Virgil van Dijk suggested Liverpool's win over Newcastle United could mark a turning point in the Reds' season.

The Magpies had not lost a Premier League game at St James' Park since April last year – coincidentally also against Liverpool – but came unstuck on Saturday.

Darwin Nunez's clinical strike and Cody Gakpo's close-range finish had Liverpool 2-0 up early on, and Nick Pope's red card for handling the ball outside his area in the 22nd minute seemingly doomed Newcastle.

Eddie Howe's side put up a good fight and hit the crossbar twice, but Liverpool did enough to take the points as they completed a double over their hosts.

Liverpool's win followed on from Monday's Merseyside derby victory over Everton and means they will be just three points behind fourth-placed Newcastle if they win their game in hand next weekend.

Asked if it was a significant result for the Reds, Van Dijk told Sky Sports: "Let's hope so.

"We have had results in the season already where we felt like now is the time to kick on, but this feels a little bit different.

"I think coming away from the big win against Everton, it was important for us to keep going, find a way to win, show your intensity, particularly in the beginning.

"The red card changed the game a little bit for them, also for us, and we could've done better.

"But to win here…there's a reason we are the only team so far this season that has beaten them [in the Premier League], so I'm very proud of the boys."

Trent Alexander-Arnold concurred with his team-mate, the right-back adamant Liverpool needed to follow up the derby victory with another positive result if beating Everton was to mean anything.

"It's massive for us. This was a big one," the England international added.

"We got our win against Everton, I think that was massive as well, but it wouldn't have meant anything if we'd not come here and backed it up with another win.

"That's what we came to do. They're a tough side to beat, very tough, but we picked them apart with two good goals, then obviously the red card settles the game down for us, makes it even harder for them.

"It was tough, it's a tough place to come, not many teams win here, so we are delighted to take the three points home."

The Premier League title race took another twist on Saturday, with Arsenal now back atop the pile.

Manchester City's 3-1 win at Emirates Stadium in midweek had seemingly given them control of the two-horse race for the trophy.

But City's failure to build on that success and Arsenal's late heroics on the road at Aston Villa mean the Gunners have a two-point lead over Pep Guardiola's men with a game in hand.

Elsewhere, Liverpool boosted their top-four aspirations while denting those of Newcastle United, who have now won just one of their last seven Premier League games.

Here, Stats Perform looks at Saturday's biggest games through the lens of Opta data.

Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal: Jorginho and Martinelli produce late show

Saturday saw Arsenal reassume command of what is fast becoming an engrossing title race, but it looked for a long time as if they would suffer another setback.

The Gunners appeared set to settle for a 2-2 draw at Villa Park, only for Jorginho's rasping injury-time drive to cannon off the crossbar and then deflect in off Emiliano Martinez. Gabriel Martinelli made it 4-2 in the 98th minute.

It marked the first time Arsenal have scored a 90th-minute winner away from home in the league since Martinelli netted against Crystal Palace in May 2021, which was also the last time they scored twice in the 90th minute in the same game in the competition.

Arsenal's joy should be tempered somewhat by defensive concerns.

Indeed, Arsenal have now conceded the opening goal in four of their last five Premier League games, one more than they did in their first 18 games of the 2022-23 campaign (3).

Chelsea 0-1 Southampton: Saints pile pressure on Potter

The result was overshadowed by the head injury suffered by Cesar Azpilicueta, but it was an extremely significant one for Southampton, who boosted their survival hopes by completing the league double against Chelsea for the first time since the 1987-88 season.

Defeat for Chelsea was their first at home against the team starting the day bottom of the Premier League table for the first time since April 2014 vs Sunderland (1-2).

The Blues have lost three of their last six Premier League home games (W2 D1), as many defeats as in their previous 25 league games at Stamford Bridge combined (W13 D9), that run piling the pressure on manager Graham Potter.

Chelsea's latest home loss was engineered by James Ward-Prowse, who in scoring his 17th direct free-kick goal in the Premier League moved just one behind record holder David Beckham (18), netting 13 of them away from home.

