorrow we will start to see Fluminense and try to do a good performance and win the title.”

City were without Erling Haaland for a fourth successive game due to a foot injury but were still far too strong for the Asian Champions League winners.

They had already created numerous chances before defender Marius Hoibraten turned into his own net to give City the lead.

Reds boss Maciej Skorza said: “They are the best team in the world in my opinion, but our plan didn’t work in the perfect way.

“We expected that possession would be huge in favour of Manchester City. We had our plan for counter-attacks, but this didn’t happen.

“Maybe this is the big difference in the physical aspect between the two teams and lack of experience of playing teams like City.”

Manchester City eased into the final of the Club World Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win over Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday.

Without Erling Haaland, the Champions League winners needed an own goal to launch their campaign in Saudi Arabia but second-half strikes from Mateo Kovavic and Bernardo Silva saw them stroll to victory.

Having already added the European Super Cup to last season’s treble, City will now have the chance to claim a fifth trophy of the calendar year when they face Brazil’s Fluminese in Friday’s final in Jeddah.

With Urawa showing limited ambition against City’s formidable line-up, the only surprise was the game remained goalless until first-half stoppage time.

City may have been without a recognised centre forward in Haaland’s continued absence due to a foot injury, but the Reds defence was given little respite and goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa had a busy night.

Rodri had City’s first attempt on goal when he fired wide after eight minutes and he had another effort deflected past the post after Silva shot over.

Nishikawa did well to turn over from Matheus Nunes on the half-hour and he denied both the Portugal international again and Phil Foden from distance.

City finally claimed the breakthrough their play deserved just before the interval, although they did benefit from a stroke of luck.

Nunes broke down the right and exchanged passes with Silva before driving the ball low towards goal, where it was turned into his own net by Norwegian defender Marius Hoibraten.

With their lead established, City tightened their grip after the break.

Kyle Walker played Kovacic into space for the Croatia midfielder to lift the ball over Nishikawa for the second after 52 minutes.

Nunes should have added another moments later but headed wide from a Jack Grealish cross.

The third came just before the hour after Nishikawa pushed away another Nunes effort and Silva drove in the rebound with the aid of a deflection.

Guardiola began to make changes in the latter stages as he looked ahead to the final.

One of the substitutes, Julian Alvarez, was denied by Nishikawa at point-blank range and Grealish squandered another chance by delaying his shot.

Urawa had a couple of late chances as City eased up but John Stones cleared after Bryan Linssen seized on a poor backpass and Ederson denied Shoya Nakajima with his feet.

Nottingham Forest have sacked boss Steve Cooper and are in talks to appoint former Wolves and Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo as his replacement, the PA news agency understands.

The 44-year-old has paid the price for a run of just one win in 13 Premier League games, which has seen Forest plummet to just five points above the drop zone.

The Portuguese is the preferred candidate to take over at the City Ground and has met with club officials ahead of a possible appointment.

Nuno has been out of work since leaving Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad in November. He appears set for a return to the Premier League two years after his sacking from an ill-fated four-month stay at Spurs.

Cooper has had the support of the Forest fans after taking them from the bottom of the Championship to Premier League survival last season.

It was fan power that saved him from the sack last term, but with another summer of heavy investment from owner Evangelos Marinakis, the Greek businessman has lost patience.

Forest host Bournemouth in a crucial Premier League clash on Saturday before festive fixtures against Newcastle and Manchester United.

Marinakis was eyeing a top-half finish this season after spending north of £100million in the summer, but, after a solid start to the campaign, results have not followed and they have won just once since beating Chelsea at the start of September.

Cooper has kept his dignity in tact following speculation surrounding his position and leaves the City Ground a hero after becoming the man to end Forest’s 23-year exile from the top flight when he guided them to promotion in the summer of 2022.

A difficult first year in the Premier League followed, where Cooper’s job was under continual threat before a late-season rally saw them finish 16th.

