Liverpool’s full squad list ahead of their Carabao Cup defence against Derby County with six first-team players out of contention
Liverpool’s Carabao Cup defence is set to begin with an encounter against Derby County and according to Liverpool Echo, Liverpool would be without six first-team stars for the fixture.
Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Naby Keita, James Milner, Joel Matip and Arthur Melo are still on the sidelines and would be unavailable for the game.
The extent of the injuries to Diaz and Jota is well known and they would be available for selection post the World Cup only.
Loanee Arthur has a similar situation after coming across a long-term injury just a few days after his arrival at Anfield while Keita has not been really able to recover fully from the injury suffered against Manchester City in the Community Shield in August.
Coming off two tough fixtures, Jurgen Klopp would be expected to rotate his side, allowing first-team players to recover for the last league game on the weekend.
Here is the full squad list available to Klopp ahead of the game tonight:
Defenders: Andy Robertson, Calvin Ramsay, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Kostas Tsimikas, Nat Phillips, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk.
Midfielders: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, Fabinho, Fabio Carvalho, Harvey Elliott, Jordan Henderson, Stefan Bajcetic, Thiago Alcantara.
Forwards: Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino.
Academy options: Ben Doak, Luke Chambers, Melkamu Frauendorf, Bobby Clark, Dominic Corness, Layton Stewart.
As one can see, there are a lot of options from the Academy that can be called upon by the manager for the game to allow the younger players to get some experience under their belt.
Due to the dismal start to the campaign, Klopp has pretty much relied on the established first-team stars to sail through the storm and the game against the opposition provides him with the perfect opportunity to give chances to players in waiting.
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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones and Calvin Ramsey have been sidelined with injuries since the beginning of the season and the Carabao Cup is the perfect platform for the players to regain much-needed match fitness.
With two wins on the trot, Klopp would be keen to keep his side’s winning run going. Anything less than a convincing win on the night will not do for the defending champions.
