Arne Slot ‘thinks’ he has decided his “whole lineup” against Tottenham, but he was coy on if either Diogo Jota or Conor Bradley would be involved from the start on Wednesday.
Liverpool will train on Tuesday for the first time since the draw against Man United, with Slot expecting to be without only Joe Gomez for the League Cup semi-final first leg.
Dominik Szoboszlai remains a doubt due to illness but he can make himself available by being involved in training, though Slot conceded a start looks beyond the Hungarian.
The match will see calls for Jota and Bradley to be named in the starting XI, but Slot was not prepared to say whether they were ready for that level of involvement.
“I think if you look at all the fixtures we have had this season, there are so many things going into a lineup: short-term, long-term, qualities of the opponent, where are my players,” he said.
“It’s always a decision made in our opinion the best lineup for tomorrow.
“In some situations, for Southampton away or other games, the best lineup was the ones that didn’t start a lot.
“Let’s see tomorrow what that is for the game we play against Tottenham.”
He was certainly not prepared to give away anything!
Of the two, Jota is more likely to start having played 133 minutes off the bench across the last six games, whereas Bradley only returned from a six-week hamstring injury late against United.
At the very least, they will be part of the matchday squad so long as no unexpected injury or illness strikes before Wednesday’s kickoff it would leave Gomez as the sole injury absentee.
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On his centre-back, Slot offered a brief update by saying: “The team is in a good place. Unfortunately, Joe Gomez is injured.
“That means we go from four centre-backs back to three, but he will be back in a few weeks.”
What else did Slot have to say on his lineup?
Caoimhin Kelleher has made the League Cup his competition but Slot refused to say if he will start the semi-final, with his words hinting that it could instead be Alisson who gets the nod.
“I think I have decided the whole lineup already but in many ways people have tried to get to know what the lineup is, what I know,” Slot said.
• READ: Slot refuses to confirm goalkeeper vs. Tottenham – “players should know”
“So you will find out tomorrow what arguments there are, and if they ask me before the game or after the game, I’m always more than happy to answer those questions.
“But, first of all, the players should know how we’re going to play, and if all of them are available – that is also something we have to find out.”
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