Anfield Daily — 14 November 2026

Manchester United have sacked Michael Carrick and appointed Mauricio Pochettino, who officially starts on 18 November. His opening fixture is at Anfield, which is about as unforgiving an introduction as English football offers.

Reports suggest he will be without key personnel for the trip, having been dealt another blow before he has taken a training session. There is no grace period in this fixture, and a new manager walking into a hostile Anfield with an unsettled squad is precisely the situation Iraola's side should be able to exploit.

The derby against Everton is the immediate business, but nobody in the away end at Goodison will have forgotten what follows.

The scare came in Liverpool's 3-1 win over Crystal Palace last week, when Szoboszlai took a blow to the knee. Hungary's medical staff had a decision to make before the Nations League trip to Georgia, and they have let him train in the open sessions.

That is the best available signal that the problem is manageable rather than structural. For Iraola it matters more than a normal international break, because Szoboszlai is the player who sets the tempo in midfield and the derby is days after he returns.

Expect him to travel, and expect Liverpool to be watching every minute he plays.

The defensive rebuild is the story of this window and everyone knows it. Liverpool's interest in Stuttgart's 20-year-old Finn Jeltsch has been confirmed by a journalist, though Bayern Munich are circling and there are doubts the German would move to England this early.

Leeds' Tarik Muharemovic has gone further, saying outright that he dreams of playing at Anfield, after Gary Neville flagged him as a target; he is a Premier League player now and that makes the pitch easier.

Closer to home, Van Dijk's contract remains the decision that shapes everything, with Joe Gomez looking the likelier exit. The cautionary tale being invoked is Mohamed Salah, and the argument in the columnists' pages is that Liverpool must not let sentiment and delay produce the same outcome twice.

One line worth noting: the club is not short of centre-backs so much as short of certainty about which ones stay.

Alisson Becker is into the final months of his deal, and fresh talks have not settled it. Former Liverpool players have now made their positions public, with the consensus being that this needs resolving rather than drifting.

Giorgi Mamardashvili and Freddie Woodman are already on the books, so the club is not naked in goal, but replacing the calm Alisson gives a back four is not a squad-number exercise. Add the Van Dijk question and you have two contracts that decide what this Liverpool team looks like in twelve months.

Iraola will want both answered before January, not after.

Rio Ngumoha was the subject of the Premier League's Big Interview, talking through a fearless approach, his versatility and the guidance he has had at the club. In a separate conversation he named the one big thing Mohamed Salah taught him last season, the detail that has shaped how he trains and plays.

Jarell Quansah, who saw him up close, went further and predicted he could win the Ballon d'Or one day. It is easy to overdo the hype around a teenager, but the noise here comes from people who have watched him daily.

Iraola has a genuine option on that flank, and the derby is exactly the sort of match where fearless works.

One analysis piece this week asks the question nobody at Anfield enjoys: why are Liverpool thriving on the road and struggling at home? The numbers back it up and the Anfield crowd has noticed.

Nothing cures that faster than a Merseyside derby, and the build-up has already turned to the 249th meeting, with the club asking supporters to vote on their best Premier League away wins at Everton.

Bradley Barcola, meanwhile, has had a difficult international window, played as a striker in France's 3-1 defeat to Italy, with Zinedine Zidane publicly defending him and insisting there is no need to panic. Barcola will want a Liverpool response, and Iraola needs one at home.

Curtis Jones has spoken about leaving for Inter Milan, saying simply that he has always been a Liverpool boy; the move still sits oddly with a supporter base that watched him come through.

Jeremie Frimpong, by contrast, is being recognised, nominated for a FIFPRO award for his impact away from the pitch across his career.

Down at Maghull High School, Lewis Koumas and Trey Nyoni turned up at an LFC Foundation Onside session and surprised the pupils, which is the sort of thing this club still does better than most.

And the Christmas giveback has launched, with up to £20 off supporters' shopping through PayPal as part of the Nice One campaign. Small stuff, all of it, but it is the texture of a normal week at Anfield.