Liverpool return to Anfield on Tuesday night to host Villarreal in the Champions League, with manager Andoni Iraola still searching for a first home Premier League victory of the campaign.
The Reds sit fifth in the table after recording another impressive away win at the weekend, ending Brentford's long unbeaten home run. They had previously done the same to Bournemouth. However, at Anfield, Liverpool have drawn twice and lost once in the league this season, though they have beaten Tottenham in the Carabao Cup and Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on home soil.
Ngumoha addresses transfer speculation
Rio Ngumoha's impressive development at Liverpool has not escaped attention from rival clubs, reports the Mirror. The 18-year-old England prospect has become a regular fixture in Iraola's starting XI after his breakthrough campaign last term under Arne Slot.
The youngster's raw ability and promise reportedly attracted interest from Bayern Munich and Arsenal, according to The Athletic. But England's most successful football club have no intention of letting the gifted attacker go, and Ngumoha addressed the summer rumours when quizzed about his future and signing a new contract following Saturday's win.
Ngumoha said: "To be fair, that is all with my agent now. I think it is all going well. I am not too sure. I just let my football do the talking at the end of the day. I enjoy playing, and all of that stuff is in the back of my mind really. I just play for the club, and hopefully I can carry on doing well."
Ndukwe secures work permit
Liverpool defender Ifeanyi Ndukwe has now secured his UK work permit thanks to his ongoing loan stint at Levante. The 18-year-old officially became a Red last summer and impressed during pre-season, but could not feature in competitive matches due to work permit issues.
The Reds can bring the Austrian back in January if they wish, though he is tipped to stay with the Spanish outfit for the remainder of the campaign, according to the Liverpool Echo. Boss Iraola has plenty of defensive cover at his disposal, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Jeremy Jacquet, Ronald Araujo and Joe Gomez all available. Italian starlet Giovanni Leoni is also close to returning from the ACL setback he picked up last term.
Ndukwe had a sluggish beginning to his Spanish adventure, but has now clocked consecutive starts for Levante and bagged a dramatic late leveller on his first start against Sevilla in a thrilling 3-3 encounter. He backed that up with another full shift in a 1-1 deadlock with Deportivo last Friday.