Expectations of a push towards the top 10 came after a heavy spending spree in the summer, but results have been disappointing and Cooper has paid the price.

Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper’s position is under severe threat after the club held talks with former Wolves and Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo about taking over at the City Ground, the PA news agency understands.

Cooper’s tenure is in doubt following a run of just one win in 13 Premier League games, which has seen Forest plummet to just five points above the drop zone.

Officials from the club have spoken to the Portuguese about replacing Cooper, PA understands.

Nuno has been out of work since leaving Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad in November. He appears in line for a return to the Premier League two years after his sacking from an ill-fated four-month stay at Spurs.

Cooper has had the support of the Forest fans after taking them from the bottom of the Championship to Premier League survival last season.

It was fan power that saved him from the sack last term, but with another summer of heavy investment from owner Evangelos Marinakis, it looks as if the Greek businessman has lost patience.

Reports in Portugal suggest a deal for Nuno could be tied up before Saturday’s home clash with Bournemouth.

Pep Guardiola has called for change as the fixture burden on players continues to increase.

The Manchester City manager was speaking in light of FIFA’s decision to expand the Club World Cup to a 32-team tournament from 2025.

Guardiola insists he is not against the new event in principle – and City are already guaranteed a place – but he feels something has to give somewhere to ease the workload on players.

The Spaniard told reporters at a press conference: “I am not against the new competitions. I am against the lack of time to recover from year to year.

“This is what I am complaining (about) all the time. For me it doesn’t matter to play every three days, six days, seven days. It is OK.

“But it is really tough to finish the season and then in three weeks restart again and go to Asia, to be financially stable, or the States. That is really, really tough, for ourselves and especially for the players. For myself, things should change. This is my point.

“But how do you change when (after) you finish the season, you go to the States to play another competition? This is the problem.”

Guardiola was speaking in Saudi Arabia, where Champions League winners City are preparing for this year’s edition of the Club World Cup.

They face Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, the Asian champions, in their semi-final in Jeddah on Tuesday.

“It’s a pleasure to be here, it’s an honour,” said Guardiola.

“It’s the first time Man City are here. That shows how difficult it is. We won’t take it for granted. We take it as a privilege.

“Of course we want to win it. It is a trophy we don’t have. We want to close a little circle, that we have won all the trophies we could do. This is the last one.”

Midfielder Bernardo Silva admitted the schedule facing players at the top level was difficult but was not complaining.

The Portuguese said: “We were not consulted but we try to do our jobs, to represent our clubs the best possible way, and the people that pay our salaries and the fans that support us.

“The reality is the amount of games we have nowadays, and even more with the new competitions, if you look at it, it is a bit crazy because of the rest that players get and the risk of injury is up quite a lot.

“At the end we cannot complain because we earn a lot of money but in my opinion, for the people that love the game, and are entertained by the game, if we have this many games for so long, at the end the games will lose the energy and the intensity.”

City again seem likely to be without striker Erling Haaland, who has missed the last three games with a foot injury. Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku are also with the squad as they near returns to action but they are not expected to play.

Tributes have been paid to “no bigger Blue” Bill Kenwright at a memorial service for the former Everton chairman.

Kenwright died in October aged 78 just a couple of weeks after a major operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his liver and after his family held a small, private funeral, his friends and colleagues from the world of football and entertainment attended Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral to pay their respects.

Current Toffees manager Sean Dyche and his first-team squad – as well as the club’s youth teams – were present as well as former managers and ex-players.

Sir Kenny Dalglish headed a delegation of officials and former players from Everton’s near-neighbours Liverpool, boxer and I’m A Celebrity runner-up Tony Bellew and Coleen Rooney, the wife of former Everton forward Wayne, were also in attendance, while there were also stars of stage and screen.

Mayor of Manchester and Everton fan Andy Burnham said: “Nobody was a bigger Blue than Bill. Nobody had a bigger heart than Bill.

