Liverpool are clamping down on the transferring of tickets and this week a number of members have been handed a temporary suspension and placed under investigation after allegedly breaching club rules.
Confidential has seen numerous emails sent to fans who have previously transferred their tickets to others via the club’s official channels. Ticket-holders are allowed to pass on their seats a couple of times a season in the event they can’t get to a fixture. Only members who attended at least 13 Premier League home games the previous season have this option.
Many fans are grumbling about this as they have given a ticket to a friend or family member in good faith for a fixture they cannot attend – not tried to tout them for profit – and have since been suspended.
The club email states: ‘You have distributed match tickets to an account that has supplied misleading or incorrect information, and/or distributed match tickets to an account that has, in the club’s opinion, failed to verify their identity and/or has supplied misleading or incorrect information contrary to section 7.2.22 of our Ticketing Terms and Conditions. As a result of this allegation, your account will be suspended until the investigation process is completed.’
Supporters have complained, with one account posting: ‘More sanctions emails today for breaking 7.2.22. Must be sickening when all you have done is send a ticket.’
One fan said: ‘99 per cent identical email being sent out to everyone that has received one. LFC let your mates put them on LiveFootball though.’
Confidential understands that the move from the club is part of ongoing work around the issue of ticket touting
The vast majority of lifetime bans and indefinite suspensions were for unauthorised selling of season tickets, memberships or hospitality tickets, in breach of terms and conditions
At the time of writing, the cheapest Liverpool ticket on the resale website LiveFootballTickets for the final home game of the season against Crystal Palace is just over £2,000. If, as expected, Liverpool go on to win the Premier League title, Arne Slot’s side would lift the trophy that day.
Confidential understands that the move from the club is part of ongoing work around touting. A total of 1,500 tickets were cancelled across the 2023-24 season and in October last year Liverpool revealed that they had shut down close to 100,000 fake ticketing accounts, while issuing 75 lifetime bans and 136 indefinite suspensions.
The vast majority of lifetime bans and indefinite suspensions were for unauthorised selling of season tickets, memberships or hospitality tickets, in breach of the terms and conditions. At the time, over 5,000 accounts were under review by the club for suspicious activity.
Salah to skip Egypt camp
Mohamed Salah is to dodge Egypt’s June international camp to focus on resting his body after a long and arduous campaign at Liverpool, Confidential understands.
Sources have long pointed to Salah’s decision to miss last summer’s Olympics as a factor in his fine form this year – as he got a full rest on the back of a campaign in which his body was put through the mill.
Alexander-Arnold on track with recovery
Trent Alexander-Arnold is on track with his recovery and hoping to play again this month, after the vice-captain limped off against Paris Saint-Germain with an ankle injury.
A definitive return date is still not possible, with Alexander-Arnold needing to see how he fares when back in full training.
There was talk this week that former Everton striker James Vaughan was set to join Alexander-Arnold’s team of advisers but these rumours are wide of the mark.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is on track with his recovery and is still hoping to play again this month
Joe Gomez is also hoping to feature again this season after a hamstring injury in December which required surgery.
Goalkeeper Alisson has been left frustrated at missing two club matches after being concussed on Brazil duty more than two weeks ago. Liverpool are hopeful that he will be OK for Sunday’s clash with West Ham, as Alisson has been training as normal.
Alisson is not the only casualty in the goalkeeping department, with keeper coach Fabian Otte spotted on a crutch last week!
Has Slot’s lack of rotation hampered Liverpool?
Fans may feel fatigued from talking about fatigue in recent weeks – with the question being posed several times over whether Arne Slot’s lack of rotation has hampered Liverpool
So Confidential has had a deep dive into the data and here are the results…
Liverpool have made 3.9 changes per game this season – which is more than all but five clubs in the Premier League. Chelsea are top with 7.2 (though they do virtually switch the full XI for Conference League clashes) and Everton are bottom on 2.1.
Slot has used 31 players in total, which puts Liverpool ninth in the Premier League, and they are 11th in the list of average substitutions per game with 4.33.
But what may support the statistic that players are being worn out is that nine Liverpool men have started 30 or more games this season, which is more than any other Premier League team. Wolves, Leicester and West Ham, for example, only have two players in that category.
Ryan Gravenberch is one player that is perhaps starting to feel the effects of his first full season as a starter
Ryan Gravenberch is one such player who is perhaps starting to feel the effects of his first full season as a starter. Before Christmas, the Dutchman was averaging 73 touches, 15.1 ball carries, 158m carry distance and 90.6 per cent pass accuracy in all competitions per 90 minutes. All of those are down, respectively at 64 touches, 12.5 carries, 129m distance and 87.9 per cent pass accuracy.
Staying on the topic of statistics, Liverpool have beaten this week’s opponents West Ham 5-1 in the Carabao Cup and 5-0 in the Premier League already this season. No top-flight team have ever scored five or more goals against the same opposition three times in the same season.
Your questions answered
A new-ish feature to Confidential where I answer your questions. My DMs are open on X if anyone has any for next week, or you can email me at [email protected]…
Aaron Bailie asks: Lewis, what forward have you heard Liverpool are most interested in this summer?
Hugo Ekitike is the name that pops up the most when I speak to people so he is one to keep a close eye on.
The France Under 21 star has scored 19 goals and made eight assists for Eintracht Frankfurt this season and ticks a lot of boxes in terms of his age profile and experience – he is playing every week in a top league and has European experience, too.