Nottingham Forest 1-1 Manchester City: Forest hold champions at bay

If Forest do manage to stay up, their home from will be a significant reason why. They are unbeaten in eight home games in the Premier League (W4 D4), their best home unbeaten run in the top-flight since a 20-game stretch between February 1995 and January 1996.

Prior to this stalemate, Forest had lost their last seven Premier League games against the reigning champions, by an aggregate score of 29-3, including a 6-0 defeat to Man City earlier this season. They avoided defeat against the reigning champions for the first time since December 1994, when they beat Manchester United.

Bernardo Silva's fine opener initially looked like it would be enough for City to take all three points and return to the top of the league, and continued a recent theme for the Portugal international, who has 32 Premier League goals for the club. Three of his last four goals in the competition have been scored from outside the box, with only three of his first 28 coming from distance.

Jack Grealish laid on the assist for Silva. Grealish has been directly involved in six goals (2 goals, 4 assists) in the Premier League since the conclusion of the World Cup. Grealish had one goal and no assists in eight league appearances this season prior to the World Cup break.

Newcastle United 0-2 Liverpool: Pope sends Magpies hopes up in smoke

Newcastle have an EFL Cup final with Manchester United to look forward to next Sunday, but they will be without goalkeeper Nick Pope after his red card in this one for handling the ball outside the area.

Pope's red card was the fifth instance of a Newcastle goalkeeper being sent off in the Premier League, with only Liverpool and Aston Villa (6 each) seeing more keeper reds in the competition. 

He conceded twice before being sent off in the 22nd minute - the earliest a goalkeeper has conceded twice and been sent off in a Premier League game.

Those two goals came inside 17 minutes and were as many as Newcastle had conceded in their previous eight Premier League games combined, proving enough to extend the Magpies' winless league run against Liverpool to 13 matches (D4 L9) and end their 17-game unbeaten run in the competition.

The Reds are the only team to beat Newcastle in the Premier League this season, with victory coming on the back of just their second away clean sheet in 2022-23.

Fulham head coach Marco Silva praised the "desire and belief" of his team to snatch a late 1-0 win at Brighton and Hove Albion.

Manor Solomon's 88th-minute goal sent Fulham up to sixth in the Premier League, leapfrogging Brighton in the process.

The hosts had the majority of the chances, recording 21 shots to five, with the Cottagers not having any in a one-sided first half.

However, Solomon struck in the dying minutes after racing onto a throughball from Carlos Vinicius, hitting a shot low and hard across Robert Sanchez to win it.

Speaking to BBC Sport after the game, Silva said: "It was a tough game against a very good side, the way they play and the way they are dominant. They did against us what they have been doing against all the teams in this league.

"We improved in the second half, in the first half we were not at our best. We made changes and we improved.

"Overall it wasn't our best performance, but we showed the resilience, the desire and the belief until the last minute to keep the clean sheet and win the game.

"They created more chances than us, but we have lost some games where we have been the better team."

All six of Solomon's league appearances for Fulham have been from the bench, with the Israeli netting in his last two games, averaging a goal every 41 minutes in the competition.

"He deserves all the credit, a great finish from him," Silva said of the goalscorer. "It was another great moment for him. Everyone expected him to cut inside and finish with the right foot but he did the opposite.

"He's getting better and better and better and deserves all the good things because 2022 was so difficult for him on and off the pitch. He's helping us scoring goals and is loving the Premier League. He is ready to help us."

As for Fulham's prospects of qualifying for Europe in their first season back in England's top flight, Silva added: "Of course I congratulate the boys, but my focus is on them to recover and prepare them better for the next game because we have to do better with the ball.

"All my focus is making them better."

Liverpool breathed life into their top-four hopes with a 2-0 win at fourth-placed Newcastle United, who had Nick Pope sent off to rule him out of the EFL Cup final.

