Manchester United v Liverpool buildup, Premier League team news and more – live!

Brighton v Manchester City: Brighton host Manchester city at the Amex Stadium in Falmer tomorrow evening and Graham Potter – recently heralded as one of the brightest managerial talents in Europe by his opposite number Pep Guardiola – has been busy repaying the compliment.

“They were so impressive in their performances against Liverpool and Chelsea,” the Brighton manager said of Manchester City. “To pick up four points from those two matches away from home was incredible. We know the quality of the opposition – as good as anybody in the world.

“The goalkeeper can hit balls behind the defensive line from within his own six-yard box, the midfield is so fluid, the false nine challenges you in terms of how you defend, the width is incredible, the workrate of the team is amazing and it looks like they are getting better and better. They’re so good. How do you prepare? A lot of head-scratching is the honest answer!”

Albion currently sit fourth in the table but Potter believes there is plenty of room for improvement in his side. “We know we can improve,” he said. “That’s not to say the points will follow, because that’s the beauty of football, but we know we have got a lot of work to do. The aim is to be a top-10 club – that’s been articulated clearly and often – but that’s not to say we are there now. We need to keep fighting, we have to keep improving and we’ve got a long way to go before we get there.”

“The Belgian Manchester City fan, Guido De Pauw, who was attacked after the club’s 5-1 win over Club Brugge on Tuesday, remains in a coma but is now stable,” writes Jamie Jackson. “Two of the five suspects arrested remain in custody and three were released under strict bail conditions after all appeared before a judge in Ghent on Friday.”

Brentford v Leicester: Following their terrific performance in narrow defeat against Chelsea last weekend, Brentford host returnbing-to-form Leicester, who will travel to west London on the back of impressive wins over Manchester United and Spartak Moscow. Having scored his first goal for Leicester against United, Patson Daka added another four to his tally during his side’s midweek Europa League tie in Moscow. Thomas Frank was impressed with the 23-year-old’s heroics.

“Of course we have followed Daka,” said Brentford’s manager. “Especially leading into this game we know he is a player we need to be very aware of. But let’s see what Brendan [Rodgers] is doing for the game on Sunday and whether it will be Vardy and Iheanacho or Daka.

Leicester City seem to be hitting their stride after a slow start to the season, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Frank. “Brendan and his coaching staff have done a fantastic job the last couple of years,” he added. “They have come fifth, really close to those Champions League spots, playing an entertaining style of football. They have really developed a good side that is really dangerous and they will challenge for the top four again this season. They are a top side with a top manager and top staff, and we will need to be at our absolute best to get something out of the game – which we of course believe we can.”

Frank will be without winger Yoane Wissa, who faces a few weeks on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury.

Everton v Watford: Following their smiting at the hands of Liverpool last weekend, Watford face another tough assignment against Merseyside opposition when they travel to Goodison Park to take on Everton tomorrow in Claudio Ranieri’s second match in charge of the club.

“I am very sure at the end Watford will be safe,” he said today, when asked about his side’s chances of avoiding relegation. “Always I try to recharge the batteries of my players and they train very, very well. I am hopeful about the next match. It was much better this week because against Liverpool I met all my players two days before.

“This week I work well with all my players and I think day by day they understand much better my ideas about football. Of course we make some mistakes but I think match by match we improve. It is important to improve immediately and make less mistakes as quick as possible.”

Josh King is in contention to feature for Watford against his former club after returning from a knee injury but Kiko Femenia (hip) could join Francisco Sierralta, Christian Kabasele and Peter Etebo on the list of Watford’s lame and halt.

In case you missed it: Norwegian side Bodo Glimt beat Jose Mourinho’s Roma 6-1 in the Europa Conference League last night. While one can only imagine the disdain which Jose reserves for having to veen participate in such a lowly competition, being in charge of a team subjected to such a crushing humiliation by a team of minnows from the Arctic Circle must have rankled. Having initially taken the blame … up to a point, he was – as is customary of an embarrassing loss – very quick to throw his players under the bus.

“I decided to put out the side I did,” he said. “It’s my responsibility. Obviously I did it with good intentions in mind, for two main reasons. From one side, I wanted to give a chance to those players who have been working really hard but have not had much chance to play. From the other side, considering the squad we have and all the games we have to play, I wanted to rest some of the players that have played in pretty much every game.

“On an artificial pitch, in weather conditions like these, I decided to rotate a lot of players. Then, we lost to a side that was better than us. It’s simple. The Bodo first team is better than the one that started the game for us.”

Welcome to our rolling Friday blog o’news, where we’ll attempt to ease you into another weekend of hi- and occasionally low-octane football action in England’s top flight and beyond.

We’ll bring you news from the day’s managerial press conferences, training ground updates and stay across any other interesting talking points and sub-plots that arise ahead of a Premier League weekend book-ended by tonight’s match between Arsenal v Aston Villa at the Emirates and Sunday afternoon’s intriguing set-to between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford.