Salah signs new long-term contract with Liverpool: club

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was able to name influential midfielders Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara in his side for Saturday's Champions League final against Real Madrid after the pair recovered from muscle injuries.

Fabinho has not featured since sustaining a muscular injury in a 2-1 win at Aston Villa on May 10.

Thiago was brought off at half-time of Liverpool's 3-1 win over Wolves last weekend nursing an Achilles problem.

Klopp opted for Ibrahima Konate in defence ahead of Joel Matip as he looks to combat the speed of Madrid's left winger Vinicius Junior.

Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti makes just one change from the side that started the second leg of their dramatic semi-final win over Manchester City.

The fit-again David Alaba replaces Nacho, but there is no place in the starting line-up for Eduardo Camavinga or Rodrygo despite their starring role off the bench in Real's run to the final.

Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard are also included on the Madrid bench.

Starting line-ups for the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid at the Stade de France on Saturday :

Liverpool (4-3-3)

Alisson Becker; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Jordan Henderson (capt); Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Diaz

Coach: Jurgen Klopp (GER)

Real Madrid (4-3-3)

Thibaut Courtois; Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric; Fede Valverde, Karim Benzema (capt), Vinicius Junior

Coach: Carlo Ancelotti (ITA)

Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)

 Liverpool have signed Italy forward Federico Chiesa from Juventus on a long-term contract, the two clubs said on Thursday.

Juventus said the deal was worth 12 million euros ($13.30 million) plus 3 million in add-ons for the 26-year-old, whose contract with the Serie A club was set to expire in 2025.

Chiesa suffered a serious knee injury in 2022 that sidelined him for 10 months, but he bounced back and last season scored 10 goals and registered three assists in 37 appearances for Juventus across all competitions.

Chiesa scored 32 goals in 131 appearances for Juventus in four seasons at the club. He initially joined the Turin-based side on loan from Fiorentina in 2020.

"I'm so happy to be a Liverpool player," Chiesa said in a statement. "When (sporting director) Richard Hughes called me and he said, 'Do you want to join Liverpool?' – and the coach called me – I said yes immediately because I know the history of this club, I know what it represents to the fans."

Chiesa has scored seven goals in 51 caps for Italy. He was a part of their Euro 2020 title winning side and also played in the European Championship this year.

A superb second-half goal from substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi gave Nottingham Forest the biggest surprise win of the Premier League season so far as they beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield on Saturday.

The home side dominated the opening half and Luis Diaz hit a post in the 17th minute, but too often the Liverpool attackers found themselves on different wavelengths, and much of their play lacked their usual fluidity as chances went begging.

Their wastefulness was punished in the 72nd minute as Anthony Elanga found his fellow substitute Hudson-Odoi with a brilliant crossfield ball, and the 23-year-old winger cut inside before curling a tremendous effort past goalkeeper Alisson.

Having convincingly won all of their opening three league games under Arne Slot without conceding a goal, Liverpool looked short of ideas as they sought to come back. A Virgil van Dijk header from a corner that flew over was the closest they came to an equaliser.

Mohamed Salah said he is not focused on his future beyond this season, with less than a year to run on his contract at Liverpool.

The Egyptian has written himself into the record books of the English giants, scoring 213 goals since joining in 2017.

Salah is just one of three huge players for Liverpool out of contract at the end of the season, along with captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

"Before the season, I was just like 'I've got one year left, let's just enjoy it and don't think about the contract'," Salah told Sky Sports.

"I don't want to think about next year or the future, I just want to enjoy the last year and let's see.

"The most important thing is to take one day at a time and just be grateful to be here."

Salah has been consistently linked with a lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League.

A year ago Liverpool reportedly rejected a bid of £150 million ($198 million) from Al-Ittihad.

Salah signed a three-year deal in 2022 that reportedly made him the highest paid player in the club's history, worth more than £18 million a year.

The 32-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down, scoring in both of Arne Slot's first two games in charge as Liverpool beat Ipswich and Brentford.

Manchester City's Bernardo Silva has hit out at Arsenal's defensive tactics and claimed the rivalry between the clubs does not yet equal the clashes between the English champions and Liverpool in recent years.

Arsenal were seconds away from securing their first victory at the Etihad since 2015 on Sunday as John Stones' 98th-minute equaliser salvaged a 2-2 draw for City.

The Gunners retreated after being reduced to 10 men by Leandro Trossard's red card in first-half stoppage time.

Mikel Arteta's men have finished second to City in the Premier League for the past two seasons.

But for much of Pep Guardiola's time in charge of City, it was Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool who were consistently their title rivals.

Under Klopp, the Reds won the Premier League for the first time in 30 years in 2020 to add to their 2019 Champions League triumph.

"The difference? I don't know. Maybe that Liverpool have already won a Premier League, Arsenal haven't. That Liverpool have won a Champions League, Arsenal haven't," Silva told ESPN on the difference between the rivalries.

"Liverpool always faced us face-to-face to try to win the games. From this perspective, the games against Arsenal haven't been like the ones we had and have against Liverpool."

Arsenal had just 12.5 percent possession in the second half at the Etihad but frustrated City with a dogged defensive display as Guardiola's men were often forced to resort to shots from outside the box.

Two Arsenal players, Jurrien Timber and Kai Havertz, became the first outfield players to fail to complete a single pass while playing at least 89 minutes of a Premier League match since records began in 2003.

Manuel Akanji and Stones were among other City players to speak out, referring to Arsenal's "dark arts" as the visitors tried to waste time in the second half by going down to receive treatment.

"There was only one team that came to play football," said Silva. "The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee.

"But at the end we got a draw, the best we could get considering the context of the last moments of the match.

"We're not happy as we wanted the three points, but personally I'm happy with the way we came to play and faced the game. I'm glad we always enter the pitch to try to win every match."

A draw was enough to keep Premier League leaders City two points ahead of Arsenal, who sit fourth after five games.