“The legacy of Bill Kenwright is countless acts of generosity which lifted thousands of lives.”

On the building of a new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock, which the club will move to for the start of the 2025-26 season, Burnham said Kenwright’s “mission has been accomplished”.

However, Burnham said his proudest moment came when Kenwright was asked to address the service for the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster held at Anfield.

“His finest hour came in front of the Kop in 2014: here was the chairman of my football club giving a speech which was so right and so full of emotion – and I couldn’t have been prouder of him that day,” he added.

Margaret Aspinall, the former chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group who lost her son James in the 1989 disaster which claimed 97 lives, built up a close relationship with the former Everton chairman after he offered his support in the wake of the tragedy.

“On behalf of our city we are all going to miss Bill tremendously. Bill Kenwright will never walk alone,” she said.

Kenwright’s long-term partner, the actress Jenny Seagrove, admitted: “He wasn’t my Bill, he was our Bill. He never forgot where he came from.”

Former Everton midfielder Peter Reid also spoke at the service, saying: “What a fitting tribute it would be if we could win a trophy for him. No pressure Dychey.”

Current captain Seamus Coleman said that on his arrival at the club from Sligo Rovers in 2009, Kenwright “helped me understand what Everton Football Club meant to people. Thank you Mr Chairman for making me an Evertonian”.

Away from football, Rufus Norris, artistic director of the National Theatre, described Kenwright as “legendary”.

“He was an absolute giant in the theatre world,” he said.

Everton in the Community’s Spirit choir sang Elton John’s ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues’, while there were also solo performances from Marti Pellow and former Spice Girl Mel C, who sang a song from Kenwright’s long-running West End musical Blood Brothers.

In keeping with his theatrical background there was a standing ovation from the congregation at the conclusion, which finished with a soundbite of Kenwright himself saying: “For one last time, good night and God bless.”

Pep Guardiola wants to “close a little circle” and add the Club World Cup to Manchester City’s trophy haul.

City, who claimed a glorious treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup last season, are in Saudi Arabia for the global competition this week.

They face Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds, the Asian champions, in their semi-final in Jeddah on Tuesday hoping to secure a place in Friday’s final.

City are strong favourites for the tournament but manager Guardiola insists it is far from a foregone conclusion.

Guardiola told reporters at his pre-match press conference: “It’s a pleasure to be here, it’s an honour.

“It’s the first time Man City are here. That shows how difficult it is. We won’t take it for granted. We take it as a privilege.

“Of course we want to win it. It is a trophy we don’t have. We want to close a little circle, that we have won all the trophies we could do. This is the last one.

“I don’t know if we’ll have another chance. Maybe it is a once in a lifetime. It is difficult to be here.

“I think the players know it and we are going to try to perform well tomorrow.”

City’s recent form has been inconsistent with just one win in their last six Premier League games.

Their latest frustrating result came on Saturday as they were pegged back by two late goals to draw 2-2 against Crystal Palace.

That left them five points behind leaders Arsenal but Guardiola is not concerned about performances.

He said: “We prefer better results but, except the Aston Villa game, our performances were excellent.

“We have to improve how we finish our games, be more aware of what we have to do in certain moments but hopefully we can maintain our level of passion and desire to play at a high level with and without the ball against Urawa.”

City are waiting on the fitness of striker Erling Haaland, who has missed the last three games with a foot injury.

Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku have travelled with the squad as they near returns from injury but are unlikely to play.

Midfielder Bernardo Silva said: “Erling is a big player for us, we can’t deny that, but the big strength at City in my time here is, no matter who is missing, we are the same team and we fight for all the titles.”

Silva insisted there was no lack of motivation among the players for the tournament.

He said: “When you play the FIFA Club World Cup there is no tiredness. We are motivated to come here and play the competition.”

Manchester City have been fined £120,000 after their players surrounded referee Simon Hooper in the 94th minute of their 3-3 draw with Tottenham earlier this month.

