Liverpool will look to maintain their perfect Champions League record on Tuesday night when Villarreal visit Anfield. The Reds sit fifth in the league phase table with six points from two games following their 6-3 victory over LASK Linz, while the La Liga side are 14th with three points.
The Reds have beaten Atletico Madrid and LASK in their opening two European fixtures, but Villarreal could present a fresh challenge.
Liverpool head into Tuesday’s clash on the back of a 2-1 victory over Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. Iraola’s biggest task will be rotating his squad while maintaining the quality needed to secure victory and avoid further injuries.
Jeremie Frimpong and Dominik Szoboszlai will both miss Tuesday’s game. Szoboszlai, who had already missed Liverpool’s previous two matches, was forced off in the first half against Brentford, while Frimpong was substituted shortly after coming on at half-time.
Iraola said during his pre-match press conference on Monday: “I think they are different circumstances. Jeremie Frimpong is obviously a new muscle injury and it happened, I think, in the second or third minute he was playing, difficult to predict and we will have to wait until he recovers.
“But it’s going to be difficult, I think, before the [November international] break. We will try but it’s going to be difficult to have him.
“Dom Szoboszlai is different. It’s not a new injury, I think it’s in the same place it was probably last week. He hasn’t worsened the injury but probably we have to be a little bit more patient until he recovers fully.
“But it’s not like something now where he has to wait a lot of time to come back, he is more or less in the same situation he was last week.”
Giovanni Leoni is closing in on a return to action. The defender had been expected to resume training during the recent international break, but suffered a setback in his recovery. He is now targeting a return during the November international break.
Conor Bradley has also been sidelined since the start of the year with a serious knee injury that required surgery. However, the right-back is closing in on a comeback.
Hugo Ekitike is expected to be the last of Liverpool’s injured players to return. The forward has been recovering from an Achilles injury sustained towards the end of last season, but his rehabilitation is progressing.
Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo will also miss the game after being omitted from Liverpool’s 25-man squad for the first half of the Champions League campaign.
For Villarreal, Tajon Buchanan is expected to remain sidelined until early November with a hamstring injury. Former Arsenal forward Nicolas Pepe missed the weekend’s game with an eye injury and remains a doubt for Tuesday’s clash.
Liverpool have improved considerably as the season has progressed and will head into their Anfield clash full of confidence tomorrow. Villarreal should provide a stern test, but the Reds will be expected to secure all three points.
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