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Arne Slot, Manager of Liverpool, looks on during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC at Emirates Stadium on October 27, 2024 in London, England. | Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Liverpool are without a few long-term absentees
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot spoke on his team’s absentees in his pre-Brighton press conference Friday, providing a window of possible return without any specifics.
“I think I said it already a few times that it is always difficult to tell you exactly when they [Alisson and Jota] are ready because especially the last phase of the recovery can always be a few days extra or less. The fact is that they are not there before the international break and let’s see if they can join us after.
“Chiesa is not back before the international break, but there is only a week to go. We are hoping he can do things again during the international break and that he can join us afterwards.”
The November international break takes place after matchweek 11, so Liverpool will play at least these next two matches without their absentees.
Slot did not specifically mention Harvey Elliott, who is completing his own rehabilitation from the foot injury he picked up away on international duty with the England U21s earlier this season.
Slot also discussed the need to manage Andy Robertson’s minutes, as the Scottish captain came into pre-season carrying an injury, and thus missed vital stages of fitness preparation. Given this, Slot didn’t wish to refer to left back rotation as “a dilemma”:
“No, I wouldn’t say a ‘dilemma’. It is in more positions where we have rotated; you are maybe a bit focused on the left full-back position but the left wing has been in rotation, in midfield we have rotated, in the No.9 position we have rotated. It probably also has to do with Robbo [Andy Robertson]’s pre-season. What does that mean? He had no pre-season because he came back injured from the Euros, so he missed almost a complete pre-season. Which was for most of them only two weeks, but for him it was only a few days. Kostas [Tsimikas] did really well in that period of time.
“It has to do with the quality Kostas brings in that position, but it definitely also has to do with Robbo missing pre-season, so that’s why we started rotating from the start a bit – because if a player didn’t have any pre-season, there was no time to bring him towards the situation where he could play three games in a row. Because we tried to build up our players for that programme and for him that was difficult because he missed out on pre-season, where others were there. That’s his situation and I think it was good for him to play [against] Arsenal and now again the game against Brighton during the week, that makes sure that he’s getting into that rhythm of playing twice a week.”
Liverpool play Brighton at home on Saturday, host Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday, and then face Aston Villa at Anfield before the November international break.
