Liverpool teenager Trey Nyoni is in line for his first start in almost 11 months for the Carabao Cup visit of Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday
Liverpool midfielder Trey Nyoni
Liverpool midfielder Trey Nyoni(Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
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Trey Nyoni would be forgiven for wanting to forget the last time he was called upon by Liverpool for League Cup duty.
The teenager, handed his second successive start in the competition having played the full 90 minutes in the win over Southampton the previous round, was among those involved in the calamitous 3-0 reverse to Crystal Palace in October last year as Arne Slot's side lurched from one desperate disappointment to the next.
Nyoni was part of a scratch side that, with only one available centre-back but playing with five at the back, were easily swatted aside.
Perhaps understandably, the youngster was significantly below his best form. And he hasn't started a senior match since.
Liverpool fans have lost patience with players and only one thing can change that
That, though, could change this week when Liverpool begin their latest crack of winning a trophy they have claimed a record 10 times by entertaining Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.
Nyoni impressed Andoni Iraola during pre-season to the extent the new head coach believes the 19-year-old can fill the gap left in the squad by the departure of Curtis Jones to Inter Milan.
"I am very happy with Trey, very, very happy," said Iraola last month. "He has been very good in pre-season, not only in the games but when training with us he is facing top-level players and he is at the level.
"I have no doubts with Trey, he will be very valuable this season and hopefully plays a lot and gives the level I am seeing every day in training."
While still awaiting his full Premier League debut, Nyoni has already this term almost matched his tally of minutes in the top-flight for the whole of last season after coming off the bench against Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town.
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Indeed, there was a strong call among supporters for him to be introduced on Saturday as Liverpool's engine room laboured their way through a dismal goalless draw against Fulham.
The lack of energy shown by both Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch was alarming given the Reds are less than a month into the campaign with Iraola wanting a more intense approach. Given his tender years, enthusiasm and legs are the very least Nyoni can offer, for all his undoubted talent and surprising physicality.
Iraola has previously stated he wants to use the opening weeks to determine which partnerships work at the base of midfield. The early evidence suggests Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister would be the preferred choice, although neither Nyoni nor Wataru Endo have been given their chance yet.
That, for Nyoni in particular, is likely to come on Tuesday against a Tottenham midfield that could include the contrasting experience of Lucas Bergvall and Conor Gallagher.
With 22 appearances under his belt - four in the XI - and a further 46 involvements in the matchday squad, Nyoni is a firmly established first-team squad member. Now, though, he is ready for the next step - and the chance to banish memories of his last Liverpool start.