Newcastle had only lost once – to the Reds last April – at St James' Park in the league over the past 12 months, but they came unstuck on Saturday thanks to the visitors' clinical finishing.

Darwin Nunez's first Premier League goal since November edged Liverpool ahead before Cody Gakpo netted for the second game running, but it was not until Nick Pope's dismissal in the 22nd minute that Newcastle looked doomed.

Even then, Eddie Howe's men coped well with the disadvantage and had chances to reduce the arrears, but the crossbar and Alisson kept them at bay as Liverpool moved to within six points of the top four.

Newcastle began brightly but were trailing in the 10th minute, Nunez beating Pope after exquisitely bringing down Trent Alexander-Arnold's pass.

It was 2-0 soon after.

Another divine pass, this time from Mohamed Salah, sliced open Newcastle's defence to find Gakpo, who stabbed home under Pope.

Things quickly got even worse for Newcastle as Pope rushed out of his box and fell on the ball hands first, earning him a straight red.

Newcastle responded well, almost pulling one back twice as Allan Saint-Maximin and Dan Burn both hit the bar.

But Liverpool reached the break unscathed, and they gave little away in the second half.

Callum Wilson should have halved the deficit late on, however, failing to beat Alisson when one-on-one as the Brazilian preserved his clean sheet.

Cesar Azpilicueta is responsive after being stretchered off following a head injury in Chelsea's 1-0 home defeat to Southampton, boss Graham Potter has revealed.

The defender took a boot to the face from Sekou Mara while defending a corner at Stamford Bridge, with a lengthy stoppage in play while he was attended to by medics.

The Blues captain was subsequently taken from the field and to hospital, as the hosts failed to find a response to James Ward-Prowse's first-half free-kick.

Potter offered an update on Azpilicueta's status after the game, revealing the 33-year-old is in medical care and able to hold a conversation.

"He is in hospital," he said. "He is conscious and speaking to his wife. Hopefully, he is in the best place.

"We are monitoring him. He needs to take all the precautions we need to take now."

Defeat marked a fourth game without victory in the Premier League for Chelsea, who remain firmly mired in mid-table despite a raft of expensive transfers last month.

Potter acknowledged the blame is his to shoulder for now, adding: "It was below par in the first half. I take as much responsibility as anyone in that.

"I thought we deserved a goal in the second half. When you don't score, it is obviously difficult. After a 1-0 defeat at home, any criticism you get is understandable.

"We've had a lot of injuries [and] challenges integrating players. A lot of people will say I'm the problem, and I'm not saying that their opinion is not worth articulating. My job is to work."

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola bemoaned his side's wastefulness in front of goal as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

The champions looked set to return to the Premier League summit thanks to Bernardo Silva's wonderful first-half strike after being usurped by Arsenal earlier on Saturday.

Chris Wood popped up late on, though, to deny them all three points as Forest avoided defeat against the reigning champions for the first time since December 1994, when they beat Manchester United.

City squandered a host of glorious opportunities to extend their lead before Wood's intervention, with Erling Haaland guilty of one particularly glaring miss, and Guardiola was disappointed with his side's profligacy.

"Congratulations to Nottingham for the point that they got," the City boss said.

"It was a brilliant performance, we played really good but we didn't score. We have to score and we didn't do it and that's why we dropped points.

"For the goal we could defend better, more energy but the way we played was brilliant.

"In the first half, it should be already be two- or three-zero, we conceded one shot on target and we dropped points.

"It's sad and disappointing but the way we played was really good."

The result meant City have failed to beat a promoted side in the Premier League for the first time since April 2021 when they lost against Leeds United – they had won nine such games in a row before the draw with Forest.

City defender Kyle Walker was less diplomatic than his manager, stating that City's failure to take all three points back to Manchester was "unacceptable".

"First and foremost, we go to the Emirates [where they beat Arsenal in midweek] and play the game we did and then come here, it [the performance] is unacceptable," he said.

"If we want to compete with teams near the top, we need to win. We missed a few chances and we need to do better as a team.

