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OK, now we have a title race. Arsenal lost at Villa Park to make it seven dropped points in their last five league games. Manchester City and Villa themselves were the biggest winners – the top three are now separated by three points.

Elsewhere, things go from chaos to crisis off the pitch for Liverpool. Not only did they cede two leads at Elland Road, Arne Slot referred to Ibrahima Konate’s defending as a “crime scene” and then Mohamed Salah threw a grenade into the relationship between the manager, players and supporters.

At the bottom, Forest were the big losers as they were pumped 3-0 at Goodison while Leeds and West Ham both picked up draws.

Here’s my analysis on every team’s performance (in reverse table order)…

This weekend’s results

• Aston Villa 2-1 Arsenal
• Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea
• Everton 3-0 Nottm Forest
• Man City 3-0 Sunderland
• Newcastle 2-1 Burnley
• Tottenham 2-0 Brentford
• Leeds 3-3 Liverpool
• Brighton 1-1 West Ham
• Fulham 1-2 Crystal Palace
• Wolves vs Man Utd (8pm Monday)

Wolves

Play Man Utd on Monday evening.

Read more: Wolves have missed their chance at salvation

Burnley fans begin to turn on Parker

Here’s a not fun fact for Scott Parker: No Burnley manager has ever lost more than six Premier League matches in a row. Parker has now matched Vincent Kompany’s run between October and December over a similar period. Then, Kompany ended it by beating Sheffield United 5-0 and kept his job. Burnley have Fulham at home next weekend.

The problem for Parker is that Burnley went down so pathetically in 2023-24 and supporters don’t fancy a repeat. It’s not the manager’s job that this squad looks ill-prepared to get enough points to stay due to a lack of quality, but on Saturday teatime there were Burnley supporters starting to post an ironic corner flag image in reply to the official account in a call for a change in the dugout. Lose any or many more, and Parker may well get the sack.

Nuno deserves more faith at West Ham

When the teams were announced at the Amex Stadium, there was widespread anger from West Ham supporters at the side that Nuno had picked – no Wilson, no Potts, no Magassa.

Two things: 1) Potts and Magassa had expended a lot of energy in midweek and probably don’t possess the energy levels to start twice in quick succession; 2) the days of Wilson starting twice in four games are probably over.

West Ham conceded late – which will frustrate – but they were also the better side for long periods and fully merited their lead with Bowen, picked to lead the line, the goalscorer and instrumental to all of West Ham’s attacking threat. I understand that West Ham fans are hardwired to expect crisis, but Nuno merits more faith pre-game given the improvement in recent matches.

Sloppiness holds Nottm Forest back

The standout result of Sean Dyche’s short tenure to date has been a 3-0 win at Anfield and Forest won too at Wolves in midweek, but more worrying are three limp-ish defeats on the road without scoring: 2-0 vs Bournemouth, 2-0 vs Brighton, 3-0 vs Everton.

In all three, Forest started far too slowly and were defensively sloppy, punished for mistakes and unable to create enough chances until they were one or two goals behind. And that’s not good enough.

The defence on Saturday was missing two guaranteed starters – Murillo and Aina – but Dyche has always been better at organising a defence than making a team purr in attack. If he’s going to continue to suffer from slow starts (and remember that Forest fell behind at home against Manchester United and Leeds too), there will be no progress towards mid-table here and supporters will remain itchy about the future. Right now, Forest supporters are left supporting the opponents of relegation rivals West Ham and Leeds.

Leeds are back in the game with a new style

From last week’s column: “Farke substituted Gnonto and James for Calvert-Lewin and Bijol and switched to a battling 3-5-2 formation based upon pressing, physicality and direct passing… This has to be the blueprint (and it should always have been). Leeds spent the summer recruiting physical monsters and then Farke seemed to shift to playing out from the back and selecting two nippy wingers. It makes no sense.”

Well, I do get some things right (and Leeds fans wanted this too). In the space of a week, Leeds have won a second half against Manchester City, beaten Chelsea and drawn with Liverpool. Play like this from now on and they will stay up with ease.

Fulham’s throwback footballer

Having a Premier League footballer who always scores beautiful goals strikes as quite a noughties phenomenon. I’m thinking of Laurent Robert, Hatem Ben Arfa and Matty Taylor. Yes they were all left footers and that definitely helps.

