Liverpool are primed to hand out another debut, with third-choice goalkeeper Freddie Woodman in line for a start at Anfield in the Carabao Cup as Alisson remains sidelined.
Today’s Main LFC Headline
Woodman, Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper, is set to make his club debut next week as part of a rotated side for the Carabao Cup tie against Crystal Palace.
The 28-year-old is “in firm consideration” reports the Mail‘s Lewis Steele, in what would be an unsurprising move to avoid a possible injury to Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Slot has used domestic cups to rotate his goalkeepers and with Mamardashvili stepping up to the No. 1 position in Alisson‘s absence, it leaves Woodman to take up the normal No. 2 duties.
It would not be a new move for Slot, who handed Vitezslav Jaros his first Liverpool start at Brighton in the Carabao Cup last season in the absence of Alisson and Caoimhin Kelleher.
Woodman featured for 90 minutes across two games in pre-season but has not played competitively since Preston’s win over Portsmouth in mid-March.
The magic of domestic cups!
Today’s Liverpool FC News
• Jeremie Frimpong has been ruled out with a hamstring injury which Slot says is “going to take a while [to recover],” while Alexander Isak and Ryan Gravenberch are doubts vs. Brentford
• Reports in Germany have claimed Bayern Munich held a ‘secret meeting’ with Marc Guehi‘s agent (clearly not so secret). Liverpool still want him and we don’t need any secret meetings to know that
• The Milos Kerkez vs. Andy Robertson debate has raged on this season and although Slot swerved a question on his selection thoughts, he did explain his new signing has been a “bit unlucky”
• Kostas Tsimikas has featured just five times for Roma, and his manager Gian Piero Gasperini has explained that his exclusion is down to “a technical choice” – not exactly promising (Tuttomercatoweb)
• Mohamed Salah‘s lack of goals is not concerning Slot considering his incredible feats for the club – if he could stick a few away on Saturday that would be lovely!
Watch Arne Slot’s pre-Brentford press conference
You can watch Slot preview Saturday’s trip to Brentford on our YouTube channel here!
More from This Is Anfield
The focus of Liverpool’s attack is gradually shifting away from Salah and he must adjust to that, writes Keifer MacDonald:
“It is quite a contrast to where Salah found himself last season, when he was so central to Liverpool’s plans to win the Premier League that Slot effectively freed him of any defensive duties as part of a trade-off for his vital contributions in the final third.
“This season, though, as Slot looks to put his own stamp on the Reds, he would be naive to centre his plans around a player who appears to be physically declining and also facing an uncertain long-term future at Anfield after signing only a two-year deal earlier this year.”
READ: Mo Salah may no longer be Liverpool’s main man – and he must adjust to that
Elsewhere in the football world today
• Rafa Benitez has made a surprise return to management, taking charge of one of Greece’s most historic clubs, Panathinaikos FC. It is his 15th job as a senior manager, quite the journey!
• Sheffield Wednesday have been placed in administration and hit with a 12-point deduction, they’re now on minus six points in the Championship
• Lionel Messi has signed a contract extension with Inter Miami to 2028, he’ll be 41 when the deal ends – let’s just hope MLS stop using him as a cash pig with tickets!
Liverpool FC: On this day
We may have just lost to Man United, but Liverpool have been dominative over their rivals in recent years.
October 24, 2021 saw Jurgen Klopp‘s side thrash Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men 5-0 at Old Trafford on a glorious day that saw many home fans begin to leave at half time.
Naby Keita and Diogo Jota scored before Mo Salah netted a hat-trick as he struck in a club record 10th consecutive match.
This preceded a 4-0 win at Anfield later in the season, a memorable double!
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