"Sometimes it's football and sometimes it's emotion. Every game should be treated the same, like a cup final. What can I say other than it is unacceptable. We have to stick together as a group.

"The senior members of the team need to put our thoughts across. That is just not acceptable. We have to give credit to Nottingham Forest. They dug in and hung on. We have to do better."

Chelsea's poor form continued as they went down to a 1-0 defeat to Southampton at Stamford Bridge, while they also lost captain Cesar Azpilicueta to what appeared to be a serious injury.

The Spaniard received an accidental boot to the head from Sekou Mara while defending a corner in the 74th minute, leading to 10 minutes of treatment on the field before he was taken off.

James Ward-Prowse's first-half free-kick had given the visitors the lead against Graham Potter's side, extending Chelsea's winless league run to four games.

Southampton caretaker manager Ruben Selles will be happy with the three points his side earned as they picked up a big result in their first game since the sacking of Nathan Jones.

It was Saints who made the brighter start, with Paul Onuachu forcing a save from Kepa Arrizabalaga inside five minutes.

Chelsea gradually found a foothold in the game, with Azpilicueta trying his best to get his team on top in a low-quality encounter.

It was his foul on Stuart Armstrong outside his own box in the 45th minute that allowed Ward-Prowse to dip a trademark free-kick over the wall and into the bottom-left corner of the goal just before half-time.

With a deficit to overturn, the hosts went close several times after the interval, with Romain Perraud making a dramatic clearance to deny substitute Raheem Sterling off the goal-line.

After such a lengthy pause for Azpilicueta's treatment, both teams struggled for cohesion following the restart, but Saints clung on for a crucial victory.

Manchester City missed the chance to return to the Premier League summit as Chris Wood's late goal secured a 1-1 draw for Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola's men had been usurped after Arsenal's last-gasp win over Aston Villa earlier in the day, but they looked set to reclaim top spot thanks to Bernardo Silva's sumptuous first-half strike.

City wasted a host of glorious opportunities to extend their lead in the second half, with Erling Haaland guilty of one particularly glaring miss, and they were duly punished late on.

Substitute Wood popped up at the back post to score his first goal for the club to punish City's profligacy and hand Arsenal the advantage in the title race.

Arsenal were "absolutely bouncing" after Saturday's dramatic 4-2 win over Aston Villa saw them produce a morale-boosting response to defeat to Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta watched on as Arsenal were twice forced to come from behind at Villa Park in the day's early kick-off, with Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho putting the hosts in front.

Bukayo Saka and Oleksandr Zinchenko got the equalisers for the Gunners, who for a while looked as though they would have to settle for a 2-2 draw, particularly when Martin Odegaard missed a glorious opportunity.

But in second-half stoppage time, Jorginho's 25-yard strike hit the crossbar and ricocheted into the goal off Emiliano Martinez's head to finally put Arsenal in front.

They finished Villa off on the break, Gabriel Martinelli putting into an empty net while Martinez was up the other end for a corner, and Arsenal's celebrations at full-time depicted intense jubilation after a run of three Premier League games without a win.

The midweek defeat to City saw Pep Guardiola's men replace Arsenal at the summit, though such a dramatic turnaround appeared to be the perfect tonic.

Asked what the mood was in the Arsenal changing rooms at full-time, Arteta told BT Sport: "It was absolutely bouncing because it was a big effort to play less than 72 hours after the [City] game that we had, and the result we had.

"That is obviously mentally tough, but I'm really pleased with the boys."

The manner of the triumph was as pleasing as anything for Arteta, who reminded his players they cannot expect to just win games in a straightforward fashion.

"When you want to be at the top, you are going to have to win games in many different ways," he continued.

"You're going to have to score goals in the 94th minute, and sometimes play with 10 men, get comeback results.

"To do it especially against this team in this stadium, a lot of credit to the boys."

Arsenal's attitude and spirit also impressed Arteta, though he was under no illusions about their performance being far from perfect.

He added: "We showed a lot of character, resilience to get back twice in the game and end up winning it.

