Jurgen Klopp has left Thiago Alcantara and Trent Alexander-Arnold out of his 23-man squad for the trip to Austria as expected.
The pair, whom the German once labelled ‘exceptional’ (Daily Mail & Sky Sports), have yet to return to full fitness, with the former engaging in recovery work whilst the latter is overcoming a hamstring injury, as reported by liverpoolfc.com.
Both will no doubt be huge misses for Liverpool, though it’s perhaps not the absolute worst time to be without such quality in the squad.
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Which Liverpool youngsters will catch Klopp’s eye?
It goes without saying that our upcoming Europa League group stage campaign is expected to provide greater opportunities for minutes to our younger, less experienced cohort of players.
Ben Doak, signed from Celtic, has been tipped to play a starring role against LASK and it would be far from surprising to see the hugely impressive Jarell Quansah also feature in Klopp’s starting-XI in Austria.
That’s not to suggest it will be a team comprised entirely of youngsters, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk and perhaps even Mo Salah potentially set to play a role in proceedings.
There should be a first proper look too at our most recent summer signing, Ryan Gravenberch, who has a point to prove following a failed year-spell in Munich.