Liverpool are hoping to welcome back two players from injury during the international break
Federico Chiesa and Andoni Iraola chat during the friendly between Liverpool and Sunderland in Nashville.
Federico Chiesa and Andoni Iraola chat during the friendly between Liverpool and Sunderland in Nashville.(Image: Andrew J. Clark/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
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Liverpool might not have the biggest squad, but it did not go unnoticed that it has still been big enough for Andoni Iraola to leave out a number of players in the Reds’ last two matches.
Virgil van Dijk and Florian Wirtz were rested altogether, along with Kostas Tsimikas, when Liverpool hosted Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup earlier this month.
Meanwhile, when the Reds returned to Premier League action away at AFC Bournemouth, Wataru Endo dropped out from the matchday squad, along with youngsters James McConnell and Luke Chambers.
The absence of the Japanese was perhaps not much of a surprise, given that he is yet to make an appearance so far this season and had been left out of the Reds’ 25-man Champions League squad along with Federico Chiesa.
But the emergence of Lewis Koumas in Iraola’s first team squad has seen the Wales international take a place on the bench that would have perhaps once belonged to Endo.
Iraola could have to leave out further senior players when Liverpool return to action against Man City on Sunday 11 October, with the Basque revealing earlier this month that Giovanni Leoni and Chiesa were on track to return to team training in the international break.
“I think the next one probably should be Giovanni Leoni,” Iraola revealed at the start of September. “I think the plan is also to start training during the break, with the group. I think even Fede should be around those dates.”
Iraola has called upon 25 different players in his matchday squads across his first seven games as Liverpool head coach, with the Basque permitted to name a 20-man squad for domestic action, and a 23-man squad in the Champions League.
From such a total, 21 have taken to the field with Endo, Chambers, Jayden Danns and Freddie Woodman the only selected players yet to be handed game-time.
While Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Vitezslav Jaros remain long-term absentees, the looming returns of Leoni and Chiesa are set to strengthen Iraola’s hand.
It remains to be seen if the pair will be fit enough to return to the Liverpool matchday squad against Man City. But regardless, they are closing in on comebacks.
And when they do return, the competition for a place in the Reds matchday squad will become even sterner.
Endo was left out against Bournemouth, along with a number of fringe youngsters and third-choice goalkeeper Woodman.
In truth, Chiesa could join them if he is to befall the same fate as Endo, following his own absence from Liverpool’s 25-man Champions League squad.
But Leoni’s looming return will see at least one more senior player left out as Iraola starts to weigh up his increasing options.