A look at how Liverpool may line up when they travel to Brentford on Saturday afternoon
Rio Ngumoha (Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Rio Ngumoha (Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
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It's a short turnaround time for Andoni Iraola and his squad as they travel to Brentford to Saturday afternoon and the Liverpool boss is having sleepless nights.
This will be the third of nine games in a 28-day period for the Reds, who took the decision to fly straight home to Merseyside after Wednesday night's 6-3 hammering of LASK in Linz, Austria.
The club arrived at their Kirkby training base around 12.30am time before Iraola faced the media less than 12 hours later to preview Saturday's game.
So it was understandable if the Reds boss felt the need to highlight a lack of sleep for him and his players, but this is life at the sharp end of football and the schedule, while unrelenting, is simply something they will have to navigate as best as possible.
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"I think obviously it's more difficult when we have played yesterday night, we arrive here [at the training ground] quite late at night and we haven't slept the hours we normally sleep," Iraola said on Thursday.
"But this is the challenge of playing, no? It's competitions like the Champions League and it's not going to just happen this week, It is going to be a constant thing this season so we have to adapt."
Iraola refused to rule out the injured trio of Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak and Dominik Szoboszlai, but one of the reasons he prefers two days between press conference and game is so he doesn't have to give too much away about his team selection. Plausible deniability and all that...
In that regard, it would be a big surprise if all three returned for this one at the Gtech Stadium. Training pictures, due to be released on Friday, will provide a better update on the availability of all three.
Dominik Szoboszlai travelled to Linz and is only said to be hampered by a minor hamstring problem, so he potentially could return but it was telling that Iraola talked up the talents of Trey Nyoni on Thursday. Expect the young midfielder to partner Alexis Mac Allister in the engine room. Ryan Gravenberch is suspended, of course.
Ronald Araujo should shift back to the right side as Virgil van Dijk returns. Captain Kostas Tsimikas did well in Austria but Milos Kerkez will be expected to play in west London.
Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola will surely start and it will be interesting to see what Iraola does with Rio Ngumoha. The teenage winger excelled against LASK and is vying for a start but the Reds boss also has Victor Munoz waiting in the wings too.
Lewis Koumas, fresh from his first Champions League goal, is expected to lead the line in the absence of Isak and Hugo Ekitike. Iraola has options for his starting XI but the injury list means the strength in depth is being tested ahead of a tough trip to Brentford.
Having apparently missed out on adequate rest due to the schedule, Iraola, as he runs the rule over his potential team for Saturday, will get the chance to at least sleep on it now.