Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has given the fitness and injury latest ahead of the Premier League visit to Sunderland on Wedneasday
Arne Slot talks at his Liverpool press conference this morning
Arne Slot talks at his Liverpool press conference this morning
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Arne Slot has hinted he is prepared to once again start £241million duo Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz for the Premier League visit of Sunderland on Wednesday. And the Liverpool boss has revealed Conor Bradley has returned to team training as the Reds' right-back headache begins to ease.
Wirtz was an impressive performer when coming through 75 minutes of the 2-0 win at West Ham United on Sunday having missed the previous two games with a muscle complaint.
Isak, who was replaced midway through the second half, opened the scoring with a first Premier League goal following his British record transfer from Newcastle United in the summer, with it only the fourth time the big-money signings had started a game together.
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[Joe Gomez](http://Joe Gomez) lasted the duration on his first Premier League start in 11 months, and Slot has indicated all three could once again line up against Sunderland at Anfield for the second of three key Premier League games in seven days.
"I think they are not able to play three times 90, that is for sure," said Slot on Tuesday morning. "Now I have to wait and see how they feel today, if they are able to play from the start again.
"But all three of them can be involved in all three games, if they don’t get an injury. That is a fair assumption to make.
"Yesterday we had recovery and we’re going to train (today). So let’s see how players feel."
Slot added: "Florian for example has missed one-and-a-half, two weeks of training. So for him to already play so many minutes was a good thing. And two days later we have to play again. Joe Gomez was another one of them, so let’s see.
"It was encouraging to see Florian play that well but it’s not the first time he has played well for us. Maybe the first time other people noticed, but I’ve seen him play well for us many times already.
"And for Alex to score his first goal was also very positive. Also a player who couldn’t play 5-10 more minutes than he played. He told me yesterday he felt a little bit of cramp coming up already. Another player where we should see how he does when he trains."
Gomez played at right-back against West Ham with Liverpool still missing Bradley and Jeremie Frimpongdue to hamstring injuries.
Frimpong hasn't featured since the Champions League win at Eintracht Frankfurt in October while Bradley was ruled out of the last three games.
And while neither will return in midweek, Bradley could be back in contention for the trip to Leeds United on Saturday with Frimpong back shortly afterwards.
"Conor got into a training session yesterday for the first time, team training," said Slot. "He's not everything 100% so we have to manage that a little bit, so don't get your hopes up too soon.
"“The good thing is he does certain things with the group already. We expect the same with Jeremie next week. The two of them will come back but, unfortunately, we play a lot of games in the upcoming weeks.
"Jeremie at least will be training with us but he miss out on at least three more games, for example. I hope Conor will be available for Leeds.”