Liverpool have little time to rest on their laurels after a victory over Everton in the Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday. Arne Slot and the Reds will immediately look to recover and then prepare for a match against Southampton in EFL Cup play on Tuesday.
With Liverpool playing through their first set of midweek fixtures this season, Slot has pre-emptively announced during his Everton post-match press conference that the Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch,
and Dominik Szoboszlai would not play against the Saints after featuring a full three matches in just seven days.
“This is why the teams that are playing in Europe need a squad like this because you need to play so many games. It’s not an excuse and we have to accept it as it is. But we have had some issues with Alexander Isak not training for four months, [Alexis] Mac Allister missing a lot. I could go on and on. But the good thing is that I have the options to rotate throughout the week.”
“The ones that played three times 90 [minutes] are Virgil, Ibou, Mo, Ryan and Dom – the ones that are used to this intensity and this level. And again, they showed up really good. I can tell you now you won’t be seeing them on Tuesday. If that’s any help for Southampton then they already know.”
The earlier stages of the EFL Cup have frequently served as a proving ground for Liverpool’s reserves and youth players. While many of the major stars will not feature, there is still plenty to be excited about for Tuesday’s fixture. Young center back Giovanni Leoni is expected to be given his first action as a Red after joining from Parma in August. In addition, exciting young talents Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni are likely to be given a chance to shine against a side currently struggling at 19th in the Championship.