I reckon that makes Harry Wilson a brilliant throwback footballer. He is hardly prolific – although he does have six in seven if you include his hat-trick for Wales – but there is something about Wilson that means all of his goals are aesthetically brilliant. Usually it’s a curler with the inside of his boot; against Palace he produced something impudent with the outside.

Harry Wilson only scores bangers!

The Welshman strikes for Fulham, who go into the half-time break level pic.twitter.com/zVCUOJcgsm

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 7, 2025

I make Wilson the champion of the highest average goal quality in the Premier League. Which probably isn’t much consolation after losing at home to Palace.

Brentford’s wingers don’t support Thiago enough

Last week, I reflected upon Igor Thiago’s remarkable efficiency with his shots, beyond even Haaland for his ability to take chances in the penalty area. At Tottenham on Saturday, we saw why Brentford need that: Thiago is having to make too many of his chances for himself.

As most often this season, Keith Andrews started with Outtara and Schade as the two wingers. Between them in 178 combined minutes, they created no chances, completed one dribble and had one touch in the opposition box. It’s not even that they were staying deliberately deep to play through balls – they played one combined pass into the final third.

That’s not good enough given Thiago’s quality. Whether it’s a tactical issue or simply both players struggling for form, Andrews needs to find a solution. 

Bournemouth’s new-found solidity 

Bournemouth’s winless run continued, but this was far more impressive – and far less complicated – from Andoni Iraola, whose team probably merited a win that would have alleviated any concerns of being sucked into trouble. I think Bournemouth are far too well-coached for that.

I say less complicated because this was a performance that did feel like a return to simple principles. The pressing was still intense, particularly in the first 20 minutes, but seemed less gung ho than recently.

Bournemouth had a stable foundation and used Semenyo as a one-man counter attack to link play to Evanilson. When the ball was turned over, Tavernier and Kluivert pressured high but Bournemouth also moved into defensive shape quickly if they were unsuccessful. 

Man Utd

Play Wolves on Monday evening.

Read more: My Man Utd signing of the summer is in danger of being a flop

Wissa gives Newcastle a welcome headache

They had waited an awfully long time for Yoane Wissa’s debut and the forward looked sharp during his 15 minutes against an admittedly poor Burnley side playing with 10 men.

The news that Wissa will not travel to Afcon in December and January is huge for Newcastle’s hope of finding some consistency in the league.

So how does Howe build this attack now? He has four wingers, all of whom want to start but can be effectively rotated given European commitments. He has a three-man midfield shape which is set in stone. And he now has two fit centre forwards of entirely different profiles but each of whom cost at least £55m.

There was talk of Woltemade being more of a link-up player, but it seems unlikely that Howe will pick a front two. Wissa can drift out wide, but then if you have wingers you want someone in the box. Woltemade has scored headers that Wissa probably wouldn’t win in the air. Is it Wissa on his own in the biggest games, or just pure in-out rotation? 

Kudus offers unpredictability that Spurs need

We all know that Tottenham have been far too predictable in attack during Thomas Frank’s early months. That’s why some of the xG figures in individual games has been appalling – opposition teams can shut Tottenham out because they build moves too slowly.

Mohammed Kudus is the secret to that changing quickly. He has such outrageous close control and upper body strength when surging past a full-back, but he also does things – occasionally for worse as well as better – that are impossible to predict. Such as rolling the ball under his feet and making Kristoffer Ajer look like a forlorn small child.

Beating his old club at home is only a baby step towards better health, but Frank has to use Kudus as his principle threat. Give him the ball on halfway, watch him do something brilliant seven times out of 10 and then use the two forwards plus Xavi Simons to exploit the space. Simons got his first goal too; that will help everybody. 

Konate running out of chances at Liverpool

Arne Slot is going to have to drop Ibrahima Konate eventually because it’s actually worse than playing with 10 players because of the way he drops off from marking an opponent and fails to keep a straight defensive line. I know that sounds very mean and I’m sure he’s trying his best, but this isn’t a school sports day.

