Liverpool boss Arne Slot. (Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)placeholder image
Liverpool boss Arne Slot. (Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Liverpool team news ahead of the Premier League opening fixture against AFC Bournemouth at Anfield.
The Reds get their 2025-26 season underway when they welcome AFC Bournemouth to Anfield on Friday evening (8pm BST). Liverpool head into the campaign as favourites to claim the silverware for successive campaigns, having spent more than £250 million on new players in the summer transfer window.
But with Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea all strengthening their respective squads, it will not be easy for the Reds to win back-to-back English championships for the first time since 1984.
Liverpool will be aiming for a perfect start against Bournemouth, although they will be without Ryan Gravenberch. The key midfielder has to serve a one-match suspension, having been given a red card on the final day of last term. Gravenberch also was absent for last Sunday’s loss against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield following the birth of his child, with his presence missed in the engine room.
In addition, Alexis Mac Allister did not start at Wembley. The Argentina international has only recently recovered from an injury he picked up at the end of last term, which has impacted Liverpool’s preparations.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Reds head coach Slot said: “Last Sunday, the chances we conceded were mainly because three times we lost the ball very simple in our midfield and they could counter-attack us. You could say Ryan is always taking really good care of the ball but players, Ryan or anyone else in our team can lose the ball so in that sense I am not sure how much we missed him last Sunday.
“But it is clear Ryan had a big impact on us last season. It's not funny – I can find another word - but everyone has forgotten how he got his suspension, he got two yellow cards; the first for a dive. If there is one team in the league that is, in my opinion the most honest when we play – I sometimes blame them that they never try to make from a foul a little bit more - and never dives and never time delays and all these kind of things then it is us and we have a suspension now for a player diving.
“But I've said many times probably the midfield might be our strongest line when it comes to the bodies we have. Unfortunately, Macca had a bit of a different pre-season than we would have liked him to have but he is back fit now so I still have a choice to make in midfield even if Ryan is not there.”
Slot has admitted that Joe Gomez could also miss out against Bournemouth. The versatile defender suffered an Achilles injury during the pre-season tour of Asia. Gomez has been back in training but still might not be ready to feature in the squad.
Slot said: “Joe I have to make a decision, I think he only trained twice now and missed quite a lot in pre-season but if you looked at our bench against Palace, there were three players 20 years or younger. There is a possibility Joe might be on the bench but I have to look at the numbers and who we are going to take.”
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