Matheus Cunha will be on the move this summer. The Wolves forward has a £62.5million release clause and the Midlands club are anticipating a lot of interest.
Liam Delap at Ipswich has been mentioned a lot but I do not think he is a viable candidate – a great player, though – and Joao Pedro of Brighton is similar. There has been talk that Liverpool have lodged interest in the Brazilian but I don’t believe this to be true at this stage.
Hugo Ekitike is the name that pops up the most when I speak to people about Liverpool’s transfer plans
Ibrahima Konate has massively stepped up this season after it looked like he was drifting down the pecking order last summer
Tom Little asks: Which three players have surprised you the most this season?
The main one is Ryan Gravenberch. I remember standing on a sunny square in Philadelphia in the summer, recording one of my daily tour diary videos, when it dawned on me that no-one in the fanbase seemed to be considering the Dutchman as a viable option.
But he has been nothing short of exceptional and, despite a little drop-off in the last few weeks, I would have him in my Premier League team of the season.
I have also been pleasantly surprised by Ibrahima Konate. It really did feel like Jarell Quansah was the No 2 centre back alongside Virgil van Dijk going into this season. Konate had a lot to prove and he has done that. His fitness record has been spotless bar one minor injury.
And the third is probably Dominik Szoboszlai. It is easy to forget just how poor he was post-Christmas last season but he has been nearly ever-present this year and is crucial to Slot’s style. But more goal involvements are needed.
Keep an eye on BBC One tonight
There is a documentary on BBC One at 11.40pm tonight about Liverpool, telling the story of their 2019 Champions League win.
It features expert insight from their former director of research Ian Graham, who recalls how he had to debate with Jurgen Klopp to convince him to sign Mohamed Salah. The legendary German preferred Julian Brandt.
‘We agreed that Brandt was a very good young player but not a standout in the same way that Mo was,’ says Graham on the show. ‘From our data analysis point of view, Mo was the best young wide forward in Europe, full stop.’
He’s been proven right. Interviews with Andy Robertson and Alisson also feature in the documentary.
There will be a documentary on BBC One at 11.40pm tonight about Liverpool, telling the story of their 2019 Champions League win
One key figure from that era, Klopp’s right-hand man Peter Krawietz, has recently started his first role since leaving Liverpool last summer.
Klopp, now at Red Bull, has appointed Krawietz as assistant manager to Zsolt Low, a long-term ally of Thomas Tuchel, at RB Leipzig.
Loan watch: Beck out for season
Left back Owen Beck will not play for Blackburn again this season due to a hamstring issue, joining several other loanees who have had their stints dashed by injury.
Ben Doak is unlikely to play again for Middlesbrough this season after having what was described as minor thigh surgery in February. The Scotland international has not played since January.
And Jayden Danns remains in rehabilitation work at the AXA Training Centre in Kirkby having not featured once for Sunderland since his loan move on deadline day.
On the topic of loans, Nat Phillips is loving life at Derby since John Eustace took over.
The defender was once a bit-part player at the Rams but is now a regular starter as Derby have won four of their last six games, as well as drawing with promotion-chasing Burnley.
And future goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who joins from Valencia this summer, saved a Vinicius Junior penalty last weekend to put a big dent in Real Madrid’s La Liga title hopes.
Future Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who joins from Valencia this summer, saved a Vinicius Junior penalty last weekend to hit Real Madrid’s La Liga title hopes
Mixed zone diaries
There was a nice moment at Craven Cottage when Liverpool left back Kostas Tsimikas had a lengthy chin-wag with Marco Silva and some of his backroom staff. The Fulham boss gave the Greece international his debut at Olympiacos.
Tsimikas is one who faces an uncertain future this summer with left back a priority area for Liverpool to address. Andy Robertson has not been as bad as some fans make out but succession planning is needed.
It was also interesting to observe the data collection experts at work in the press box at Fulham.
One individual was tallying up each and every movement of the two managers on the touchline. Every time Arne Slot stood up, for example, they would make a note, going as far as totting up their location in the technical area – left, right, centre, leaving the designated zone, etc.
Good job Mikel Arteta was not in charge as their pen may have run out!
20 years since Istanbul
Rafael Benitez will be back on Merseyside next month to mark two decades (can you believe it?) since Liverpool won the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul.
Benitez, Jamie Carragher and Didi Hamann will be present at a gala dinner at Liverpool’s Crowne Plaza Hotel on May 24, the night before the Reds will expect to lift the Premier League trophy against Crystal Palace at Anfield.
Jamie Carragher and Didi Hamann will be present at a gala dinner at Liverpool’s Crowne Plaza Hotel on May 24 to celebrate 20 years since the Champions League win
Did you get John Arne Riise in last week’s Red Riddle about Liverpool and Fulham players?
Red Riddle
Last week, I asked you to name the 14 players past or present who have played for both Liverpool and last Sunday’s opponents Fulham in the Premier League era.
Here they are: John Arne Riise, Ryan Babel, Fabio Carvalho, Stan Collymore, Harvey Elliott, Steve Finnan, Danny Guthrie, Paul Konchesky, Lazar Markovic, Danny Murphy, Sheyi Ojo, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Neco Williams and Harry Wilson.
That was tough – but doable. Anything in double figures represents a good score, I reckon.
Now, Liverpool play West Ham on Sunday so, sticking to the theme, let’s ask the same question for those clubs – 22 players to get!