Slot has also emulated legendary Liverpool boss Bill Shankly by winning his first three European matches as manager.

Liverpool’s impressive start to the season includes wins against Manchester United, AC Milan and Chelsea.

There are some big tests on the horizon. As well as Arsenal, they have matches against German champions Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Manchester City between now and 1 December.

“This is a team on a brilliant run with some players playing well, but it’s clear more improvements will come,” said Nevin.

“If you are having this sort of run and nowhere near peaking yet, that’s real good news.

“Arne Slot’s aware of it. There’s more to come from this team, but you wouldn’t think so from the results.”

After the Leipzig game, Slot said his players must be proud after achieving the “almost impossible” feat of setting new club records.

Like Klopp, Slot is aware he will be judged on the number of trophies he brings to Anfield – not records.

“Records are nice, but other things are nicer than records and you know what I mean by that – trophies,” Slot said.

Match of the Day pundit Guillem Balague explains how Unai Emery has transformed Aston Villa from a club in a Premier League relegation battle to Champions League table toppers.

WATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Villa beat Bologna to maintain great Champions League start

Available to UK users only.

Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway is finally here.

This Saturday, UFC 308 takes place at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, headlined by the featherweight title fight that has captured the interest of the entire MMA world. On top of that, a five-round middleweight showdown between Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev will finally take place. With all that going down, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew is back to break down all the fights.

This week, Jed runs solo, breaking down all the key aspects of this Saturday’s card. Topics discussed include whether Topuria can back up all his trash talk, whether Chimaev can finally earn a title shot, whether Magomed Ankalaev can convince the UFC he deserves a shot at Alex Pereira, and much more.

Tune in for episode 105 of No Bets Barred.

New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.

OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO came close to having his leg AMPUTATED as a teenager due to frostbite.

The Arsenal full-back, 27, made his name at Manchester City from 2016 to 2022, winning four Prem titles, four Carabao Cups and one FA Cup.

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He has also gone on to captain Ukraine at major tournaments and recently helped the Gunners become top-flight title challengers once more under Mikel Arteta.

But at the age of 17, his entire life could have changed thanks to a dry ice incident that left the defender with a gangrenous foot and moments away from amputation.

It came about following a call from German club Hoffenheim to attend a trial, having been frozen out of the Shakhtar Donetsk academy and trying to reignite his career while taking part in the Russian street leagues.

He explained: “The day before I was due to fly [to Germany], FC Meteor, one of the non-league clubs I played for, called me. They had a big game and wanted me to fill in.

“These leagues were a bit rogue, sometimes more like a cage fight. Some opponent did a crazy tackle on me and caught my right ankle. It swelled up like a balloon.

“There was no way I could play the next day in Germany. Just walking was causing me pain. I was in no state to do a trial. But I couldn’t cancel and lose this life-changing opportunity.

“We decided I would go anyway and ask them to let me train a couple of days later, by which time the swelling would have hopefully gone down.

“I was on the plane with Lufthansa and I remember thinking: ‘Let’s not waste time to get the swelling down. Let’s use the flight.’ So, I asked the stewardess for some ice for my ankle.

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“She didn’t understand me at first because my English wasn’t great and I didn’t speak any German. But she came over with what looked like ice in a plastic package.

“I wrapped it up, put it on my ankle and went to sleep. Problem solved. An hour or so later, I woke up and expected to see a bag full of melted water. But there was none.

“Then I looked at my ankle. All the skin had turned white. I put my sock back on

and, within around 20 minutes, as it warmed up, it started to blister.

“When we arrived in Frankfurt, an associate of my agent was waiting. ‘I have a little problem,’ I told him. I think I gave him the shock of his life when I showed him my ankle.

“We drove to the Hoffenheim academy, taken immediately to a physio, who pulled down my sock and turned nearly as white as the skin on my ankle when he saw it.

“His reaction told me this was bad. ‘We’re taking you to hospital, right now.’ I was rushed into an operating theatre and surgery commenced immediately.

“They were removing gangrenous tissue. If that had spread, it could have affected the whole foot, requiring it all to be removed. The reason? I had frostbite.

“It turned out that when the air stewardess gave me ice, it was dry ice, which is three times colder than normal ice, exposing my bare ankle to Arctic-like temperatures.

“The German doctor looked at me gravely. ‘You are fortunate. You came at the right time. Any later, and you might have lost your leg.’

“Only then did I realise quite how close my dreams had come to ending and my life changing utterly.”

After his near-death experience and a spell in the Russian Premier League, Zinchenko spent six seasons at City before joining Arsenal in the summer of 2022 for £35m.

However, Zinchenko has also revealed he could have played for the North Londoners much sooner with Arsene Wenger keeping tabs on his situation back in 2014 following a Youth Champions League clash between Arsenal and Shakhtar.

Zinchenko said: “I got a call from an agent who said: ‘Alex, I have a very good connection with Arsene Wenger. He called me after your game. He really wants to see you in the club.

“I was speechless; my jaw was on the floor. When I gathered my thoughts after a few seconds, I said: ‘This is probably a joke. Someone is having a laugh here.’

“For one reason or another, it never happened. I had sort of forgotten about this whole thing until Wenger came to the Emirates in December 2022 to watch us beat West Ham 3-1.

“I shook his hand. I had never met him in person before… ‘Mister, eight years ago, I played for Shakhtar Donetsk in a Youth League game against Arsenal…’ I said, cautiously.

“He interrupted me. ‘Yes, it was at Boreham Wood. Arsenal won 3-1. And after 20 minutes, I pointed at you and said: “I need this guy.”‘ It was all true. Incredible.

“I sometimes imagine what would have happened if I had joined the first team as a 17-year-old.”

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It didn’t take long for the UFC’s matchmaking team and brass to make a decision on Jake Hadley after his third loss in four fights.

Hadley will have to work his way back to the UFC after an upset loss on the main card at UFC Fight Night 245 this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Hadley announced the news on social media Wednesday, but made a point to say his contract was up, and he “wasn’t cut.”

Hadley (11-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) was the biggest favorite on the card at more than 6-1 against Smotherman (12-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC), who took the fight on just a few days’ notice after Brady Hiestand pulled out. But Smotherman outworked him over 15 minutes for a unanimous decision.

“I wasn’t cut my contract came to an end,” Hadley posted on social media. “took 2 big risks my last 2 fights being a company man and it bit me on the arse. Took block head on a weeks notice but missed the weight which was obviously held against me then took cam on 3 days notice after originally training for a wrestling based opponent I understand cam didn’t do a camp but everyone’s ready always for 3x5s cmon I proven that vs block head took the fight on baby’s due date because fight was offered and didn’t wanna say no to the ufc and be a company man but ohh well if I choose to work my way back to the UFC I know I can do that again no problem.”

https://twitter.com/jakehadleymma/status/1849179246129746417

Hadley won the Cage Warriors flyweight title in late 2020. Ten months later, he took a fight on Dana White’s Contender Series and earned his way into the UFC – even though he missed weight.

After a loss in his promotional debut, he won back-to-back fights against Carlos Candelario and Malcolm Gordon, the latter of which was a 61-second knockout worth an extra $50,000.

But then came consecutive losses to Cody Durden and Charles Johnson at flyweight, and he missed weight when he moved up to bantamweight for a fight with Caolan Loughran earlier this year, which he referenced in his post.

The Smotherman loss was the nail in the coffin of the 28-year-old Brit’s UFC tenure for now.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.