Liverpool have made changes to their Champions League squad, with 14 new names added ahead of their European campaign
Liverpool return to Champions League action on Wednesday night as Atletico Madrid arrive at Anfield for the opening fixture of the 2026/27 league phase.
Andoni Iraola heads into the game on the back of a much-needed lift.
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After opening the Premier League campaign with draws against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest, Liverpool secured their first win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town, Alexander Isak scoring both goals inside the opening nine minutes.
Diego Simeone’s side collected seven points from their opening three La Liga matches before suffering a 3-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, a result that has raised early concerns about their attacking output.
The two clubs met at the same stage of last season’s competition, also at Anfield.
Liverpool led through goals from Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah, were pegged back to 2-2 by a Marcos Llorente brace, then won it in the second minute of stoppage time through a Virgil van Dijk header.
Ahead of the trip to Merseyside, Liverpool have confirmed changes to their Champions League squad, according to UEFA’s official squad list.
The club has added 14 players to List B, the UEFA provision that allows an unlimited number of registrations for under-21 players who have been at the club for a sufficient period.
The additions are Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni, Lewis Koumas, Josh Sonni-Lambie, Jayden Danns, Clae Ewing, Afolam Onanuga, Michael Laffey, Ben Trueman, Alvin Ayman, Wellity Lucky, Lucas Pitt, Joseph Bradshaw and Bailey Hall.
Ngumoha, Nyoni, Koumas and Danns are the most established names on the list. All four already form part of Iraola’s wider first-team squad across other competitions this season.
The remaining ten are academy players.
Goalkeeper Bailey Hall and defenders Wellity Lucky, Lucas Pitt and Clae Ewing have been included alongside midfielders Ben Trueman, Alvin Ayman, Afolam Onanuga, Michael Laffey and Joseph Bradshaw, plus forward Josh Sonni-Lambie, who featured on the first team’s pre-season tour of the United States.
Under UEFA rules, List B eligibility applies to any player born on or after January 1, 2005 who has been registered with the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since turning 15.
Liverpool can update this list before every matchday throughout the league phase.
Of the 14 new additions, only Ngumoha, Koumas and Nyoni trained with the first-team group at the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday.
The trio are the only ones from the group expected to be included in Wednesday’s 23-man matchday squad.
Liverpool submitted their 25-man List A squad earlier this month, notably without Wataru Endo or Federico Chiesa.
Hugo Ekitike and Conor Bradley were both included despite currently being sidelined through injury, giving Iraola the option to call on them once fit.
Ekitike, Bradley, Chiesa and defenders Giovanni Leoni and Joe Gomez are all unavailable for Wednesday’s match.
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