Slot set for Salah talks and has ‘no reasons to not want him to stay’ – football live

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England fans outrage at 'laughable' World Cup ticket prices

England fans say they have been “slapped in the face” by Fifa after it was revealed a run to the World Cup final would cost supporters over £5,000 for tickets

.The pricing policy was described as “laughable” by the Football Supporters’ Association’s England Fans’ Embassy, while Football Supporters Europe (FSE) called the prices a “monumental betrayal” of match-going fans and urged Fifa to call a halt to the sale process.

Fans hoping to access tickets through their national associations’ travel programmes and loyalty schemes discovered on Thursday that the cheapest final ticket would cost 4,185 US dollars (£3,120). The Football Association shared pricing information with the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) on Thursday evening, which showed that if a fan bought the cheapest ticket for every game through to the final it would cost 7,020 US dollars (£5,228).

In a post on X, the England Fans’ Embassy said: “These prices are a slap in the face to supporters who support their team outside of the flagship tournament that appears every four years.

“To call the Category 3 tickets, the cheapest available to ESTC members, ‘Supporter Value Category 3’ that comes at a cost of 7,020 US dollars if you want to follow England from start to finish, is laughable. A game for supporters, loyalty has been thrown out of the window and supporters of the participating nations have been completely let down.”

FSE said, from the ticket price information it had available, supporting your team from the first game to the final at the 2026 tournament would cost five times as much as at the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Kolo Toure will be doing the Manchester City press conference today because Pep Guardiola has a personal matter to attend but the head coach will be in the dugout at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Slot has been talking about Liverpool’s injuries, too: “Endo and Gakpo? Going to be weeks. Cody is a muscle injury and Wata is ankle.

And his new strike pairing of Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak: “What we all saw, which is normal, the more they play, the more they will adapt and the better they will cooperate. The other two No 9s on the pitch for Inter were more used to playing with each. It’s the second time they have played together and I think we will see more of this in the future. Alex got a knock in the first half, so let’s see if he is able to start tomorrow.

“I don’t think height tells you a player is perfectly equipped for that direct style. Some are tall and struggle, others aren’t and dominate. Alex and Hugo, you can better use them in behind than long balls into their body. I see Hugo trying to do this better and better but there’s room for improvement as there is with so many parts of our games.”

More Slot on Salah: “I have no reasons to not want him to stay.”

Slot set for Salah talks today

Seems it’s undecided whether he plays a part against Brighton.

“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning and the outcome determines how.

“What I need is a conversation with him and the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. There’s not much more I can say. I speak to him today and the outcome determines how things will look tomorrow.

“You can try in multiple ways but I just said the next time I speak about him should be with him. I think there’s been a lot of conversations since the last week between his reps and ours. An apology? Normally I’d say you’ve had your three questions…”

The week’s big story has been the Mohamed Salah affair. Liverpool play Brighton this weekend, a game Salah pinpointed might be his last. There’s also talk of a midweek meeting with Jordan Henderson; does that mean Saudi Arabia or Brentford? Arne Slot is due to speak this morning.

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