With Dominik Szoboszlai suspended for Sunday’s trip to West Ham, Arne Slot has urged another player to be “outstanding” in his absence.
The Liverpool boss would have felt confident that his No. 8 could avoid a booking that would trigger a one-match ban after starting him from the bench on Boxing Day.
Just three minutes into his cameo, however, Szoboszlai was shown his fifth yellow card of the league season to ensure he is not available for Sunday’s trip to the capital.
Szoboszlai has turned the corner in recent weeks and will have been pencilled in to start against the Hammers, but now Slot must utilise his other options in midfield.
Speaking on the absence of his No. 8 in his pre-match press conference, Slot utilised the opportunity to urge another player to step up.
“That’s what you saw [on Thursday] as well,” Slot said when asked about utilising his squad.
“Because I think Dominik Szoboszlai was outstanding against Tottenham and the idea and the plan was that he should be outstanding against West Ham.
“But he’s not available, so someone else should be outstanding against West Ham.”
Szoboszlai will return against Man United on January 5, but Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez are still a booking away from a one-match suspension.
Slot’s options at West Ham
Curtis Jones, who started against the Foxes, will be expected to retain his position as the most advanced Liverpool midfielder as he and Szoboszlai have regularly rotated this season.
The 23-year-old scored his third goal of the season on Thursday and will still be relatively fresh after being left out against Southampton and then playing the last 22 minutes at Tottenham.
He certainly has the capacity to be “outstanding against West Ham,” especially considering the Hammers are expected to be without six key players for the clash.
With Jones having completed the full 90 minutes just three times this season, however, Slot will have decisions to make when he decides to turn to the bench.
Harvey Elliott will come into contention to see out the match, as too Wataru Endo with Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister guaranteed starts at the London Stadium.
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