Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola made plenty of changes for Wednesday’s Champions League tie against LASK, taking the opportunity to rest and rotate whoever he could given his Reds were set to play three games in seven days this week starting with Sunday’s defeat to Manchester City and with Brentford up on Saturday.
Injuries in attack and midfield, though, with Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo, and Dominik Szoboszlai all left behind for Wednesday’s away day at LASK after also missing out on Sunday, certainly limited his options. The hope now will be that the trio are ready for Brentford, but with the game kicking off in 24 hours that’s no sure thing.
“It’s too early for us to say but we have still tomorrow’s training,” said Iraola when asked about the possibility that one, two, or all of his injured stars could be involved on the weekend. “Obviously they were not ready last night, but we have to wait and see. I think it’s still very early to say but there is a chance this time, yes.
“In this period especially, when we are basically playing every three days—sometimes less than three days—you need more players. That’s why we changed the team a little bit yesterday. And we will need to change again on the weekend, we will need to change again when we face Villarreal in another three days. We need everyone.”
The most games an Iraola side has had to play was when Rayo Vallecano hit the 50-match mark in Spain’s second tier in 2020-21, playing 42 league games, four Copa Del Rey matches, and four more to secure promotion via the playoff. The next year in La Liga, they played 45 games—Iraola’s most while coaching in a top division.
As of today, even if Liverpool were to fail to advance to the Champions League knowkout rounds (which seems a near impossibility) and exit both domestic cups at the first opportunity they would play 49 times, and unlike in Spain’s Segunda that’s a front-loaded 49 rather than a total boosted late by way of a promotion playoff.
That lack of experience with two games week in and week out basically from the start of the season was one of the only question marks around appointing Iraola, but for anyone who was concerned his statements on needing to embrace rest and rotation—and the signs of him already doing so in practice—have been quite promising.
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