Liverpool face LASK in the Champions League on Wednesday evening without several of their best-known players.
Liverpool named a 23-man squad for the trip, with eight senior players left out through injury or ineligibility. Alexander Isak (thigh), Cody Gakpo (ankle) and Dominik Szoboszlai (hamstring) are all unavailable.
Head coach Andoni Iraola said Szoboszlai came back from international duty with “tightness, an overload.” He said the trio are not far from a return but could not give a date.
Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni are also injured. Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo are ineligible because they were not named in Liverpool’s Champions League squad. Virgil van Dijk, who had a knock, is available.
Liverpool arrive in Austria after a 3-0 Premier League home defeat by Manchester City on Sunday. Ryan Gravenberch was sent off in the second half and City scored through Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki. It was Iraola’s first defeat as Liverpool head coach.
In the league phase opener, Liverpool beat Atletico Madrid 2-1, while LASK lost 1-0 at AEK Athens. Liverpool won both previous meetings with LASK, 4-0 at Anfield and 3-1 in Linz, in the 2023/24 Europa League.
Away from the Champions League preparations, former Liverpool player Alvaro Arbeloa has been sanctioned by the Football Association.
The FA said the Fulham head coach has been fined £25,000 and received a warning for comments made after Fulham’s Premier League match against Manchester United on Sunday 20 September.
The FA alleged that Arbeloa acted improperly by making post-match comments that implied bias or questioned the integrity of a match official. He admitted the charge, and an independent Regulatory Commission imposed the sanctions after a hearing.
The match ended 1-1 after Matheus Cunha scored a deflected equaliser for United in the 89th minute. In a post-match interview, Arbeloa said the referee gave “all fouls for them.”
He also said he knew after United’s game against Manchester City that officials would not let them lose at Craven Cottage, a reference to a controversial VAR decision in that match.
Alvaro Arbeloa took over at Fulham in the summer. His side lost 2-1 at Ipswich Town on 10 October, leaving them winless after six Premier League matches. Fulham are bottom of the table with two points.
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