Liverpool won their final match before their title clash at Arsenal this weekend. The Gunners might be depleted in strength but their opponents have nearly all their key stars available for the game.
Alisson and Diogo Jota are question marks ahead of the game after suffering issues in recent weeks. Ahead of the game with RB Leipzig on Wednesday, Arne Slot provided a team update to the press.
“Conor Bradley didn’t make the trip, Harvey Elliott didn’t make it, Federico Chiesa didn’t make it, and Alisson didn’t make it,” he said. “So it means that we have a few issues at the moment.
“He [Diogo Jota] got a knock [on Sunday], like we all saw, when he was trying to go to goal, brought down. That was not the biggest problem but I think the other player fell onto him and that hurt him that much that he couldn’t continue to play and he couldn’t come with us for now.
“It’s difficult to judge at this moment of time to see how long that’s going to take. It’s bruised, so we have to see how long it is going to take.”
Liverpool managed to win 1-0 over Leipzig, the same scoreline Arsenal were victorious over Shakhtar Donetsk the day before, without their missing players. However, there were precautions taken during the match which will be of note to the Gunners.
Mohamed Salah was replaced on 63 minutes by Luis Diaz who was rested, while Cody Gakpo started the match on the left wing. Slot spoke after the game and was asked whether it was indeed a tactical decision with the title match on Sunday.
“It’s a tough fixture list that we have so, I said before the game about Curtis Jones that he hasn’t played 90 minutes yet, he only played two times 75 or 85 minutes, he is not used to playing two games so fast in a row,” he said. “We have some injuries now so I have to take good care of the players that have played a lot and Mo is one of them and on Sunday a big game is coming up again.
“So, I need to use as many players as I can use for these next tough weeks and these tough months that are coming up, so that they are all prepared to play.”
Darwin Nunez was taken off on 74 minutes alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold and Konstantinos Tsimikas. Leipzig had two goals ruled out for offside meaning the score could have been very different, something to give Arsenal encouragement.
Arteta though will be sweating on the fitness of Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber. While he needs to come up with a plan to deal with the suspension of William Saliba while Riccardo Calafiori’s status also remains unknown.