Hooper made the contentious call to bring play back after he initially played advantage following Emerson Royal’s mistimed challenge on Erling Haaland.

Haaland was able to get back to his feet and produce a through ball which sent Jack Grealish away, but Hooper blew his whistle to end their hopes of scoring a potential winner during that play against Spurs.

It sparked an animated reaction from Man City’s players with Haaland in particular incensed along with manager Pep Guardiola on the touchline.

Haaland expressed his frustration again at full-time and later made clear his bemusement with a post on social-media site X.

The Football Association has now fined City after they admitted their players behaved in an improper way.

“Manchester City FC have been fined £120,000 after their players surrounded a match official at the Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur FC on Sunday 3 December, an FA statement read.

“Manchester City FC admitted that they failed to ensure their players did not behave in an improper way during the 94th minute.

“An independent Regulatory Commission imposed this sanction following a hearing.”

Jonny Evans was pleased by Manchester United’s hard-fought, morale-boosting point at Liverpool as Erik ten Hag’s men blocked out the memories of last season’s 7-0 Anfield annihilation.

Pressure and scrutiny has increased as the Dutchman’s difficult second season has worn on, with last weekend’s 3-0 home humbling by Bournemouth the nadir of a wretched campaign.

A lifeless 1-0 home loss to Bayern Munich followed on Tuesday night, with United exiting the Champions League and European football just days before a daunting trip to in-form rivals Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp’s men had won every home match this season and had 34 attempts on Sunday, but Andre Onana pulled off eight saves as the visitors dug deep to secure a much-needed 0-0 draw.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Manchester United (@manchesterunited)

“We’ll take the point,” experienced centre-back Evans said. “I think we are obviously seventh in the league at the moment, but we were eighth going into the match. Liverpool were top.

“It was a hard-fought point. They dominated the game in terms of being around our box, but we probably had two of the best chances.

“I’ve played games here where you have to grind it out. You don’t always come to Anfield and play well.

“I’ve been a part of this club in the past – even back then, in 2013, we got a win here but the game was very difficult. You have to grind it out.

“It’s a battle, really. It is a game of moments, big moments in the game. We’ll come away, take the point, and move on.”

Sunday match was United’s first trip to Anfield since March’s 7-0 thumping – the largest defeat for either side in this fixture.

Evans was among the United fans watching through his fingers on that occasion and, having returned to the club over the summer, said the whole squad put that loss to the back of their minds.

“I think you block it out by not listening to that,” the 35-year-old academy product said.

“I think we have our own responsibilities going into the game and every game is a chance to win. We always go into every game thinking we are going to win.”

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk certainly did not believe that judging by his comments after a frustrating afternoon, claiming only one team tried to win and United were “buzzing” with a point.

“It is their home patch, they’ve got a good record here and they are playing well,” Evans said.

“They are at the top of the league, they’ve got some dangerous players. We’ll take the point, we defended our box well and move on from it.”

Evans impressed alongside Raphael Varane in the heart of an injury-hit defence, with Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia ruled out for a game that ended with Diogo Dalot’s sending-off.

“When you are defending on the edge of your box, there are always fine margins at that point,” he said.

“When you come away with a clean sheet after defending like that, it is always enjoyable.”

Asked if this can be the start of something, Evans said: “I think you can take this game in isolation, Man United versus Liverpool is a big match.

“I think we can take the fact that we have been able to defend our box as something we have probably… in the last three or four weeks when we have had to defend our box, we haven’t done that well enough.

“It is something we have discussed, so we take that out of it. Take confidence from it.”

David Raya believes his battle with Aaron Ramsdale to be first-choice goalkeeper at Arsenal has made them both better players.

Spain international Raya is currently Mikel Arteta’s preferred option between the sticks and he became the first goalkeeper this season to keep a Premier League clean sheet against Brighton as the Gunners won 2-0 on Sunday to go top of the table.