"We have to take some lessons from today because especially in the first half we didn't do the simple things right.

"You give them the two chances to score those goals in a really simple way, but we spoke at half-time, if we raised individual standards and start to do what we have to do, we're going to win this game, and we then went out – which is difficult – and won it.

"In the second half I think we outplayed them. I think we created chance after chance, dominated the game. We needed a magic moment and Jorginho produced it."

Jorginho summed up his feelings after his strike forced a late goal to give Arsenal all three points at Aston Villa by simply saying: "That's [the] Premier League".

The Italy international hit a superb shot in the 93rd minute that struck the woodwork, before hitting Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on the back of the head and rolling into the net to put Arsenal 3-2 up on Saturday.

Gabriel Martinelli sealed a 4-2 win with a breakaway goal in the closing seconds as Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League table ahead of Manchester City's trip to Nottingham Forest.

"That's [the] Premier League," Jorginho told BT Sport. "That's why it's the best league in the world. It's just beautiful."

Mikel Arteta's side were without a win in three top-flight games and fell 1-0 down early on at Villa Park to an Ollie Watkins goal, with Bukayo Saka's equaliser followed by Philippe Coutinho restoring the hosts' lead before the break.

Oleksandr Zinchenko levelled things again just after the hour, before Jorginho's shot forced a dramatic Martinez own goal to delight the visitors, with Martinelli adding an easy fourth on the counter after Villa's goalkeeper had come up for a corner.

"It was very important," Jorginho added. "After the last results we had and the start [today] it was not easy, we were not producing our game, and then we came to half-time, had a talk and we went back to doing the basics we need to do and we could change the game."

Zinchenko hailed the "amazing group" at Arsenal and stated his belief that they can "achieve everything" as they compete with his former club City in the title race.

"I think from this game I would like to say two things," he said. "First, we took an unbelievable lesson for all of us, we just need to believe until the very end and we can achieve everything.

"Like I said many times in the past already, this group is [full of] such amazing people, can achieve everything they want if we want to continue in this way, keep fighting, keep believing.

"Also, this reaction of us in the second half is perfect, I think that's the right way to go for the future games."

Emiliano Martinez's late own goal proved the turning point as Arsenal came from behind twice to beat Aston Villa 4-2 and boost to their Premier League title hopes.

The Gunners, who were replaced at the summit after losing to Manchester City in midweek, looked to be heading to another underwhelming result at Villa Park before luck went their way in stoppage time.

Ollie Watkins' clinical finish put former Arsenal boss Unai Emery's Villa in charge early on, and although Bukayo Saka soon equalised, the visitors trailed at the break thanks to Philippe Coutinho's sensationally worked team goal.

Oleksandr Zinchenko levelled again and that appeared to be as good as it would get for Arsenal, but Martinez inadvertently put into his own net late on and was then caught up the other end of the pitch as Gabriel Martinelli completed a dramatic turnaround.

Arsenal's limp start provided few clues of the jubilation to come as they were behind inside five minutes.

Matty Cash robbed Zinchenko and released Watkins, who created space with a step-over before lashing across Aaron Ramsdale into the bottom-right corner.

Saka hammered into the roof of the net to level when Ben White's cross was only partially cleared.

But Villa restored their lead in style just past the half-hour mark, Coutinho coolly slotting in from 16 yards after Emiliano Buendia dummied Alex Moreno's cut-back to conclude a brilliant move.

Mikel Arteta's side began to exert more control after the break restored parity again when Zinchenko drilled home with 61 minutes played.

When Martin Odegaard then missed a glorious chance to win it, Arsenal appeared to be heading for a fourth consecutive top-flight game without a win.

But a stoppage-time potshot from Jorginho cracked against the crossbar and ricocheted in off former Arsenal goalkeeper Martinez's head.

Martinez went up for a Villa corner in the hope of making amends, but Arsenal countered, allowing an already-celebrating Martinelli to knock into an empty net.

