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FA Cup news conferences taking place on Friday as the fourth round gets under way Arne Slot was asked about set-pieces and says 'it's almost impossible to win the league with a set-piece balance like ours' The FA Cup fixtures begin on Friday night with Hull v Chelsea and Wrexham v Ipswich (both 19: 45 GMT) Other key matches this weekend include League One Burton hosting West Ham, Salford City going to Man City and Grimsby at home to Wolves Breaking: Igor Thiago has signed a new long-term contract with Brenford Also speaking on Friday: Pep Guardiola, Eddie Howe, Rob Edwards & others Written by Ben Ramsdale, Craig Nelson, Grace Wheeler & Sarah Rendell. Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot on whether this season's Premier League has made him change his thinking about set pieces: "My first thought in my head was no because I have always said it is almost impossible to win a game of football with a negative set-piece balance. In the Premier League, every game is now a big game because of the strength of the league, but looking at where the league has gone to I should maybe not say no, I should say yes because I cannot stop talking about the importance of set pieces. It's every single day. "You asked me in the past what the difference is between our performances in the Champions League and Premier League and the most simple answer is set pieces because in the Champions League we are top in set pieces and in the Premier League we are completely bottom. That reflects in the league table as well. "The current Premier League is so, so, so much more about set pieces than it was last season. Even though I already found it very important, it has now gone through the roof in terms of how important it is. "It is actually impossible to win the league if you have a set-piece balance like ours. You have to have plus five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, no matter what you do in open play, to have a chance to win the league. " Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Liverpool More from Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Virgil van Dijk and how important the Reds skipper is for set-pieces: "I would almost say that in the current Premier League it is the only attribute you should have - doing set pieces well. "Yesterday I again watched a game in which set-pieces were almost part of everything that happened during the game. "It's vital that he has already scored a few goals for us this season and definitely last season as well from set pieces. He's a big threat in the air offensively and defensively he's important for us not to concede. So yes, [he's] vital and I hope he will score many more for us in set pieces this season. " Ben Ramsdale BBC Sport Lovely bit of bonus breaking news for you there. Huge statement from Brentford to tie down a player of his calibre. Happy, Bees fans? Anyway, back to Slot we go. .. Brentford striker Igor Thiago has signed a new long-term contract with the west London club. The 24-year-old has penned a deal which extends his stay until the summer of 2031, with the club holding an option of a further year. Thiago has scored 17 goals in 26 Premier League appearances for the Bees this season. Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot on the importance of Virgil van Dijk staying fit to lead the team: "He's been fit every single time and I have said this before how big of an accomplishment that is for a player of his age because he is not the youngest any more. He plays every three days, but that is not a coincidence because if I look how much work he puts in on a daily basis to recover to be ready for the next [game] immediately. "It is always harder to stay fit in a team that has had so many setbacks, so it tells you a lot about what he does off the pitch in recovery but definitely also about his mental strength that he is able to stay with the team and bring in very good performances while leading the team on and off the pitch by example. " Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot on whether he is looking at any youth players: "I am always looking at them because today they trained again, all of them. But seriously, a few of them come closer and closer to first-team football and a few of them already had it with Rio [Ngumoah] and Trey [Nyoni]. "Games like this could be an option for them as well but it's finding the right balance because we do play a very strong team in Brighton. Finding the right balance in who to play is something we are going to think about even more. " Click 'Get Involved' to have your say Premier clubs need to stop moaning about too many games. Don't enter the FA CUP, give your players a rest, sorry its all about the money. If they get to the final they forget about playing too many games. Chris, Watford Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool manager Arne Slot started with a question on squad rotation: "The load management is important because the last thing we could use right now is another injury. "That is always the difficult balance for the manager, including his medical staff, what is the best decision to make every single time. It