Andoni Iraola takes charge of his first Premier League home game as Liverpool head coach on Saturday, when Nottingham Forest visit Anfield.
Liverpool opened the season with a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United, coming from behind twice thanks to goals from Cody Gakpo and a stoppage-time Dominik Szoboszlai penalty.
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Forest, under new manager Oliver Glasner, have lost their opening two matches against Leeds United in the league and EFL Cup.
Iraola faces a lengthy injury list for the visit of Forest. Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike, Giovanni Leoni, Vitezslav Jaros and Stefan Bajcetic are all unavailable.
Bradley is recovering from surgery on a knee injury suffered against Arsenal in January, while Ekitike has been sidelined since rupturing his Achilles tendon in April and is not expected back until later in the season.
Joe Gomez, out with a muscle problem since late July, is nearing a return but the Forest game comes too soon for him. Federico Chiesa is also out at the moment.
Elsewhere in the club, academy winger Josh Abe has undergone surgery after a fresh injury setback.
The 16-year-old, who signed a new contract this summer after resisting interest from Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United, dislocated his shoulder in the build-up to the new campaign.
Under-21s coach Rob Page first confirmed the injury after Liverpool’s U21 side drew 1-1 with Everton at Goodison Park last week.
“He dislocated his shoulder,” Page said. “It popped out and popped back in again. Apparently he has had this problem for a while, so it’s nothing major. It’s just something that he is having to go through.”
At that stage, Abe had been given a sling as a precaution while the club assessed the injury.
Josh Abe has since gone under the knife. Posting on his Instagram story from a hospital room, with his arm in a sling, he confirmed the operation had gone ahead, writing “surgery ✅” alongside the caption “Minor setback!”
The shoulder issue is separate from the leg injury Abe suffered while on England U16 duty in February, which ended his 2025-26 season early and also required surgery. He recovered in time to feature for Liverpool’s first team on their pre-season tour of the United States this summer.
Abe has been tipped as a long-term option on the right wing, having trained with Iraola’s senior squad during pre-season and been handed the number 40 shirt.
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