Rio Ngumoha will return to the Liverpool starting lineup when they welcome Manchester City to Anfield on Sunday.
Liverpool will be eager to clinch their first Premier League win at home this season when they host Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday evening. Andoni Iraola has new injury concerns to worry about ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Cody Gakpo (ankle) and Alexander Isak (thigh) are the latest absentees after sustaining their injuries during the international break. Additionally, Iraola had been sweating over Jeremy Jacquet’s fitness, but the French international is fit and available to take on Manchester City.
Meanwhile, Hugo Ekitike (achilles), Conor Bradley (knee), and Giovanni Leoni (knee) are long-term absentees. However, Federico Chiesa has resumed training and should be available. During his pre-match press conference, Iraola provided fitness updates on Gakpo, Isak, and Ekitike.
The Liverpool manager said, “Cody has an ankle injury. He has had some before in his career and it’s a matter of him dealing with the pain because when you twist your ankle…it was a really bad tackle, I think. He is doing things individually but [he is] not ready for Sunday. And Alex has a thigh injury. It’s a small injury but it’s a muscle injury. The same [as Gakpo], whenever he feels ready.”
“They both don’t look like long term – we will be analysing day to day. But they are not going to arrive on Sunday. Even before, we don’t have Hugo Ekitike, who is another very good striker that I’m looking forward to having available also. We don’t have Hugo, we don’t have Alex.”
“We will maybe recover Fede Chiesa but he hasn’t played any minutes. He is recovering from an injury but he has been doing a good job in the international break, he has been training with the small group we had. A full No.9, it’s true that we probably only have [Lewis] Koumas right now, but we have some other options. We have some wingers that have played up front in other teams. I think we will put an XI with a level enough to compete for that game.”
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 Manchester City on Sunday. The backline will feature Ronald Araujo, Jeremy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk, and Milos Kerkez.
As for the midfield unit, Ryan Gravenberch will miss out again, as Alexis Mac Allister will form the double pivot alongside Dominik Szoboszlai. Florian Wirtz will reprise the no. 10 role, with Bradley Barcola and Rio Ngumoha being the two wide attackers. Finally, Lewis Koumas will deputise for Isak as a makeshift striker on Sunday.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Araujo, Jacquet, van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister; Ngumoha, Wirtz, Barcola; Koumas