Second-half goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz secured the points for Arsenal, with Raya returning in goal after Ramsdale played in the 1-1 Champions League dead-rubber group game against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday.

Since breaking into the side in September, Raya has unquestionably become Arteta’s number one as debate and argument reigns over who should fill the position long-term.

Raya, though, feels the fierce competition has improved both himself and England international Ramsdale.

Asked if the battle has made him a better goalkeeper, Brentford loanee Raya replied: “Of course, and I think I have made him a better goalkeeper.

“I think that battle – I wouldn’t say battle, it’s just pushing each other in training, trying to help each other.

“If we see with each other when we are training that we can help each other, that’s how we are and that’s how we do. That’s the GK union that from the outside that you see.

“He is a top, top goalkeeper and a top, top team-mate. I hope he can say the same about me! We are team-mates, we are fighting for one position.”

Next up for Arsenal is a trip to face Liverpool at Anfield in a game where victory would put some space between the sides at the top of the table – where Aston Villa also feature after their comeback win over Brentford.

“Of course it is a massive game for any of the top teams playing against Liverpool away from home,” added Raya.

“I think comparing the last time I played there with Brentford and what we are going to face on Saturday is completely different. I think obviously they (the fans) will be more on top of us now, especially as we are fighting to be on top of the Premier League.

“It is going to be very, very important but we don’t have to focus on the atmosphere. We have to focus on ourselves and the football, and win the match.”

Brighton, meanwhile, will be looking to recover from one of their worst performances of the campaign to date.

Roberto De Zerbi’s visitors managed just one shot on target at the Emirates Stadium as they were roundly beaten – with captain Lewis Dunk calling for a response against rivals Crystal Palace on Thursday.

“I think obviously, we’re disappointed,” he said.

“We had to do the dirty side of the game, where we usually control the game and have plenty of the ball but Arsenal stopped us doing that. We’ve just got to brush ourselves down, we’ve got a massive game on Thursday and we need to move on.”

Holders Manchester City will face FC Copenhagen in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Arsenal, the current Premier League leaders, will take on Portuguese side Porto in the first knockout round.

The ties, the first legs of which will take place over two weeks in February 2024, were confirmed after the draw at the Swiss headquarters of organiser UEFA in Nyon on Monday.

City played Copenhagen – who came through a group that included Manchester United – in the early stages last season, winning 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium and drawing 0-0 in Denmark.

Pep Guardiola’s side, who are currently in Saudi Arabia for the Club World Cup, qualified this time with a 100 per cent record in Group G.

Arsenal were also convincing winners of Group B on their return to the competition after a six-season absence.

Their opponents Porto came through as runners-up to Barcelona in Group H.

Spanish champions Barca, meanwhile, were handed a tough task against Serie A winners Napoli.

In the other ties, record 14-time winners Real Madrid were paired with RB Leipzig and their city rivals Atletico drawn against Inter Milan.

Paris St Germain will play the fourth Spanish side in the draw, Real Sociedad, with the two German teams, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, tackling Lazio and PSV respectively.

As winners of their groups, City and Arsenal will play the first legs of their ties away.

The first legs will take place on February 13, 14, 20 or 21 with the return matches on March 5, 6, 12 or 13.

Brighton and Liverpool both saw their long scoring streaks ended on Sunday, leaving Tottenham to chase the Premier League’s records.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how the trio compare to the best of the Premier League era.

Brighton’s wings finally clipped

The Seagulls’ 2-0 defeat to Arsenal ended a 32-game scoring run and a Premier League record 20 consecutively in which they had both scored and conceded.

The latter sequence covered every fixture this season and the final four of last term, since their clean sheet in May’s 3-0 win over the Gunners.

The last time they had failed to score was way back in February, a 1-0 defeat at home to Fulham, with that 32-game stretch marking the fourth-longest in the Premier League.

