Ivan Toney's long Brentford wait over, Mo Salah Liverpool concerns, Arsenal 'recharged' - Premier League talking points

The Bees hitman will finally reappear after a long suspension – and they need talisman to hit ground running

Ivan Toney has not played for eight months but will make his Brentford return against Nottingham Forest.

A long 259 days will come to an end for Ivan Toney on Saturday when he takes to the field for Brentford in their English Premier League match against Nottingham Forest.

His manager Thomas Frank confirmed Toney will captain the Bees at the Gtech Stadium in his first game back after his eight-month suspension. The 27-year-old has not played competitively since being banned in May for breaching Football Association gambling rules. He was permitted to return to training with his team-mates in September and has played in a number of behind-closed-doors friendlies in the run-up to becoming available again.

With the team dealing with a number of absences both through injury and international call-ups, Frank said Toney will wear the armband against Forest, with regular skipper Christian Norgaard amongst those missing. The manager said he is confident that Toney is ready to play 90 minutes despite having been out for such a long time.

Liverpool's Mo Salah picked up an injury playing for Egypt at AFCON.

“He’s buzzing,” said Frank. “He’s like an eight-year-old boy that just wants to go out and play maybe his first football game. That pure joy of playing football. I’m looking into the eyes of a player that is very committed, very excited and can’t wait. I can break it now: he will start tomorrow and he will also lead the team out of the tunnel. He will be the captain because Christian [Norgaard] is injured. I think he is ready (for 90 minutes). There will be extra adrenaline in him, extra excitement. He will run around like he’s never run around before. He is very fit, he’s played in-house games and played 90 minutes.”

Toney was the team’s top scorer last season with 20 Premier League goals, making his England debut in March during a European Championship qualifying win against Ukraine at Wembley. He was first charged with 262 breaches of FA betting regulations in November 2022 and revived his suspension in May after admitting to 232 of the offences. He has since been diagnosed with a gambling addiction, as was revealed in the FA’s written explanation for the length and severity of the punishment. Brentford said at the time they would offer the player whatever support was necessary during the course of his suspension.

“He’s a special character,” said Frank, whose team are on a run of five consecutive league defeats. “He’s a fantastic person to be around. The energy he brings, the smile and positivity, is a massive thing. On the pitch he drags people, he wants to win. It’s a massive boost. It’s like a new signing. There’s an argument that he is maybe the second-best striker in the Premier League right now, in my opinion. He needs to prove it again, it’s the same with any player.”

Reports have linked Toney with a move away from the London club during the January transfer window, with Arsenal and Chelsea touted as possible destinations. However, Frank said that the club have received no formal offers and that he expects the striker to stay for the remainder of the season at least. “It’s 99 point something that he will stay here,” he said. “But football is crazy, you never know what is going to happen tomorrow. He’s very committed to being here. I spoke with him yesterday about it, it’s the only thing on his mind. We just have that point zero something number craziness in football that you can’t rule out. We are committed to each other. The club is committed to Ivan and the other way around.”

Brentford v Forest is one of five matches taking place across the EPL this weekend, with the other game on Saturday taking place at 12.30pm at the Emirates Stadium when Arsenal host Crystal Palace. An FA Cup defeat to Liverpool on January 7 made it three losses in a row and one victory from the Gunners’ last seven matches, but the players have returned from a warm-weather training camp in Dubai “fully recharged” according to their manager Mikel Arteta. “It was a phenomenal camp,” reported Arteta. “We recharged our batteries and the context of the environment, in the beautiful weather, helps. The togetherness and moments we shared together were great, so yeah we’re fully recharged.”

The two Sunday matches are Sheffield United v West Ham at 2pm, followed by Bournemouth v Liverpool at 4.30pm, both on Sky Sports. The Reds have a further injury concern that took place thousands of miles away from Merseyside, with Mo Salah picking up a hamstring injury at the Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday. “In the moment it was a shock. He felt it and we all know how rarely Mo needs to go off so there was definitely something,” said Klopp. “I don’t have any more information right now. I spoke with him last night. They are doing further assessments and then we will know more.”

After the game Egypt coach Rui Vitoria said he hoped Salah’s injury was not a big problem, adding: “I think it’s not dangerous, but let’s see if Salah recovers.” Klopp said they would await further updates before deciding whether to send club medical staff to the Ivory Coast. “It’s too early. We will see. It depends on what the diagnosis is,” he added. “They (Egypt) will do an ultrasound and an MRI and then we will know what it is and what Egypt’s plans are.”

While Liverpool did not expect Salah to return until early next month, any injury would be a blow as they seek to maintain top spot in the Premier League. They head to Bournemouth on Sunday looking to extend their advantage to five points but will do so without a number of players, including Scotland captain Andy Robertson, although he is nearing a return.

The card concludes on Monday night when Wolves take on Brighton and Hove Albion.