Three months in and it has already been a season of extreme highs and lows for Liverpool.
A run of five straight wins to start the Premier League title defense. Then a streak of four consecutive losses.
Before the international break an impressive 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League was celebrated as some sort of revival. That was immediately shot down in a dispiriting 3-0 defeat at Manchester City, a result Arne Slot has had to stew over for two weeks.
An eight-point deficit to league leader Arsenal isn’t insurmountable, and an ounce of form could close the gap.
The English champion has a home match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. That kicks off a benign run of end-of-year fixtures for Liverpool against West Ham, Sunderland, Leeds, Brighton, Tottenham, Wolves and Leeds again to up to Jan. 1.
If the Reds cannot find some form over the next six weeks, then hopes of retaining the league title for the first time since 1984 might be over.
The standout game sees Arsenal host Tottenham in the north London derby on Sunday.
Arsenal’s 10 straight wins — eight successive clean sheets — was brought to an end in a 2-2 draw at Sunderland before the break for internationals.
Tottenham has won just two of their last 10 meetings since December 2020.
Manchester City plays before then, at Newcastle in Saturday’s late game, and can reduce the gap to one point with a win.
Man City striker Erling Haaland’s hot streak rolls on. Another four goals for Norway over the past week lifted his tally to 32 in 20 games in all competitions for club and country.
He has failed to score in just two matches.
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has missed the last six weeks because of a hamstring injury but looks set to return for the game against Forest, replacing Giorgi Mamardashvili.
That should help to shore up Liverpool's creaky defense, which has conceded 17 league goals. Only seven teams have let in more after 11 games.
Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes sustained a thigh injury while playing for Brazil last week. The center back has been a rock for the Gunners — and a huge threat at set-pieces — so he will be a big miss, though they have decent back-up options in summer signings Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie.
Benjamin Sesko is set to be missing for Manchester United after injuring his knee in the draw at Tottenham in their last game before the international break. United isn't blessed with many striker options after letting Rasmus Hojlund join Napoli on loan. So manager Ruben Amorim may have to deploy an attacking midfielder like Mason Mount, Matheus Cunha or Bryan Mbeumo up front — something he has done already this season — as United looks to build on its five-match unbeaten run.
There was a managerial appointment during the international break, when Rob Edwards took over last-placed Wolverhampton.
Edwards, who played for Wolves from 2004-08 and was born nearby, has a big job on his hands. The team has gone 15 consecutive league games without a victory, 11 this season, leaving Wolves on two points and already eight points from safety.
Edwards joined from second-tier Middlesbrough and has previous Premier League experience with Luton Town, which he couldn't keep up in its one season back in the top flight. His first game as Wolves manager is at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Norway's Erling Haaland celebrates after the 2026 World Cup Group I qualifier soccer match between Italy and Norway in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Liverpool players react disappointed after the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Liverpool in Manchester, England, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbors on Wednesday as airstrikes pounded Tehran and U.S. President Donald Trump again made contradictory statements about whether he was ready to wind down the war or escalate it.
Trump struck a belligerent tone Wednesday in a Truth Social post, demanding that Iran stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway vital to global oil supplies — or the U.S. would bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages.” A day earlier, Trump said the U.S. “will not have anything to do with” ensuring the security of ships passing through Hormuz; that was an apparent backtrack from a previous threat to attack Iran's power grid if it didn't open the strait by April 6.
Trump, who is scheduled to give a televised address Wednesday evening, said Tuesday he could walk away from the war in two to three weeks once he felt confident Iran would not be able to build a nuclear weapon — even if Tehran does not agree to a ceasefire. The hint of an end in sight has buoyed Wall Street the past two days.
His latest Truth Social post struck a harder line as more American troops move into the region for a possible ground offensive after weeks of airstrikes targeting Iran.
Trump also claimed Wednesday that “Iran's New Regime President” wanted a ceasefire. It wasn't clear to whom the U.S. president was referring since Iran still has the same president. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, called Trump's claim “false and baseless,” according to a report on Iranian state television.
Speaking earlier to Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled Tehran’s willingness to keep fighting. “You cannot speak to the people of Iran in the language of threats and deadlines,” he said. “We do not set any deadline for defending ourselves.”
Since the war began on Feb. 28, Trump has offered shifting objectives and repeatedly has said it could be over soon while also threatening to widen the conflict. Thousands of additional U.S. troops are currently heading to the Middle East, and speculation abounds about the purpose of their deployment.
Just days ago, Trump threatened to attack Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub. And there has also been speculation about whether the U.S. could decide to send in military forces to secure Iran’s uranium stockpile — a complex and risky operation, fraught with radiation and chemical dangers, according to experts and former government officials.
Adding to the confusion is what role Israel — which has been bombing Iran alongside the U.S. — might play in any of these scenarios.
Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war as oil prices have skyrocketed, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other goods. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, is up more than 40% since the start of the war, though it declined slightly on Wednesday and traded at around $101 a barrel.
The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan aimed at bringing about a ceasefire, including a demand for the strait to be reopened and for its nuclear program to be rolled back.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. And in a report last week by Iranian state TV's English-language broadcaster, an anonymous official was quoted as saying Iran had its own demands to end the fighting, including retaining sovereignty over the strait.
In the interview with Al Jazeera, Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the U.S. could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”
He warned against any U.S. attempt to launch a ground offensive, saying “we are waiting for them.”
In a deal ostensibly to give diplomacy a chance, U.S. officials have given “clear assurances” that Araghchi and Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf won't be targeted, according to three officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they're not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media Wednesday a letter addressing U.S. citizens, saying that before the war, his country had pursued negotiations, but that the U.S. chose to withdraw from that path. “Exactly which of the American people’s interests are truly being served by this war? Was there any objective threat from Iran to justify such behavior?” Pezeshkian asked in the letter posted in English on his X account.
A cruise missile slammed into an oil tanker off Qatar’s coast Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said. The crew was evacuated and no casualties were reported. A Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai the day before, one of more than 20 ships attacked by Iran during the war.
In the United Arab Emirates, a person was killed when he was hit by debris from an intercepted drone in Fujairah, one of the country’s seven emirates.
In Kuwait, the state-run KUNA news agency said a drone hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a large fire.
Jordan’s military said it intercepted a ballistic missile and two drones fired from Iran in the last 24 hours. No casualties were reported. Two drones were also intercepted in Saudi Arabia.
In Israel, sirens sounded to warn of incoming missiles and AP reporters heard loud booms in Tel Aviv as the windows of buildings shook from the reverberations. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
An airstrike on Tehran appeared to have hit the former U.S. Embassy compound, which has been controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since American diplomats were held hostage there in 1979. Witnesses said buildings outside the massive compound had their windows blown out.
In Lebanon, at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut neighborhood.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group began launching missiles into northern Israel days after the outbreak of the war. Many Lebanese fear another prolonged military occupation.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
A young girl is comforted by her father and Israeli soldiers as they take cover in a bomb shelter during air raid sirens warning of incoming Iranian missile strikes in Bnei Brak, Israel, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People inspect the site of an Israeli strike amid debris and damaged vehicles in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man feeds stray cats in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, is seen at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Firefighters and rescue workers work at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A firefighter extinguishes a car at the site of Israeli airstrikes, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israel's rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A police vehicle is seen through a shattered windshield at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Two men ride scooters past charred debris at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
