Nothing less than three points will do for Liverpool as they take on Bournemouth this weekend.
The Reds bounced back from a terrible result against Nottingham Forest last Saturday by winning in Milan midweek.
However, the pressure is on a little to ensure they don’t repeat another poor performance and result at Anfield.
In reality, two games at home against Forest and Bournemouth should be six points for Liverpool, with all respect to both of those teams.
With Arsenal and Man City facing each other in a top of the table clash, the Reds have double incentive to get the win against the Cherries.
Thankfully, victory over Milan has eased worries that Liverpool are set to struggle once again. And as Arne Slot put his team through their paces at the AXA Training Centre on Thursday, there was a new face amongst the first-team squad.
Tommy Pilling joins Liverpool training
Liverpool’s midfield has been the talk of the town so far this season. The trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have started every game.
Stephen Warnock was left raving about Gravenberch and Mac Allister’s partnership against Milan on Tuesday and the pair look set to be Slot’s key duo in the middle of the park.
Beyond them, Curtis Jones looks to be getting further away from the starting XI by the game, while injury to Harvey Elliott has weakened the options at Slot’s disposal.
As a result, the head coach has dipped into the academy to supplement his group this week.
As seen on a video released by the official Liverpool X account, 20-year-old Tommy Pilling earned what is a first call-up to first-team training.
Pilling is seen going up against Conor Bradley in a foot race on the AXA Training pitches.
With Slot standing at the end of a short mini-hurdle track, the boss holds both his hands out to either side. Whichever player slaps his hand first wins.
Bradley just about gets the better of round one against Pilling, but the young midfielder bounces back to take the second effort. Given how pacey the right-back is, that’s impressive.
Who is Tommy Pilling?
It was a little bit of a surprise to see Pilling called up to Thursday’s session. The midfielder has seemingly never been close to the first-team before.
Nevertheless, Slot has clearly seen something he likes in the St Helens native.
Perhaps one reason for Pilling’s inclusion is that he is more of an attacking midfielder than, say, Trey Nyoni.
With Elliott out injured, Liverpool do not really have a natural replacement for the 21-year-old. Jones could do it, but Slot does not seemingly believe in shoehorning players into unfamiliar roles.
As a result Pilling, who has been with the club since he was five years old, could be set for a surprise chance. Left-back James Norris was also spotted in senior training for the first time this season.