Arsenal themselves hold the record, 55 games from May 2001 to November 2002 which covered the last game of 2000-01, the entirety of their 2001-02 title-winning season and the first 16 games of the following campaign’s second-placed finish, before losing 2-0 to Manchester United who went on to win the league.

United had a scoring run of 36 games from December 2007 to November 2008, matched by Liverpool between March 2019 and February 2020 for a distant second place behind Arsenal, with Brighton next up under impressive manager Roberto De Zerbi.

Brighton scored 66 goals in those 32 games, winning 15 and drawing eight with nine losses.

Spurs left standing

Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by Manchester United in Sunday’s late game to halt their own scoring run at 26 games.

Since another 0-0 in April against Chelsea, Jurgen Klopp’s side had scored 63 goals across 18 wins, seven draws and one defeat before their 34 shots proved insufficient to break down a stubborn United side at Anfield.

That leaves Spurs as the only side whose current scoring streak stretches to double figures, and at 29 games after beating Nottingham Forest 2-0 it ranks joint-fifth in Premier League history.

Manchester City also had a run of 29 between December 2018 and September 2019, before a shock 2-0 home defeat to Wolves, with Spurs losing 1-0 to the same opponents before embarking on their current run.

Beginning in March in Antonio Conte’s penultimate match in charge and continuing through the chaotic end to last season, under the caretaker stewardship of first Cristian Stellini and then Ryan Mason, Spurs have kicked on under new boss Ange Postecoglou this term.

They have scored 59 goals in the 29 games, with a record of 14 wins, six draws and nine defeats.

Scoring against Everton, Brighton and Bournemouth in their remaining fixtures of 2023 would take them alongside Albion’s 32 in the Premier League list, with the chance to chase down second-placed Liverpool and Man Utd  by February’s return fixture with the Seagulls.

After Spurs, the longest current streak belongs to Bournemouth, who had scored in eight straight games prior to Saturday’s fixture against Luton. They also found the net before that match was abandoned.

West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen is relishing their hectic schedule and urged his team-mates to make the most of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final tie at Liverpool.

The Hammers’ made it seven wins in nine matches with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Wolves on Sunday after Bowen struck late on following a first-half brace by Mohammed Kudus.

David Moyes’ side are in the middle of a three-week period where they play seven times and next up is a midweek trip to Anfield with a semi-final berth on the line.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Carabao Cup (@thecarabaocup)

“It’s an exciting time. As a player, you want to be in as many competitions as possible,” top-goalscorer Bowen said.

“We’ve got a chance now on Wednesday night to get a place in the Carabao Cup semi-final and then we play Manchester United on Saturday too.

“That will be another tasty game and there’s a lot to look forward to. We’re glad we got the win. It moves us up the table and it makes things interesting over the Christmas period.”

West Ham moved up to eighth after Sunday’s result, which was inspired by their versatile attacking trio.

Lucas Paqueta created each goal against Wolves, finding Kudus for his 25-yard opener midway through the first half before he played in the summer recruit for his second in the 32nd minute.

Bowen rounded off the scoring after he collected Paqueta’s pass and it left boss David Moyes’ purring about his Brazilian playmaker.

Moyes added: “That is what Lucas Paqueta can do for us. I’m pulling my hair out half the time and the other part of it I’m celebrating because he can make passes that other people can’t see and don’t make.

“He’s a special player. I’ve not had huge amounts of special players with that individual talent. So, there’s a little bit of leeway we have to give him.

“I’m not someone who likes giving too much leeway to any of my players. I like to treat them all fairly but as I’ve got a bit older, I’ve realised that when you have that talent, you have to let them flourish.

“But I have to say as well, his work-rate for the team over recent months has been excellent.”

Bowen concluded: “We’re just playing with freedom and we have a real understanding me, Mo (Kudus) and Lucas.

“There were times when Mo was up front and I was out on the wing. Then times I was up front and Mo on the wing.

