Liverpool will make a late decision on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s availability to face Everton but Joe Gomez has been ruled out of Wednesday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
Alexander-Arnold, 26, has missed the last two matches with a thigh problem, while Gomez’s comeback following a hamstring injury lasted just 11 minutes in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Plymouth Argyle.
“Trent has done parts of a training session with us so let’s see how he is today,” head coach Arne Slot told a news conference on Tuesday. “He will train hopefully with us again and then we have to decide if we take him to the game, yes or no.
“With Joe, it’s the same leg where he had the injury last time. We are still assessing that but he will definitely not be available tomorrow. That’s mostly a concern.”
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Conor Bradley is likely to start at right-back as Slot prepares to recall all the senior players who were rested for Sunday’s dismal loss to Championship strugglers Plymouth. Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Andy Robertson, Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo were all given the weekend off.
Gomez will miss Wednesday’s fixture (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
It will be the last ever Goodison derby as Everton prepare to move to their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and Slot knows that a hostile reception is guaranteed.
“It is probably going to be a fantastic atmosphere and that is never easy to play against because every single time they cross the halfway line or get a corner the fans will cheer,” he said.
“You have to be mentally really strong as an away team to resist all that. I have watched last season’s game (Liverpool lost 2-0 at Goodison in April). After 10 minutes the referee had blown his whistle 11 times and 10 times it was in favour of Everton. The Liverpool players were ready to compete but every time they touched them it was a free-kick. So I assume our players are ready for another battle tomorrow.
“Every time you play against a team that wants to fight with you, you have to run just as much, be just as intense in tackles, not going across the line but being cool enough to play a good and firm tackle. Cool head, but not cool legs.”
Slot dismissed suggestions that bowing out of the FA Cup could prove to be a blessing in disguise as Liverpool chase Premier League title glory. Victory over Everton would extend their lead over Arsenal to nine points.
He said: “If you are working at a club like this you should compete for every trophy so to lose against Plymouth is not acceptable. Now we have to show a different side of us tomorrow.
“A wise man once said to me that nothing good comes from losing a football game and I completely agree. We would have definitely preferred to play six games in 18 days or seven in 21.
“It was difficult because the plan was of course to play with Joe (Gomez) for 60 minutes or longer. The plan was also to start Curtis (Jones) but he came out Sunday saying that he didn’t feel well enough to play. All of a sudden we missed two important players.
“I think people know Darwin’s situation that he became a dad one or two days before the game and that happened in Spain, so he came in a bit later. There were some circumstances that weren’t perfect. The idea was to play with a stronger team than we did, but still this team should have been able to win that game.”
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