I also understand that Liverpool don’t have lots of other options to play in central defence and that dropping Konate now would increase the chances of him leaving on a free transfer next summer, but right now that’s the least of Liverpool’s worries. His poor form is dragging down everyone else and Slot cannot afford to look like he has a blind spot. 

Le Bris must protect Sunderland’s midfield legs

No supporter is annoyed at losing to Manchester City, particularly after taking four points from games against them, Bournemouth and Liverpool. But there was a lesson from Saturday that Regis le Bris may look to take forward.

This Sunderland team has thrived due to the intensity of their midfield work. The first-choice midfielders, Xhaka and Sadiki, are 33 and 20 respectively. One has lots of minutes in his legs; the other is young and will need managing.

After 72 minutes, Le Bris brought off both midfielders with the game lost. Perhaps he should have done it earlier. Four of Sunderland’s last five wins have been by a one-goal margin and they will only maintain their current position if the midfield energy continues. You can argue that both Xhaka and Sadiki should be removed any time that Sunderland are out of the contest. Get the cotton wool prepared for a long second half of the season. 

Brighton’s late show shouldn’t have taken that long 

Brighton are a baffling team that understandably frustrate their own supporters.

They eventually earned a point because they managed four shots on target from the 89th minute onwards. That is more than any other team has managed so late in a Premier League match this season.

But why did it take that late siege to provoke such urgency? Brighton clearly have attacking quality, but they were far too ponderous and tepid overall given a previous record of 10 goals in five games. Those four shots on target were their only ones of the match.

This is still a team that takes two steps forward and then two more back. They beat Manchester City and then took one point from their next two matches. They beat Chelsea and then drew with Wolves. They won two in a row and, since then, have taken one point from their next two games. The good news: they’re still seventh. 

Everton are what?!

I was beginning to feel a little sorry for Thierno Barry after watching the joy on his face after scoring his first Everton goal in midweek decimated after a VAR intervention. I can’t pretend that my club loyalties had me cheering for him on Saturday afternoon, but Everton’s £40m striker finally scored with his 19th shot.

If that releases the pressure a little, Everton really might have a good team. They have defended impeccably when required in wins over Bournemouth and Forest over the last week. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is growing into one of the standout players of this Premier League season and Iliman Ndiaye and Jack Grealish are a sublime combination of wingers for a side that needs a shot of unpredictability in the final third.

If you looked at the table on Saturday evening, did you pull the same shocked facial expression as me? Everton are sixth! 

Caicedo missing for Chelsea’s annual festive rut 

Chelsea supporters knew that Moises Caicedo was arguably the most important player in their team, but the last two games without him have been a nightmare.

Chelsea were open and weak against Leeds and then lacked intensity and dynamism against Bournemouth. When the ball did get to the final third, they were ponderous.

Or perhaps it is the annual Chelsea December decline? Two seasons ago, Chelsea lost away from home to Manchester United, Everton and Wolves to damage their league campaign.

In 2024-25, they took one point from three league games against Everton, Fulham and Ipswich as a potential title challenge fell away. Over the last week, four dropped points in winnable away games and the slide has happened again. 

The Crystal Palace away kings play the record again

Every single Crystal Palace supporter expected a downturn this season, given the highs of 2024-25, the addition of regular midweek football for the first time and the departure of Eberechi Eze. Oliver Glasner has hardly kept his own frustrations a secret.

So of course Glasner has made Palace even better in the Premier League and it’s based upon their ludicrous away form. Since the start of 2025, they have now won 10 league games away from home. That’s more than Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and everybody else too. Absolute nonsense.

Aston Villa’s energy was frankly astonishing 

For the first time since 1919, Aston Villa have won nine of a run of 10 top-flight matches. You could see the confidence in the final 10 minutes, when only one team looked like it was really trying to win the match.

That also speaks to Villa’s ridiculous energy levels. While Arsenal were strolling past Brentford at home, Unai Emery’s team went to Brighton and won 4-3 in a game that went down to the wire. For them to be so front foot and intense with and without the ball in the final throes of the match, forcing the winner in the process, is a lesson in the transformative power of confidence and momentum. They’re now three points off the top. 

The street footballer who can make Man City tick

Another step in the right direction with sharing the goals around the team, to the extent that it feels entirely deliberate. Manchester City scored three times against Sunderland and yet Haaland only had two touches in the penalty area.

