Liverpool will aim to take a step closer to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals when they lock horns with Galatasaray in the round of 16 first leg at RAMS Park on Tuesday evening. Arne Slot has a new injury concern to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Alisson Becker is the latest absentee after sustaining a minor injury that has forced him to miss the trip to Turkiye. While the Brazilian international will not be unavailable for a long time, he is not in the travelling squad to take on Galatasaray this week. Additionally, Federico Chiesa misses out due to illness.
The duo accompanies Conor Bradley (hamstring), Giovanni Leoni (knee), Wataru Endo (ankle), and Alexander Isak (leg) in the treatment room. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Slot provided fitness updates on Alisson and Chiesa.
The Liverpool head coach said, “Federico was also not in the session, he felt unwell last night, so that’s why he wasn’t training with us today and not travelling with us. Ali, of course, was in the session – as many people could see – but unfortunately he felt something towards the end of the session.”
“And it was, how do you say this…people looked at it and we decided and he decided together that it wasn’t good enough to play tomorrow. And then it’s of no use travelling. There’s definitely a chance [that Alisson will play at the weekend], yeah, because we don’t expect it to be a big thing. But it was too much to be available for tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, during his presser, Slot also addressed questions on his right-back conundrum. The Liverpool boss said, “I think I have played five or six different players in that position this season. Dominik is one of them, he’s done in general in almost all of the games really well, but he’s played also really well in the midfield.”
“So, the good thing for me is I have choices to make and that has not been happening a lot this season. It was mainly 13 or 14 players available and usually the same ones always playing. Now, in the last game against Wolves I could even impact the game off the bench [and] that hasn’t happened that many times this season, so that’s a very good thing for us.”
Giorgi Mamardashvili will replace Alisson Becker between the sticks, with Liverpool lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Galatasaray on Tuesday. The backline will feature Jeremie Frimpong, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, and Milos Kerkez.
As for the midfield unit, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister will pair up in the double pivot, with Dominik Szoboszlai reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Hugo Ekitike will lead the line for the away side against Galatasaray, with Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo being the two wide attackers.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Ekitike