“That is the quality the three of us have, we can play with flexibility and on the training pitch it is the same. We all love playing together.”

Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil provided a positive injury update ahead of their Christmas Eve clash with Chelsea.

He said: “The good news is Rayan (Ait-Nouri) got through 25 minutes, Pedro (Neto) is nearly back and hopefully Jose Sa’s shoulder is not too serious.

“Disappointed (with the result) but still really positive around where we can get to and hopefully the turnaround we’ll see soon with some players back.”

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk insists he was not being arrogant in dismissing Manchester United’s overly defensive display at Anfield.

The Dutchman provoked a response from former United midfielder Roy Keane when he said only one team played to win.

Keane said the comments were arrogant and disrespectful, adding: “He needs a reminder himself; he’s playing for a club that have won the title once in 30-odd years.”

Van Dijk insisted there was honesty but no arrogance in his words on a frustrating afternoon where Liverpool had 34 shots but failed to score for the first time since April.

“I like Roy Keane, if he said that then it’s fine,” he said.

“He is Man United throughout and I understand he could react like that but I felt what I said and there is absolutely no arrogance in that.

“Everyone who watched the game probably felt the same. We move on. We had the opportunity and we couldn’t score and that’s the frustrating part.”

For the first time since April Jurgen Klopp’s side failed to score, ending a club record-equalling run of 34 successive matches, and the 34 shots they attempted was their most on record (since 2003-04) without scoring.

Striker Darwin Nunez has not found the net in 10 matches, Mohamed Salah, who scored 10 in 12 league games before November’s international break, has just one in the last five, Luis Diaz has scored once in the league since mid-August while Cody Gakpo’s two league goals were both in September.

December is the worst time to lose your form with the number of fixtures during the month and Van Dijk admits the players may have been trying just too hard against their arch-rivals.

“Maybe (we were) trying to force it a little bit at times and we could have made a better decision but it was hard to break the low block down,” he added.

“You push, you push, you push and try to do everything in your power but it was one of those days we couldn’t find the right decision to score a goal.

“At times – I won’t say every time – we forced it too much to find a solution which wasn’t there but that’s football.”

There is no time to dwell on the disappointing result which cost them top spot as West Ham are the midweek visitors for the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, a competition Liverpool won in 2022.

“We move on and have to learn from a lot of moments – and we will – and focus on Wednesday,” said Van Dijk.

“Let’s go for it. It’s the first trophy that could be in reach and it will be a very tough game as West Ham are also in a good moment with good players.”

On this day in 2014, Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli was suspended and fined after making racist and anti-Semitic comments on social media.

The then 24-year-old was was banned for one match, fined £25,000 and ordered to attend an education course following an independent regulatory commission hearing after accepting an aggravated breach of the Football Association Rule E3, relating to references of ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality or religion or belief.

Italy international Balotelli was charged after posting an image of computer game character Super Mario on Instagram which included the words “jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew”.

He quickly deleted the post and the following day issued an apology via his Twitter account.

Balotelli wrote: “I apologise if I’ve offended anyone. The post was meant to be anti-racist with humour. I now understand that out of context (it) may have the opposite effect.”

Following the commission’s ruling, Balotelli offered a further apology to his team-mates and the club’s fans.

He posted on Twitter: “Following the recent events related to my ‘Super Mario’ post, the FA decision has made clear that it was wrong.

“I am sorry that my team-mates and supporters of Liverpool FC have to be penalised for something I did and now come to regret.

“It is my intention to comply with the decision of the FA and make sure it never happens again.”

Former Inter Milan, Manchester City and AC Milan frontman Balotelli, now 33 and playing his football in Turkey with Adana Demirspor, has been no stranger to controversy during his career.

Days after signing for City, he hit the headlines after crashing his Audi R8 en route to the club’s training ground and was found to be carrying £5,000 in cash, and he had another run-in with the emergency services after a firework was set off in the bathroom of his home, triggering a fire.