Liverpool head into their Champions League opener unbeaten in the Premier League this season, though only one of their three league games has produced a win.
Andoni Iraola’s side drew 2-2 with both Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest before beating Ipswich Town 2-0 away from home, with Alexander Isak scoring twice inside the opening nine minutes and Cody Gakpo supplying both assists.
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Anfield hosts Atletico Madrid on Wednesday as Iraola takes charge of his first Champions League match as a manager.
Liverpool won 3-2 at home to Atletico in last season’s league phase and have won each of their last three Champions League meetings with the Spanish side.
Diego Simeone’s team arrive on Merseyside having suffered their first defeat of the season, a 3-0 loss away to Athletic Bilbao. It was also the first time this campaign that Atletico failed to score.
Away from matchday preparations, Liverpool are working through the future of several fringe players, and one defender now looks set for a temporary exit once the winter window opens.
Left-back Luke Chambers is set to leave Liverpool on loan in January, according to journalist Alan Nixon, with Celtic among the clubs interested in signing him.
Writing on Patreon, Nixon said: “Liverpool will let left back Luke Chambers go on loan in January – with Celtic among his admirers. Chambers was kept at the Kop for cover in the summer but will be helped to find a home in the New Year.”
Nixon added that Celtic see the move as a long-term option rather than a short-term fix.
“The Scottish giants are keen on Chambers as a long-term project,” he said. “He is out of contract at the end of the season.”
Luke Chambers came through Liverpool’s academy and has been sent out on loan several times to gain first-team experience.
He has previously had spells at Wigan Athletic and Kilmarnock, and spent the second half of last season on loan at Charlton Athletic in the Championship.
He was part of the England under-19 squad that won the 2022 European Under-19 Championship in Slovakia, coming on as a second-half substitute in the final against Israel.
His contract at Anfield expires next summer, meaning a loan exit in January would give him regular first-team football before his future at the club is decided.
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