Liverpool has been going through its final preparations ahead of what looks set to be a crucial encounter with Tottenham on Sunday.
Having now seen Manchester City lose yet again, the Reds would dearly love to strengthen their position at the top of the Premier League in their final game before Christmas – although they could go into tomorrow’s game in north London having been dethroned by Chelsea.
The Liverpool boss put his players through their paces on Friday, with the session at the AXA Training Centre being captured by photographers. Here is what Liverpool.com spotted, including a potential new injury scare.
New injury scare?
While the injury situation has seemingly been easing recently, it is still far from ideal. Having Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley out at the moment does leave Liverpool short at the back, especially given the former’s superb showings this season.
Both were absent from training on Friday as expected, but rather more worrying was that there was no sign of three more players – or at least not in the pictures from the AXA Centre.
There was no sign of Cody Gakpo as Liverpool’s players trained ahead of facing Tottenham (Image: Getty Images)
The most concerning of those absentees is Cody Gakpo. The Netherlands international is becoming more and more pivotal for the Reds, and considering Federico Chiesa also wasn’t spotted in training, it could mean Liverpool is seriously short of options in attack at Spurs.
Tyler Morton was the other player who couldn’t be spotted. All three did play on Wednesday at Southampton, so fingers crossed it’s just a case of them needing a little more recovery time, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Jota boost
While Gakpo’s absence will be a concern, seeing Diogo Jota in training will come as a big boost to Liverpool. Of course, he has played in the last two games amid his return from injury, you do always need to err on the side of caution with the Portuguese international.
After all, he was unable to train after the draw with Fulham last weekend, so to see him getting involved ahead of the Spurs game is encouraging to say the least. It does seem he is building his fitness back up to a level that will hopefully make him a regular starter again.
The young ones
Liverpool did have to lean on some of its youngsters at Southampton in order to ease the burden on some of the club’s senior stars, but they did their job, and it’s only right that they continue to be involved with the first-team as the season progresses.
Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha, James Norris, Jayden Danns and Amara Nallo were all once again involved in training ahead of Spurs, and although their chances of featuring on Sunday are much smaller than they were during the week, they will certainly have a part to play as the season progresses.
A word for Elliott
It’s been great to see Harvey Elliott back recently. What had felt like a big season after finishing the last campaign so impressively had the brakes applied quite dramatically when he fractured his foot while on England U21 duty.
That injury has deprived Liverpool and Slot of a player that really seemed to be coming into his own as a senior star, but hopefully we can begin seeing more of that now he’s back in the fold.
He certainly showed what he can offer on Wednesday with a superb performance at Southampton, even if Slot had to switch things around a bit in order to prevent him getting ‘bored’. Elliott is certainly a popular member of the squad, and the new coaching staff seem to have taken a shine to him as well, with John Heitinga showing some affection for him on Friday.
Midfield options
The sight of Alexis Mac Allister returning at Southampton after his recent suspensions was more than welcome. There can be little doubt that the Argentine is a firm fixture in the side when he’s available – although he was arguably not even the most impressive of the midfielders on Wednesday.
Curtis Jones has come into his own this season
Wataru Endo has been earning plenty of plaudits for his performance, having had to act as a makeshift center-back. Although his chances have not been as plentiful as last season, the Japanese international so rarely lets Liverpool down when he plays.
Liverpool had their full complement of midfield options in training, with Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai also involved. Slot will have a difficult decision to make in the middle of the park tomorrow.
