Stadium overview of Liverpool FC Anfield stadium
Stadium overview of Liverpool FC Anfield stadium
Liverpool’s men return to Premier League action on Saturday with a visit to Brentford. The 3pm BST kick-off at Gtech Community Stadium is the club’s seventh league match of the season.
Head coach Andoni Iraola’s side face the game fewer than 72 hours after a 6-3 Champions League win at LASK in Austria.
That victory followed a 3-0 home defeat by Manchester City last weekend. Ryan Gravenberch is suspended for the Brentford game after the red card he received against City.
Iraola has pointed to the demands of the schedule.
“In this period especially, when we are basically playing every three days – almost less than three days – you need more players,” he said.
He added that Liverpool will need to rotate again for the Villarreal game, which follows three days after Brentford.
Liverpool women’s team are also back this weekend after the international break. Their Barclays Women’s Super League season resumes on Sunday with a trip to Aston Villa.
head coach Gareth Taylor has good news on the injury front.
The match was originally set for Villa Park. It will now be played at Keys Park Stadium, with a 2pm BST kick-off.
Taylor gave a squad fitness update at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“Mari and Lucy Parry and Viv are back in team training, so they’re back around the squad,” he said.
Others remain unavailable. Aurelie Csillag faces what Taylor called a lengthy absence.
Sophie Roman Haug is “not too far away” but is not yet training, and the same applies to Anna Josendal. Ceri Holland is edging closer.
“Hopefully we should be able to see her in this next batch of games before the next international break,” Taylor said.
A training group stayed at the club during the international window. Taylor said the sessions helped bring Mao Itamura “a little bit closer to being really ready”.
Liverpool took seven points from their opening five WSL matches before the pause. In the Subway Players Cup, they beat Sunderland 4-2 and won 4-3 at Birmingham City, with Natalia Ramos scoring the winner in the 93rd minute.
The Villa game begins a run of three matches in a week. Taylor said the returning players look sharp. “All the players have come back looking really good, really sharp,” he said.
He acknowledged the challenge of switching from international to club football.
“We’ve got to quickly get our Liverpool hats back on and do what we do at Liverpool,” Taylor said.
National team demands can differ from Liverpool’s style of play, he added. Taylor said his players reset quickly.
“The training session was really positive today, so we’re looking forward to the game at the weekend,” he said.
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