What does it mean? Arsenal show immense character

Even if they had not ultimately gone on to win, Arsenal would have been due plenty of praise for their attitude here as they twice they came back from a goal down.

In the end, that spirit to keep scrapping away made the win possible, and the victory will surely be a massive boost for their title push after a tricky few weeks.

It looked like Arsenal were going to be four without a win in the Premier League, but they are back at the summit for at least a couple of hours and likely feeling they got what they deserved.

Odegaard a worthy winner

Had his late miss been costly, it would have felt so unjust given the quality of his performance.

Odegaard was sensational here and at the heart of so much of Arsenal's best play. He made seven key passes, including one assist, which is the most by an Arsenal player in a single Premier League game since April 2019.

Martinez antics come back to haunt him

Martinez had been acting up all day. He was routinely time wasting, seemingly trying to wind up Arsenal fans – there was something quite fitting about the late turnaround having him at the centre of it.

Key Opta Facts

- This was Arsenal's 14th Premier League away win against Aston Villa, their joint-best such record against a side in the competition (also 14 against West Ham).

- Arsenal have now conceded the opening goal in four of their last five Premier League games, one more than they did in their first 18 games of the 2022-23 campaign (3).

- Ollie Watkins has scored in each of his last four Premier League games for Aston Villa – it is his longest such run in the top four tiers of English football. Indeed, only Erling Haaland and Marcus Rashford (both 8) have more goals in the competition since the World Cup break than his five.

- Aston Villa’s Philippe Coutinho has now scored five Premier League goals against Arsenal. Against no other opponents does he have more (also five against Manchester City and Southampton).

- Only Erling Haaland (30) and Harry Kane (18) have been involved in more Premier League goals this season than Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (17 – nine goals, eight assists), while it is the second successive season he has reached double figures for goals in all competitions (10), netting 12 in 2021-22.

What's next?

Arsenal go to Leicester City next Saturday, while Aston Villa are at Everton the same day.

Emiliano Martinez's late own goal proved the turning point as Arsenal came from behind twice to beat Aston Villa 4-2 and boost to their Premier League title hopes.

The Gunners, who were replaced at the summit after losing to Manchester City in midweek, looked to be heading to another underwhelming result at Villa Park before luck went their way in stoppage time.

Ollie Watkins' clinical finish put Villa in charge early on, and although Bukayo Saka soon equalised, the visitors trailed at the break thanks to Philippe Coutinho's sensationally worked team goal.

Oleksandr Zinchecko levelled again and that appeared to be as good as it would get for Arsenal, but Martinez inadvertently put into his own net late on and was then caught up the other end of the pitch as Gabriel Martinelli completed a dramatic turnaround.

Jim Ratcliffe has pledged to "put the Manchester back into Manchester United" after submitting a bid to buy the club through his chemicals company, INEOS, also targeting Champions League glory if his takeover is successful.

British billionaire Ratcliffe became the first suitor to formally register an interest in a takeover after the Glazer family announced in November the club had been put up for sale.

On Friday, which represented an apparent 'soft deadline' for offers to buy United, a bid led by Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Al Thani was made public.

Widespread reports then emerged that Ratcliffe had also tabled an official offer for the Red Devils, which INEOS confirmed with a statement on Saturday.

Should Ratcliffe succeed in gaining control from United's unpopular owners, the 70-year-old says he would make the Red Devils "a beacon for a modern, progressive, fan-centred approach to ownership".

"We can confirm that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have submitted a bid for majority ownership of Manchester United Football Club," the statement read.

"We would see our role as the long-term custodians of Manchester United on behalf of the fans and the wider community.

"We are ambitious and highly competitive and would want to invest in Manchester United to make them the number one club in the world once again.

"We also recognise that football governance in this country is at a crossroads. We would want to help lead this next chapter, deepening the culture of English football by making the club a beacon for a modern, progressive, fan-centred approach to ownership.

"We want a Manchester United anchored in its proud history and roots in the North-West of England, putting the Manchester back into Manchester United and clearly focusing on winning the Champions League."