is also true that a player could get injured if he has to play three games in seven days. But it also happened many times that a player could play three games in seven days. "So that's the challenge we are having, but the most important thing is we have to train today, see how the players are doing, listen to how they feel and then make the best possible decision. " Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Arne Slot said he had used six different players at right-back this season in his pre-match news conference before Wednesday's win at Sunderland. He was forced to start with Wataru Endo in that position at the Stadium of Light, but the Japan midfielder was withdrawn after an hour with an injury that looks set to end his season. "We don't expect a positive outcome, " said Slot. "We have to wait and see. We expect not to have him for quite a long time. That is not the first time with our right full-backs. We have accepted this every time. We have to find solutions to keep performing well. " Conor Bradley is already out for the season, while summer signing Jeremie Frimpong is not expected to return from injury in time for this tie. However, regular stand-in Dominik Szoboszlai returns from a one-match suspension, picked up for his red card against Manchester City, while Joe Gomez is also an option after returning from injury to replace Endo on Wednesday. Midfielder Curtis Jones has also filled in at right-back this term, while there have been calls for 22-year-old Scottish right-back Calvin Ramsay to be promoted to first-team duties. Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool boss Arne Slot says the current Premier League is so much more focussed on set-pieces than it was last season. He adds that "it has gone through the roof" in terms of how important it is and says "it is almost impossible to win the league with a set-piece balance like ours. " Full quotes to follow. .. Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Since their victory in the 2022 FA Cup final, Liverpool haven't had the best of luck in the competition. Twice they have been knocked out at the fourth round stage, including last season by Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle, while they also fell at the quarter final stage to Manchester United in 2024. Reds boss Arne Slot was criticised in their most recent FA Cup exit against Plymouth for playing a weakened team and not having the cavalry on the bench to change the game should they need it. Ultimately, that cost them, falling to a 1-0 loss in a flat performance at Home Park. Liverpool did however have bigger priorities last season as they looked to chase down a 20th league title. This campaign looks a little different. With retaining the title a near impossibility, you would think getting their hands on another piece of silverware becomes high on the agenda. Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Liverpool Liverpool boss Arne Slot is in the building. He starts by saying he will "make the best possible decision" with regard to squad rotation depending on how the players feel in training today. We'll bring you full quotes from the Reds boss shortly. .. Liverpool v Brighton (Sat, 20: 00 GMT) Here's one question that may be on the agenda for Liverpool boss Arne Slot today. .. The contract situation of defender Ibrahima Konate. Konate's contract is set to expire in the summer and despite a rocky start to the campaign, the Frenchman has returned to his best form in recent weeks. His central defensive partner, Reds captain Virgil van Dijk, insists he wants the 26-year-old to stay at the club beyond this season. "It's a process and let's see what comes out of it, " Van Dik said after the victory over Sunderland in midweek. "It's never that easy. We saw with my own situation last year so it's never that easy that we can just say 'let's get it done'. "Obviously I want him [Konate] to stay. He's an important figure on the pitch. That's what everyone sees but off the pitch as well, he's one of the leaders. "He's outstanding and in my eyes, a world-class centre back. I can do only so much but it's in the club's hands, together with his agents and himself so let's see what comes out of it but I have no influence otherwise on that. " All kick-off times 15: 00 GMT unless stated FA Cup Friday, 13 February Saturday, 14 February Sunday, 15 February Monday, 16 February All times in GMT FA Cup No Premier League action to preview this weekend but we've still got a whole host of news conferences to bring you before the FA Cup fourth round gets under way. Ten in total on the agenda with the possibility of more to be added as we go. Friday's news conferences: Good morning. Happy Friday. Welcome along to today's live page. Not a managerial sacking one today - yet. Hopefully we can have a bit more fun with it today as we look ahead to this weekend's FA Cup action. We've got 10 Premier League managers delivering news conferences throughout the day and we'll be bringing you updates from them all as we go. Liverpool boss Arne Slot is up first in the next 15 minutes or so, which means we best crack on and get straight into it. Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.