We spoke last week about the difference Foden will make if he scores regularly, and mentioned Jeremy Doku’s direct creativity out wide too. This weekend, Rayan Cherki came to the party. Cherki is a wonderful street footballer, capable of the outrageous (the rabona assist for Foden was ridiculous).

If Guardiola can start all three behind Haaland (and there will need to be rotation), City have just the right amount of controlled technique and unpredictability. Cherki strikes as quite an un-Pep-style midfielder, but that lock-picking ability, especially combining with Foden, can be priceless. The title challenge is back on. 

Arsenal’s injuries are starting to bite

Mikel Arteta was forced into changes after Cristhian Mosquera was ruled out for a number of weeks. Jurrien Timber moved to centre-back and was partnered by Piero Hincapie. Continue to take away central defenders and it’s no surprise that the resilience falls off a cliff.

But this was still alarming. For Aston Villa’s first goal, Timber was out of position and Eze, also in a different role, let Cash run free at the back post. Arsenal had already had a warning from the same move.

Saka and Odegaard looked good in combination, but Arsenal’s lead at the top was forged upon clean sheets and they have kept one of those in their last six matches.

The other issue is Gyokeres, who failed to win a duel, complete a dribble, create a chance or have a shot after coming on at half-time. Gyokeres completed only four passes and too much of too many games are passing him by.

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All those goals, all those records, all those Salah-framed moments that lifted Liverpool higher, torched beneath the stands at Elland Road. If these are to be the last days of Mohamed Salah in the Premier League, this is what people will remember, the full diva dump on Arne Slot. 

It is impossible to see how both can survive. Indeed, that is the point. Salah has gone all in, playing the Egyptian King card, bringing the brand power of eight cosmic years down upon Slot’s head. He is now asking Liverpool’s owners to decide, Salah or Slot? And all it took was three games on the bench.

There is more to it than that, of course. Salah’s strop is just the latest development in an operatic unravelling that has managed to knock the Manchester United soap off its car-crash perch. Ultimately this is the consequence of flawed thinking by the Fenway moneyballers who tripped over their own conceit, the belief that everything reduces to a numbers game. 

Well, the volcanic Salah has exploded dynamite under that, emptying his outraged soul all over the transfer calculations made in the summer. Slot worked closely with Richard Hughes and his data bots to completely recast the Liverpool forward line, so the blame rests as much with him.

In his first season at Anfield there were no significant incomings to assimilate. The team picked itself. He hardly had a decision to make other than to finesse a template laid down by Jurgen Klopp. You might argue he won the Premier League at the first attempt without really understanding how.

His managerial input would only be required when he and the fabled technical department flooded the squad with a raft of new talent, and not any old prospects, but two additions that smashed the Premier League transfer record, plus the highest regarded kid in France.

Where did Slot think Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike were going to play? Something had to give after spending £300m on a new front-three. That the mighty Mo might be sacrificed was unimaginable when Liverpool were celebrating a 20th Premier League title in July to achieve parity with United.

“This means more” was more than a cliche churned by the Liverpool marketing department. For the hardboiled Kopite it was affirmation, restoration, an indelible memory to add to the grand sweep of what came before at one of the world’s great clubs.

And the name shouted louder than all others was Salah’s, rendered unforgettable in song, a tribute that had the walls of Liverpool Olympia shaking when Jamie Webster picked up his guitar at an event to mark Klopp’s departure and sang: “Mo Salah! Mo Salah! Mo Salah! Running down the wing. Mo Salah la-la-la la-ahh, The Egyptian King!”

I have no affiliation to Liverpool FC. Indeed, had they known which club has my heart, they might not have let me through the door, yet even I was moved by the atmosphere in that hall, the love invested in a magical player synonymous with the club, the city. Salah is Liverpool, and they him, up there with Shankly, Dalglish and Stevie G.

He is also 33 years old. Ageing legs do not get quicker, reactions do not speed up. Those electric inputs that took him clear of his jailers are no longer his to command it seems. The energy appears not quite what it was. Hughes and Co gambled on Salah’s apparent fitness, Egypt’s most celebrated six-pack, with a new contract believing the Mo batteries to be indefatigable.

