Arne Slot has confirmed Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is fit to start against Manchester City this weekend
The 26-year-old returned to the squad as an unused substitute in the Champions League victory over Real Madrid on Wednesday following a hamstring injury.
The right-back is making a timely return with Conor Bradley a doubt for the game along with fellow defender Ibrahima Konate after they both picked up injuries against Madrid.
“(They are) still being assessed so difficult to see where they are in terms of the injury,” Slot said during his pre-match press conference.
“Let’s wait and see but it is never a good sign. Conor, I had to take him off and Ibou didn’t walk off the pitch as he should after such a fantastic game that he played. He should have made a round and clapped the fans but he couldn’t.”
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“It is so close after the game last night and I have just come off the training pitch so I can’t tell you exactly where they are. We have to wait and see where they are this weekend.”
Alisson, Diogo Jota, Federico Chiesa and Kostas Tsimikas all missed the match against Madrid through injury as they continue their individual recoveries.
Liverpool are aiming to strengthen their position at the top of the table and victory over an out-of-form Manchester City would see them extend the gap to Pep Guardiola’s side to eleven points.
Despite not winning in their last six matches in all competitions, Slot still expects a tough challenge from the reigning Premier League champions.
“In the last eight or nine years or longer I don’t think anyone would have said City home or away — the word easy never comes to mind.
“I know everyone is looking at their results but if you face them, you analyse it. Against Brighton they were 1-0 up, could have scored two or three and got beaten 2-1. Against Tottenham after 20 minutes they could have been two or three goals up but weren’t. Against Feyenoord that has not happened many times. They were 3-0 up and completely dominated the game.
“They are still a very, very, very good team and one of the reasons I think Pep is the best manager in the world is he always comes up with solutions. His problem now might be that Rodri is out but we all know he will come up with a solution and they will go again.”
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(Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