Ratcliffe, who already owns Ligue 1 club Nice and made an offer to purchase Chelsea prior to Todd Boehly's takeover last year, is thought to be the preferred bidder of many United fans.

The Glazers' ownership of United has been the focus of fan protests for several years, with their initial takeover coming in the form of a leveraged buyout that saddled the club with huge debts.

United revealed their net debt increased from £419.5million to £514.9m in the year leading up to June 30, 2022 in their most recent accounts.

John Terry led tributes to former Chelsea and Newcastle United winger Christian Atsu, who was confirmed to have died in the earthquakes that hit Turkey earlier this month.

Atsu was reported to be missing in the immediate aftermath of the tremors that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6.

The former Ghana international joined Turkish Super Lig outfit Hatayspor last September and scored for the side the day before the earthquakes.

After the tremors caused the collapse of the apartment block in which Atsu was living, his club initially said he had been recovered from the rubble and hospitalised, but that was later confirmed to not be the case.

Following confirmation of Atsu's death on Saturday, Terry – who was a team-mate of Atsu's during the Ghanaian's four-year spell at Chelsea, for whom he did not make a competitive appearance – paid tribute on social media. 

"RIP my friend," the former England captain wrote on Twitter, alongside an image of Atsu.

Atsu's former clubs also expressed their condolences on Saturday, with Chelsea saying his death caused "enormous sadness" and Newcastle calling him: "A talented player and a special person, he will always be fondly remembered by our players, staff and supporters."

Other former team-mates paid tribute on Instagram, with Cesc Fabregas calling his death "heart-breaking" and Michael Essien saying: "Rest well king".

Bournemouth, where Atsu spent the first half of the 2015-16 season on loan, will join Chelsea and Newcastle in paying tribute to Atsu during Saturday's Premier League games.

Players from all three clubs will wear commemorative black armbands for their respective fixtures, while Chelsea will hold a minute's applause ahead of their meeting with Southampton, and Newcastle and Liverpool will observe a minute's silence before their clash at St James' Park. 

Jurgen Klopp does not think UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin should resign over the shambolic staging of last season's Champions League final.

However, the Liverpool manager suggested the damning review of the Stade de France showpiece might be a resigning matter for someone senior involved in planning the event.

UEFA was found "primarily responsible" for the "near-miss" at the Paris final, where "the parallels between Hillsborough 1989 and Paris 2022" were described in an independent review as "palpable".

The review, commissioned by UEFA, was released on Monday after an investigation into events surrounding the May 28 fixture in the French capital. It concluded UEFA and French authorities were wrong to blame thousands of Liverpool supporters with "fake tickets" for the concerning scenes outside the stadium turnstiles.

French police were criticised for their treatment of fans, which included using tear gas, while the review stated it was "remarkable that no one lost their life".

Klopp suggested the venue was badly chosen in the first instance.

The Reds boss was asked about the review's outcome, which came in a week that saw it confirmed Ceferin would stand unopposed for another stint in the UEFA presidency.

Regarding whether Ceferin should quit, Klopp said: "No. I'm not sure who made the decision, to be honest. I'm the boss of some people as well, and on a lot of things I'm not 100 per cent on the subject. I get information from different people, and then you make a decision. The better the information you get, the better the decisions are.

“I don't think Mr Ceferin made the decision, but somebody put all the papers together saying what the best place is. I can't see him flying to Paris or Rome or Berlin and saying: 'Oh, it's not that good.' There are other people who bring that together. Maybe one of them should have a think if there is not a better place for them in another job, I don't know.

"But I think really Paris was the worst possible [place] available in that specific area on that day. It's not a stadium that is used to it every week, every two weeks, like a lot of big stadiums in Europe are."

Klopp added: "From the first moment, I thought it wasn't a good idea [to play the game in Paris].

"Some people who work there should have done better. Everybody who was there knows the people who worked there didn't know 100 per cent what exactly they are doing."