A little bit less of Salah might not be so bad were Slot not having to bed in Wirtz and Isak, not to mention Ekitike. That dynamic, melding old with new, has destroyed Liverpool’s rhythm. Cody Gakpo, who looks as potent as any up top, has been messed about and perhaps even more perplexing, Dominik Szoboszlai, the team’s talismanic midfielder, has sometimes been stuck at right-back.

If it works, Slot is a genius. If it doesn’t, he’s an idiot. After blowing a two-goal lead at Leeds to draw 3-3, the equaliser coming in the fifth minute of added time, the arrow is pointing only one way. Though Liverpool sit just two points off the Champions League places in a season of widespread disruption, Slot has won only two of 10 in the league, losing six.

That is the telemetry of doom. Dropping Salah, a move widely debated and advocated, looked like the wise play. It might have been had the right wing been Slot’s only stress point.

Renewal is the biggest test of any manager in charge of a successful team. This is not the Eredivisie, and the threat to his survival is not only from without but within. Salah has played a lethal card, killing the Klopp vibe and maybe his own.

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Wolverhampton Wanderers have become the punchline. Anyone can beat anyone this Premier League season… Oh, except for Wolves.

You could throw a blanket over the majority of clubs it is that close in the table, though Wolves are not peeking out from underneath but instead nowhere near this metaphorical cover.

The club are doomed. Their fans know this, and it would help the club no end if their owners accept their fate as well.

If that sounds pessimistic it merely matches the mood inside Molineux, where they host Manchester United on Monday in pursuit of their first league win of the season.

Two points from 14 is the joint-worst start alongside Sheffield United in 2020-21, but 14 games is hardly a “start” and places Wolves firmly in the middle of a season destined to end in relegation.

And the mastermind they needed? Well, he took charge of Nottingham Forest instead – at a time when Wolves should have taken action first – with Sean Dyche also the latest manager to inflict defeat on this hapless side in midweek.

It took Sheffield United until their 18th match, on 12 January 2021, to win a league match that season. They won six more to finish on 23 points, but still they came bottom.

Wolves meanwhile are staring at Premier League infamy. Last season Southampton only narrowly avoided matching Derby County’s unwanted record low of 11 points, but now there is a new contender for that thorned crown.

Maths tells us Wolves are on course for just five points at their current rate, or 5.43 points to be exact, and while that is a mere win away they know they must grind out more victories to avoid the ignominy of becoming the worst side of the Premier League era.

And while a look at the six worst performing teams in Premier League history offers Wolves two beacons of hope, there is a harsh reality as a major caveat which owners Fosun may be unwilling to abide with.

What happened next?

Derby County 2007-08: 11 points – Yet to return to the Premier League, losing two play-off finals in 2014 and 2019 – as well as exiting in the semi-finals in 2016 and 2018 – before going down to League One in 2022. Now back in the Championship.

Southampton 2024-25: 12 points – Narrowly avoided the worst-ever Premier League season last term and were off to a shocking start in the Championship before a four-game winning run recently took them back up to mid-table.

Sunderland 2005-06: 15 points – The Black Cats bounced back immediately, winning the Championship title before enjoying 10 straight seasons back in the Premier League, with 10th in 2010-11 their best finish during that time. Now after another rollercoaster – that involved League One and the absorbing fly-on-the-wall Sunderland ‘Til I Die series – they are back upsetting the big boys once again.

Sheffield United 2023-24: 16 points – A painful play-off final defeat after Sunderland scored an injury-time winner prevented the Blades from making an immediate return. Paying the price now, although a recent uptick in form has taken them out of the Championship relegation zone.

Huddersfield Town 2018-19: 16 points – Flirted more with relegation than promotion after dropping back down to the Championship, and following a play-off final defeat to Nottingham Forest in 2022, they went down to League One last year and only finished 10th in 2024-25.

Aston Villa 2015-16: 17 points – Villa’s ever-present Premier League status ended in dismal fashion but proved to be the reset the club needed. After losing the play-off final in 2018 they won at Wembley the following year and are now in Europe. What Wolves fans would give for a similar recovery.

The lesson for Wolves?

Change your owners. Villa and Sunderland are comfortably the feel-good stories from the above six, and both are currently achieving dizzying results after changing owners during life in the lower leagues.

