Liverpool Week in Review, Monday 26th October: Reds Roar Back Past Villarreal Then See Off Brighton as Ngumoha Steals the Show
It's been a brilliant week on the pitch for Andoni Iraola's side, who came from two goals down to beat Villarreal 4-3 at Anfield in the Champions League before following that up with a composed 2-0 Premier League win over Brighton (talkSPORT) (Liverpool.com) (LiverpoolFC.com) (This Is Anfield) (The Guardian). The Guardian felt the Brighton win showed Iraola's methods "taking root" as Liverpool moved up the table with real urgency (The Guardian), while This Is Anfield noted the media are starting to see the side "take shape" under their new boss, described as ruthless and resolute (This Is Anfield). Sky Sports and ESPN both pointed to the team finally clicking into gear, with ESPN crediting big-money forward signings for giving the Iraola era "lift off" (ESPN) (Sky Sports).
The undoubted star of the week was teenager Rio Ngumoha, who was outstanding in the win over Villarreal, completing seven of eight dribbles according to TeamTalk and prompting a wave of media praise (TeamTalk) (The Guardian). The BBC described it as a "coming-of-age" performance (BBC Sport), while The Guardian said Virgil van Dijk believes there is "much more to come" from the youngster, who the Liverpool captain says has learned from Mohamed Salah (The Guardian). Charlie Adam even suggested Liverpool already have a replacement for Salah in Ngumoha after his two assists against Villarreal, as reported by Liverpool.com (Liverpool.com). Iraola, however, has urged his young winger not to be distracted by the "outside noise" around him (ESPN), while also giving a cryptic response when asked about Ngumoha's chances of starting against Brighton (Liverpool.com). Jamie Carragher has since urged the club to tie Ngumoha down to a new contract following his impressive displays (Liverpool.com). There was also a reminder of other contract uncertainty in that area, with Liverpool Echo reporting Ngumoha himself has had transfer advice amid Bayern Munich links before signing fresh terms (Liverpool Echo).
Elsewhere in the squad, Ronald Araujo continues to impress fans during his loan spell from Barcelona, with Liverpool.com reporting on an emotional moment that has settled the debate over his future for many supporters (Liverpool.com), and ESPN carrying the defender's own words that the move was exactly what he needed (ESPN). He was also pictured meeting a young fan to celebrate the Villarreal win, as shown by LiverpoolFC.com (LiverpoolFC.com). Florian Wirtz is also showing signs of finding his feet, with Sky Sports noting he has had a goal or assist in Liverpool's last three games, all wins, while still wanting more from the midfielder (Sky Sports). Steven Gerrard also gave his view on both Wirtz and Bradley Barcola's slow starts, according to Liverpool Echo (Liverpool Echo), with Barcola separately being challenged to raise his mental level to justify his big move from Paris Saint-Germain (Liverpool Echo).
On the injury front, Iraola gave an update on Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong after both were forced off against Brentford (Liverpool.com), while This Is Anfield later detailed a lengthy list of fitness concerns and one doubt ahead of the Brighton game (This Is Anfield). Despite the walking wounded, van Dijk was full of praise for his teammates and pointed to changes made under Iraola after his own "terrible" admission about his Villarreal performance (Liverpool Echo) (Liverpool.com).
Transfer talk continues to swirl, with Liverpool again linked with young prospects including Gilberto Mora (Liverpool Echo) and a reported £59m midfield target as Fabrizio Romano discusses January plans, including interest in Lamine Camara (TeamTalk). Trent Alexander-Arnold has been tipped for a possible Liverpool return amid his struggles at Real Madrid, according to Liverpool Echo (Liverpool Echo) (Liverpool Echo), while Jarell Quansah has been coy on his own future with Liverpool holding an option in his contract (This Is Anfield). Harvey Elliott, out on loan at Valencia, was given a public dressing down to "step up" following talks between the two clubs (This Is Anfield), and later had to apologise after being sent off for Valencia (Liverpool.com).
In the women's game, Gareth Taylor admitted it was "a difficult night" after a tough result, as relayed by LiverpoolFC.com (LiverpoolFC.com), while the Reds' WSL line-up was confirmed for their match against London City Lionesses (LiverpoolFC.com). Among the academy sides, the U21s beat Reading (LiverpoolFC.com) and fought back to draw with Chelsea thanks in part to another Jayden Danns goal (Liverpool.com), while the U18s were beaten by Manchester United (LiverpoolFC.com). </body>
This round-up is written with the help of AI, using only the day's headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.