Liverpool don name their starting eleven for Wednesday night Champions League match against LASK for Raiffeisen Arena, and Kostas Tsimikas go captain the Reds. Jeremie Frimpong also come inside the defence.
For the middle and attack, Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha get starts. Milos Kerkez, Alexis Mac Allister, Victor Munoz and Virgil van Dijk na the players wey make way.
Liverpool line-up na: Alisson, Jacquet, Wirtz, Tsimikas, Barcola, Frimpong, Araujo, Gravenberch, Nyoni, Koumas, Ngumoha. Bench na: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Munoz, Chambers, McConnell, Danns, Sonni-Lambie, Lucky.
Manager Andoni Iraola no fit give time frame on when injured trio Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai go return, but e talk say dem ‘not far off’. Iraola also say e ‘trust’ Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz to deliver ‘100%’ while the three players dey out.
Liverpool go face LASK for Austria on Wednesday night for Champions League. BBC Sport website go carry live text updates and radio commentary of the match.
Defender Milos Kerkez talk about Barcola: ‘He arrived, played a few games, needs a bit more time, so does everyone who arrives at a club like this.’ Kerkez add say Barcola be real talent, e get great skills, and e can help the team score goals going forward.
Kerkez still talk say: ‘It’s just the thing is, we should talk more and build that connection more that’s going to help us get better combinations down the line, I think we are on a good way and I hope it will get better.’
On how the team dey prepare, Iraola explain say: ‘We don’t have a lot of time to train, we have to prepare with some videos, tactics and the ball outside a little, but we have to prioritise the freshness of the players.’
Iraola mention say Liverpool dey play four games in 10 days, so dem want keep legs in the game. For Barcola case, the gaffer believe say the more e play, the more connection e go get with players around am, and the better e go become.
When dem ask am whether other players go step up as Isak, Gakpo and Szoboszlai dey out, Iraola answer: ‘We will see. It’s a matter of us because we lost at the end, we are now trying to find why. But I think I liked the team a lot the other day. Not when we were with 10. You should play much better at 10, but before that I liked the spirit, work-rate, attitude. I liked the offensive players, yes.’
On changing team for Champions League, e talk say: ‘It is a game that we want to win and we want to start this competition, we have the first win and we want the second one. It is always difficult to win in this competition because there are some niggles, so it will be hard to have the same starting 11 as last time.’
Iraola still yan on Barcola and Wirtz: ‘Responsibilities are the same [as other senior players in the squad]. The performances are exactly the same. Sometimes we have to focus not just on the numbers. I was happy with a lot of things the other day with Bradley. We had good situations, we didn’t finish them. But him and Florian are players I trust 100%.’
On missing Isak, Gakpo and Szoboszlai, the manager say: ‘I think that is true, Cody, Alex and Dom are top scorers this season because they play more this season and now we don’t have them, so we need the other players to give us those numbers. We trust that we have the players to play in those positions. The injuries are because of the national teams and some were injuries from the last game. It is about adapting to the circumstances. Bradley and Florian, they’ve had good games, bad games this season but we know their level and we are sure they’ll give us good performances.’
When dem ask about the three injured players, Iraola talk say: ‘They are not far, but it is difficult to tell you right now. Any of the three have trained with the group and we are taking it day to day. But I don’t know when they will be ready.’
Kerkez also comment on Szoboszlai fitness: ‘He is recovering. I mean, I know Dom, how he is, he doesn’t like to be out for long and he wants to play every game, so knowing him I think he would like to play Saturday.’
On team morale after Sunday 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City, Kerkez talk say: ‘We were really disappointed after the game. We competed very well for the first 60 minutes and after that, what happened happened. It was frustrating but we know we have this game tomorrow, so the next day we focused on recovery and today also doing the best things so we are 100% tomorrow.’
