One player who is unlikely to be lining up for Liverpool for their Premier League opener against Arsenal on August 14 is defender Mamadou Sakho, who underwent treatment for a long-standing Achilles problem.
Late goals by Mohamed Salah and Jordan Henderson earned Liverpool a crucial 3-1 victory at Southampton to move them back to the top of the Premier League on Friday.
Liverpool's first match since being confirmed as champions is at City's stadium and Pep Guardiola said his players would pay tribute to Juergen Klopp's title-winning side.
Nuggets of news coming from the English Premier League
A summary of Wednesday's action in the Premier League.
Jota's header earned the three points but it was a struggle in the rain for Juergen Klopp's side who looked uneasy at the back without the injured Virgil van Dijk.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Messi, who won the Spanish La Liga title with Barcelona last season as well as the European golden boot having scored 54 goals in 58 games in all competitions, last won the award in 2015.
Liverpool blew a chance take a vice-like grip on the title race and Chelsea suffered their worst league defeat in 23 years.
Spurs Premier League match at Brighton postponed due to COVID-19
Mohamed Salah hit a hat-trick as Liverpool humiliated Manchester United, romping to a stunning 5-0 victory at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday that leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's future in serious doubt.
Arsenal became the highest-profile casualties of the FA Cup third round as the 14-time winners lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, but Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur avoided early exits after scares against lower-league sides on Sunday.
Chelsea paid a heavy price for a 3-2 defeat at West Ham United as first Liverpool, then Manchester City, leapfrogged them in the English Premier League title race on Saturday, with City ending the day on top for the first time this season.
Liverpool's Egypt forward Mohamed Salah could miss next month's World Cup in Russia after suffering a suspected shoulder injury in Saturday's 3-1 Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid, his club manager Juergen Klopp has said.
The following are three talking points from the weekend's Premier League action:
Southgate said England had been forced to give players extra days' recovery and also tapered their training schedules as the country's hopes of qualifying for the Nations League finals were dashed after Sunday's 2-0 defeat by Belgium.
Striker Costa ends second spell at Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea moved into the Premier League's top four as Mason Mount's superb first-half goal earned them a 1-0 win at champions Liverpool who suffered a club-record fifth straight home league defeat on Thursday.
The 58-year-old pointed to the 26-point gap in the Premier League table between runners-up Liverpool and his fourth-placed former team as evidence of a massive gulf between the sides.
IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Tuesday.
An early Mohamed Salah penalty and a late strike by Divock Origi gave Liverpool a 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday's all-English Champions League final
Liverpool 'disappointed' after fans celebrate league win outside Anfield
Brighton kept a disciplined formation, frustrating Liverpool and as the second half wore on the home side began to lose their fluency.
Liverpool ran riot to reach the League Cup semi-finals with a 6-1 thrashing of Southampton on Wednesday in which Divock Origi grabbed a hat-trick and Daniel Sturridge scored twice as the Juergen Klopp juggernaut rolled on.
"The best team won, we struggled from the beginning and we couldn't deal with their long balls. Usually, you press the ball to win it, but this was different. They defended so deep and so well," City coach Pep Guardiola told the BBC.
Messi's first act as Barcelona captain was to tell the club's fans at a pre-season friendly in August against Boca Juniors that he and his teammates "will do everything possible so that beautiful and desired cup returns here to the Nou Camp".
Liverpool came into Saturday's Champions League final against Real Madrid on a wave of confidence but Zinedine Zidane's side showed exactly why they are the masters of Europe's top club competition in their 3-1 win.
Liverpool regained their place at the top of the English Premier League with a 2-0 win at Cardiff City on Sunday that restored their two-point lead over Manchester City
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.
IMAGES from Premier League matches played on Sunday.
The 24-year-old limped off the pitch in the first 15 minutes of the match at Vicarage Road and was replaced by Adam Lallana but manager Juergen Klopp said that the Brazilian had not been badly injured.
Liverpool, inspired by two-goal Egyptian Mohamed Salah, took a big step towards the Champions League final with a 5-2 win over AS Roma in their semi-final, first leg at Anfield on Tuesday.
Liverpool kept their push for a top-four finish in the Premier League on course as Emre Can thundered home a second-half winner to complete a hard-earned 2-1 comeback win over Burnley at a relieved Anfield on Sunday.
Knee injuries have sidelined him for large parts of this season, however, and the Belgium international has started only four Premier League games.
Mamadou Sakho faces an uncertain future at Liverpool after the defender was sent back to England from the Premier League club's pre-season tour of America. According to British media reports, manager Jurgen Klopp was unhappy with the 26-year-old's attitude during their stay in California and ordered his return to Liverpool.
Holders Manchester City were eliminated from the League Cup by West Ham United after a penalty shootout at London Stadium on Wednesday, ending Pep Guardiola's team's four-year domination of the competition.
Champions Liverpool suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to lowly Burnley on Thursday, ending their 68 match unbeaten home record in the Premier League as their title defence continued to fade.
Liverpool fielded a starting lineup consisting mainly of reserves and youth team players with an average age of 19.4, a club record.
Juergen Klopp has said his Liverpool team must be prepared to play ugly football to secure Champions League qualification following the injury to productive forward Sadio Mane ahead of Wednesday's Premier League clash against Bournemouth.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker scored a stunning header in the fifth minute of stoppage-time as Liverpool snatched a 2-1 victory at the death against relegated West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Sunday.
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