Darwin Nunez back but 2 new absentees in Liverpool’s pre-Bologna training

Darwin Nunez returned to Liverpool training on Tuesday, but preparations for the visit of Bologna in the Champions League saw two new absentees.

Nunez missed the trip to Wolves on Saturday evening with Liverpool reporting that the No. 9 was unavailable due to illness, but he is now back in contention.

He was part of a 19-man squad of outfield players put through their paces in front of the cameras at the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday.

The lunchtime session did not involve Federico Chiesa or Diogo Jota, however, with the latter undergoing a scan on a foot injury.

While that scan returned clear there have been no risks taken with Jota, while it is unclear whether Chiesa has suffered an issue of his own.

Chiesa made his first start of the season against West Ham in the Carabao Cup last week but was unused during the 2-1 win over Wolves, with Arne Slot admitting he was “surprised” his new signing lasting as long as he did on his full debut.

There were no other surprises in Tuesday’s squad, with Harvey Elliott yet to return after fracturing his foot last month.

Trey Nyoni was the only academy player involved, though he could join the U19s for their UEFA Youth League clash with Bologna on Wednesday afternoon rather than being part of the squad for the Champions League tie.

Slot is likely to make changes to the side that won at Molineux at the weekend, with Nunez perhaps one of those brought in.

Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones, Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley are among the other options, though the head coach only employed minor rotation for the opener at AC Milan a fortnight ago.

Liverpool have never met Bologna in a competitive game in their history, though the two sides did clash in a pair of pre-season friendlies as recently as 2021.

The Reds won the first of those games 2-0 and the second 1-0, with Diogo Jota, Sadio Mane and Takumi Minamino scoring the goals.

Only 12 of the players utilised over those two hours against Bologna are still part of Slot’s squad.


Liverpool squad in training pre-Bologna

Goalkeepers: Alisson, Kelleher, Jaros, Davies

Defenders: Van Dijk, Konate, Quansah, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Bradley, Tsimikas

Midfielders: Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Jones, Endo, Morton

Forwards: Salah, Diaz, Gakpo, Nunez