Andrew Robertson will replace Milos Kerkez in the Liverpool starting lineup when they take on Arsenal at the Emirates on Thursday.
Liverpool will be eager to return to winning ways when they lock horns with Arsenal at the Emirates on Thursday night. Arne Slot has no new issues to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Giovanni Leoni (knee), Wataru Endo (ankle), and Alexander Isak (leg) remain in the treatment room for the foreseeable future. However, it is unclear if Hugo Ekitike is ready to return after missing the game against Fulham due to a hamstring injury.
The French international was yet to resume training before Slot’s pre-match press conference, and it will be surprising to see him returning to the starting lineup. Nevertheless, the Dutch tactician provided a fitness update on Ekitike during the presser.
The Liverpool manager said, “He has not trained with us until now and let’s see if he can today. I’ve said, I think, two or three days ago when we played Fulham that he is not going to be out for long, but because games come so fast he is in between maybe training with the team or it would take him one or two days extra.”
Meanwhile, during his presser, Slot assessed his squad’s depth and quality of talent. The Liverpool boss said, “First of all, I’m really happy with the squad we are having. All the decisions that are made last summer and the summer before and all these things are completely aligned with me and Richard [Hughes] and ownership.”
“So, I think it has shown this season how talented this group is and if everyone is available how good of a team we can be. There’s nothing, nothing, nothing positive from players being injured but maybe, maybe if I could think about – not that it is positive – but the narrative that has always been there that we’ve spent so much money in the summer and every time when I try to say, ‘No, we replaced and spent a little bit more than came in,’ no-one wanted to hear it.”
Alisson Becker is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Liverpool lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Arsenal on Thursday. The backline will feature Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, and Andrew Robertson, with the latter replacing Milos Kerkez as the left-back.
As for the midfield unit, Curtis Jones will line up alongside Ryan Gravenberch in the double pivot. Alexis Mac Allister will replace the no. 10 role, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz being the two wide attackers. Finally, Cody Gakpo will lead the line for the away side against Arsenal, with Ekitike a possible option on the bench if he regains fitness.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Wirtz; Gakpo
