Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool: Match Review
The Liverpool boss is set to have depleted options for the Premier League clash against Wolves.
Arne Slot believes that Jeremie Frimpong may be able to start for Liverpool against Wolves - and may have to take a risk.
Frimpong has endured a frustrating start at the Reds having joined from Bayer Leverkusen for £29 million in the summer transfer window. He has had two hamstring injuries, with the most recent setback sidelining him for two months.
However, Frimpong made a return to action in last weekend’s 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur. He replaced Alexander Isak after the striker broke his leg when opening the scoring in the 56th minute. Frimpong made a good impact and sent in the cross for Hugo Ekitike to double the advantage.
Liverpool face Wolves at Anfield on Saturday but the home side look set to have depleted options. Right-back is a concern, with Conor Bradley doubtful after he was forced off at half-time against Spurs ,while Joe Gomez is still unavailable. In addition, Cody Gakpo may not be back, while Mo Salah is representing Egypt at the African Cup of Nations and Dominik Szoboszlai is suspended.
The versatile Frimpong can play either on the right-hand side of defence or further forward. And he is able to feature from the outset against Wolves if needed. Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Reds head coach said: “In the weekend he was on a maximum of 30 minutes because he has been out for quite long. I think he is able to start this weekend if I make that decision. Sometimes situations change, so you need to take a bit more risk than you would maybe usually do if everyone was available.
“So that's what I mean, the players that are available have to roll their sleeves up – including our fans – to get the best possible chance of a good outcome in the upcoming two games. That's for him the same as the others.
“Why I took him off had, of course, nothing to do with an injury. That had to do with not being down to 10 when you have to defend a set-piece, because we already had to defend a set-piece with 10 men and you know the outcome – we conceded. Federico would definitely come in but the idea was for someone else, but I didn't want to go down to 10 men in that moment.”
Liverpool could be missing six players against Wolves because of injury. It is a concern but Slot insists that the Reds are not overloading his players, with only Gakpo and Gomez’s problems being muscle-related. Endo
Slot added: "The most injuries we have are not related to overloading. When you look at Alex's injury, it has nothing to do with overloading the player. It's the same with Wataru Endo. Of course, there are one or two that might have to do with overloading - Cody Gakpo has a muscle and the same is to be said with Joe Gomez."
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