Villa almost entered administration in 2018 under former owner Dr Tony Xia, but along came new owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens to save the club.

Sunderland meanwhile changed hands in 2021 when Kyril Louis-Dreyfus became the majority shareholder. On his watch they have gone from League One to the Premier League.

It leaves Wolves in a perilous situation unless Fosun start showing either that they still care or are willing to put the club up for sale.

Fans have told The i Paper already they fear extinction under their current owners, and the only way to get the club out of their malaise appears to be a change in ownership.

Fosun though have not yet shown a willingness to sell, meaning when, and that is when, they become a Championship club for the first time since 2017-18 next season, we may truly learn just how prepared they are to save Wolves.

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Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Brentford (Richarlison 25′, Simons 43′)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – “Now to watch Spurs win. It’s happening. Trust me.”

Naturally I’m happy to share a WhatsApp message I sent to a Tottenham Hotspur-supporting friend ahead of kick-off on Saturday because, for once, a hunch was correct.

In this, the stoppable force vs movable object derby, where the team with the second worst home record in the Premier League hosted the team with the joint-second worst record away, it felt as though something had to give.

And that something was Brentford giving the embattled Thomas Frank the kindest of reunion gifts, allowing this ground to go through the repertoire of hits at full-time as if it had never been their haunted home.

“Sometimes it just suddenly clicks,” Frank said after Tottenham celebrated just a second league win of the season at home.

“The team has been out of sync in some stages, but today a lot of the players were on the same page. We played with pace, penetration, and were unpredictable. It was just a complete performance.”

And a week on from booing one of their own – Vicario the subject of jeers during the loss to Fulham – this was the day where Spurs fans made amends.

There were extra-loud cheers for Spurs’ goalkeeper when his name was called out in the line-up before kick-off, a moment that made Frank feel “warm inside” after he had previously, and rightly, voiced his ire.

This reconciliation helped contribute towards a feel-good factor before a ball was even kicked, with the atmosphere boosted by Arsenal’s lunchtime loss at Aston Villa as well.

Recognising another game was a clean slate upon which a platform could be built on, Spurs’ fans and players were finally a cohesive unit.

“There was a fantastic energy between them,” Frank added, remarking that a positive atmosphere is far easier to manifest after a victory.

Now there is a real chance for momentum. Spurs welcome Son Heung-min back to this stadium on Tuesday, where the former captain will have a “proper chance to say goodbye” after leaving for Los Angeles FC in the summer while the club were on tour in South Korea.

A message from Sonny! pic.twitter.com/7F6Fln6YOg

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 4, 2025

This return will see Son take to the pitch ahead of kick-off against Slavia Prague, and the timing feels perfect in terms of maintaining this new-found positivity that simply has to last to give Spurs any chance of a deep run in Europe or a top-four push in the league.

And while Son is here, it would be wise to make the most of him. Spurs finally looked capable in his absence in attack against Brentford, but the fact this was a rarity in terms of their overall campaign so far means he can still have a role to play.

A modern great, their fourth highest goalscorer of all time, is back for some closure, and if Son has a moment with the squad, a beeline for the forwards could certainly help their cause.

In particular because right now they are on and upwards’ trajectory. Against Brentford there was plenty to enjoy, with Xavi Simons in particular shining and finally scoring his first goal.

He played like a man with a point to prove, and with Richarlison on the scoresheet too, this felt fitting in a period where Spurs will want to show they have gotten over Son’s exit for good – at the very time he waves a belated farewell.

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ELLAND ROAD — In an explosive interview after being left out of the Liverpool team for the third successive match, Mohamed Salah insisted he feels he has been thrown under the bus, revealing his relationship with Arne Slot has broken down and “someone” doesn’t want him at the club.

The Egyptian did not even come off the bench as Liverpool dropped yet more points in their current struggles at Elland Road, drawing 3-3 after conceding a stoppage-time equaliser.

Salah then made a beeline for waiting journalists after the match, and unloaded his frustrations to stunned reporters.

“I don’t know what to say,” he said. “It’s funny but I couldn’t believe it. That I’m sitting on the bench for 90 minutes! The third time on the bench, I think for the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed to be fair. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season.

“Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus.

