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Meanwhile, Diogo Jota is absent with a rib injury he suffered in last Sunday’s 2-1 win over Chelsea. Conor Bradley and Federico Chiesa have also not been included in Liverpool’s squad. Slot will be wary that he can ill-afford to lose any more of his players. The Reds are in the midst of a hectic schedule and have a huge trip to Premier League title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
Of course, the Liverpool chief won’t want to make too many changes to his team against Leipzig. He knows that momentum is important and a victory will see the Reds move another step closer towards automatically qualifying for the knockout stage of the Champions League. Yet given the Reds won their opening games against AC Milan and Bologna and will still have five more fixtures in the new league format after Leipzig, Slot could be pondering whether to take a calculated risk and rest some players with an eye on Arsenal.
It was a surprise that Bradley missed out against Chelsea after he captained Northern Ireland in two matches during the international break. And it also came as a curveball when Slot revealed that Trent Alexander-Arnold had a fitness issue ahead of the game. The Liverpool vice-captain was superb throughout the triumph, delivering a consummate defence performance to quell Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto before being substituted in the 81st minute.
Joe Gomez came on the replace Alexander-Arnold as he helped Liverpool see out all three points and move back to the summit of the Premier League. And in truth, Gomez could well find himself featuring on the right-hand side of defence from the outset.
Slot will not want Alexander-Arnold aggravating any potential problem with Arsenal next to come before encounters against the likes of Brighton (twice), Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa. Therefore, Gomez could be the option to go with. If that is the case, the 27-year-old would be making only a second start of the season so far. The other came in a 5-1 win over West Ham United in the Carabao Cup last month in which he captained the team.
Last season, Gomez enjoyed somewhat of a revival of his Anfield career. He made a total of 51 appearances, primarily deputising in both full-back positions to cover injuries to Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimiaks. As a reward, Gomez won himself a spot in England’s Euro 2024 squad.
Liverpool’s longest-serving player has had to be patient so far this term, although he can have few complaints. The table-topping Reds have conceded only three goals - and six in all competitions - with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate forging a near-impeccable partnership in central defence. Alexander-Arnold remains first-choice right-back and Bradley is highly regarded to bring off the bench. On the opposite flank, Robertson is No.1 and Tsimikas his deputy.
But should Gomez get the nod against Leipzig, it will be another opportunity to prove his worth - and stake a claim to Slot going forward.
In addition, Dominik Szoboszlai was on pre-match media duties, which is a major hint that he will starter. The midfielder prepares to face his former club for the first time after joining the Reds from Leipzig for a fee of £60 million in July 2023.
On his return to the Red Bull Arena, Szoboszlai said: “I’m happy to be back and I cannot wait to get to the stadium tomorrow to see my old friends, coaching staff as well, and also the fans. I couldn’t say really a goodbye to them because my last transfer was a little bit quick! How are they [the fans] going to do [receive me]? To be honest, I don’t know. I know the players, I don’t know who is going to play but yeah, a great team, also a very good start to the season – six [Bundesliga] games [in which they] conceded no goals. So, we have to be ready.”
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