Liverpool finalise Barcola deal, Premier League buildup and more – matchday live

Andoni Iraola has said it is more important for Liverpool’s forwards to exhaust themselves than perform for 90 minutes as he prepares to make an “emotional” Premier League bow at Anfield.

The Liverpool head coach hopes his attacking options will be improved by the arrival of Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain and another winger before Tuesday’s deadline, with only Victor Muñoz added to his front line so far. The Basque coach has outlined the demands he will put on his forwards as they adapt to a new era at Liverpool.

• Liverpool v Nottingham Forest, Saturday, 12.30pm

• Coventry v Hull, Saturday, 3pm

• Bournemouth v Everton, Saturday, 3pm

• Tottenham v Newcastle, Saturday, 5.30pm

• Chelsea v Brighton, Sunday, 2pm

• Leeds v Brentford, Sunday, 2pm

• Sunderland v Fulham, Sunday, 2pm

• Man Utd v Ipswich Town, Sunday, 4.30pm

• Aston Villa v Arsenal, Monday, 8pm

There you have the Premier League fixtures to come over the weekend, including Aston Villa v Arsenal on Monday.

Here you have the Premier League fixture that has already happened: Jacob Steinberg’s report of Manchester City 4-1 Crystal Palace (Haaland 2, Cherki 2):

This week Central Cee launched his new Premier League song, called The Team. It owes its existence to a youth-centred, fist-bumping corporate tie-in with Coca-Cola, the press release for which appears to have involved a man in golf-casual clothing frowning at his computer screen for half an hour before typing “cool urban street words, what are?” into the AI search box, then nipping off for a quick brain-bowl strategy lunch with Roger from the Bluesky Synergy hub.

The song is really good, because Central Cee is really good. He’s super-smart with words, funny and snappy, but also surprisingly tender and raw.

And yes, this is an oh-no-dad’s-talking-about-rap moment. You can just scroll down if you like. The whole thing moves on to Cole Palmer very quickly, why he’s both the best English footballer and very easy to love currently, for various reasons.

Football is back, and will remain so for quite some time. Saturday’s early top-flight match – Liverpool v Nottingham Forest – is looming into view, kicking off another busy weekend of association football, with four Premier League matches to enjoy today plus a full Championship programme, Scottish Premiership, Leagues One and Two, the top European leagues … footballers are going to be busy until May, and so are we, trying desperately to watch all the football, while also keeping across the transfer-window action, the ongoing Fifa farrago, and everything else.