“I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame. I got a lot of promises in the summer and so far I am in the bench for three games so I can’t say they keep the promise.

“I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden, we don’t have any relationship. I don’t know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club.”

As reported by The i Paper this week, Saudi Pro League clubs believe they can persuade the 33-year-old to finally move to the Middle East in January.

And an emotional Salah conceded, with him due to head to the Africa Cup of Nations after Liverpool’s next game against Brighton next Saturday, that he may not return to Merseyside when he reports back.

“This club, I always support it,” he added. “My kids will always support it. I love the club so much I will always do. I called my mum yesterday – you guys didn’t know if I would start or not, but I knew.

“Yesterday I said to them, come to the Brighton game. I don’t know if I am going to play or not but I am going to enjoy it. In my heads, I’m going to enjoy that game because I don’t know what is going to happen now.

“I will be in Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go to [Afcon]. I don’t know what is going to happen when I am there.

“It is not acceptable for me. I don’t know why this is happening to me. I don’t get it. I think if this was somewhere else, every club would protect its player. How I see it now is like you throw Mo under the bus because he is the problem in the team now. But I don’t think I am the problem. I have done so much for this club.

“I am top goalscorer, best player, winning the league in such a style, but I am the one who has to defend himself in front of the media and fans. After what I have done for the club it really hurts. Tomorrow (Jamie) Carragher is going to go for me again and again and that’s fine.

“I don’t want to answer this question (Saudi move) because the club is going to take me to a different direction.”

More to follow

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My Sporting Life is The i Paper’s look behind the curtain on what drives sports stars to greatness. Joe Cole shot to fame at West Ham before winning three Premier League titles and two FA Cups with Chelsea. He also won 56 England caps and played at four major international tournaments. He looks back on his life and career with Kat Lucas.

I grew up on a council estate in north London. We didn’t have a lot, but we had a loving home and food on the table. I knew I was very lucky because some kids on our estate were really, really unfortunate, dad not there, maybe mum in a bad place. So I was already blessed. Then the fame comes along and people change towards you, people want from you all the time – and you can’t go “this is a bit weird”, because you’ve won the lottery, you know?

My dad wasn’t my biological dad. Finding that out at 10, that was a big thing to find out for a kid. But I never, ever felt like I was any different to my brother and sister. My dad wasn’t a football fan and personality wise, I’m more like my mum – I didn’t think I had many of my dad’s tendencies, but I’ve started realising how much of the morals and principles come from my dad – be kind, do the right thing, I don’t like bullies. You word is your word – my dad couldn’t read or write so he remembered everything.

I spent a day in a cell. I was 14 and a car was on offer for us to have a little drive around. I had a go and ended up as you do, going a little bit round the estate. Somebody saw a 14-year-old – and I looked about 12 – driving a car and called the police. I’d gone out to the Euston Road and back and ended up in the nick of Kentish Town Police Station. No charges were pressed because the guy [who offered us the car] came in, but things like that made me realise how lucky I am because I do have a wild side to me.

The opportunity came to go to [football centre] Lilleshall, [otherwise] I think there would have been more incidents of me doing stupid stuff like that because I’m f**king stupid sometimes. I don’t want to pretend I was this angel.

I want to be England manager. It’s a long way off, but you’ve got to have dreams. The life I’ve lived, you look at and think “how lucky was I?” So I think to myself why not? I know it’s absurd to people, I’m on TNT and I’ve not even started my coaching journey. I’ve got my badges but not from a serious perspective, but I’d love to be involved in a set-up.

Ray Wilkins was the best assistant manager I ever had because of how he related to people – there’s a lot of things like that overlooked in the modern game now, because everyone wants everything to be finite, data-driven.

Does it bother me that the Golden Generation didn’t win anything? The big one is winning the World Cup – there aren’t many people that do. We won it in ’66 – we’re going to win it again some time. Along that journey, certain mistakes have to be made for the next generation to do it – you have to pass the torch, pass on your knowledge, and at some point England are going to lift a trophy. And all of us players, we shouldn’t have any jealousy because we’ve all been part of that journey. I hope one day I’m alive to see us do it.

Gerrard didn’t always enjoy playing for England – I loved it. It’s different characters. He’s very private, Stevie. I understand why he didn’t like it, I really do. But I genuinely loved it, I just loved playing football, being around football – it was an absolute joy and a pleasure. Maybe too much of a joy and a pleasure.

I wasn’t a massive party animal as a player but I dipped my toes in and out a little bit. Sometimes I think, because my body started packing up in 2010, if I lived a life like James Milner or Jordan Henderson, I really admire the professionalism. I tell my kids that’s the right way to do it.

But there’s part of me that thinks, I liked all the stuff of being a footballer and going out. My mum and dad weren’t pushy parents, I’d come home and they’d be like “enjoy yourself, be a kid, go and make mistakes, chasing girls”. I did enjoy myself – I wouldn’t change that.

The best moment of my career was my goal against Man United to win the league in 2006. That just felt like bliss and heaven to me that day.

I had a great relationship with Jose Mourinho. If you look at it [Mourinho criticising me] through the lens of now, it looks horrendous, the back and forth, being questioned in public. It was a little bit more than it would be for some other players, but I think it’s what I needed at the time.

I think he’s a genius of a manager. People want me to go “it made me sad”, but it was just – it was annoying. I didn’t like it at times. But I always felt I had his trust, finals, semi-finals, big games I started. It was never personal.

Sometimes the press could single me out. There was times, but there’s also times when I could do no wrong. If one of the big editors liked you, it would be favourable, if they didn’t it would go the other way. As long as you don’t start listening to it, the hype one side or the other, you’re OK.

Now players have to deal with the online nutters. Jude Bellingham, I think he’s not getting stick, he’s getting questioned. There’s a difference. But he has to deal with the online stuff from all the nutters. We never had to deal with that. I’d like to have some aspects of what they’ve got – and I wouldn’t like to have some aspects of it.

Joe Cole: Luxury Player is available from bookshops now and at geni.us/JoeCole

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Several Saudi Arabian clubs are willing to return with another bid for Mohamed Salah in January, this time on reduced terms.

Confidence is high the Egyptian could finally be persuaded to move. Salah has long been coveted as the one player who can take the Saudi Pro League to new heights, with various record bids rejected by Liverpool over the past few years.

However, The i Paper has been told funds could be made available for at least two clubs to bid for an out-of-favour Salah in January. This time the offer, according to one well-placed source, will not come close to the £200m Al-Ittihad placed on the table two years ago.

“Several senior figures at PIF (Saudi’s Public Investment Fund) and within the Pro League believe the power lies with them,” a source said.

“Mo’s form, unhappiness about not being in the team, Liverpool’s need to change something and the fact they have too many strikers all help push him to the Middle East.”

PIF took 75 per cent of the Saudi “big four” Al‑Hilal, Al‑Nassr, Al‑Ittihad and Al‑Ahli in 2023. While they have reduced the amount clubs spend on marquee names, after the initial mind-blowing outlay, an exception can be made for the player the league has always wanted.

Contrary to what was said publicly by Salah and Liverpool after the 33-year-old signed a new two-year deal earlier in April, Saudi officials have always insisted Salah was tempted first time around.

Salah has since insisted he did consider the option, and given everything that is going on at Liverpool this season, there is growing confidence returning to seal the deal in January could be accomplished.

Form which has seen Salah dropped from the Liverpool starting XI in successive matches for the first time in his Anfield career only helps reduce the terms on offer.

Liverpool are already looking at ways they can arrest their alarming recent slump that has seen the champions drop to ninth in the table.

Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo is one target the Reds are pushing for, but they already have spent £250m on two other forward options in the summer, creating an arsenal that gives Arne Slot the option to leave a player of Salah’s calibre, and stature, on the bench.

The arrival of another forward will only add to Slot’s headache. Cashing in on Salah while they still can could be the resolution the Reds’ hierarchy are looking for.

Saudi Pro League clubs could lose several high-profile players in the January window, making room for Salah to step up.

The move makes so much sense for Salah now. Beyond the obvious financial appeal, the feeling is that an Arab player would become a huge megastar in an Islamic country, adulation to even dwarf what Cristiano Ronaldo receives.

A January exit would also help Salah preserve the legacy he deserves on Merseyside. A season out of form, out the team, is not the way anyone wants to go, not given Salah’s incredible Premier League contribution.

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