Liverpool have been further boosted by the presence of their South American contingent in team training ahead of the Merseyside derby.
Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Alisson Becker returned to the AXA training centre following their involvement in the international breaks, sights that were further boosted by the availability of Cody Gakpo.
“Liverpool have been boosted by Cody Gakpo’s return to training before Saturday’s Merseyside derby,” as was reported on BBC Sport’s Liverpool section.
“The Netherlands international missed the Reds’ last two matches with a knee injury he sustained in the defeat by Tottenham.
“But he joined in with his team-mates on Thursday as Jurgen Klopp’s side reassembled after the international break.
“Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Alisson Becker all trained as well, despite playing in World Cup qualifiers less than 36 hours earlier.”
Andy Robertson, Ben Doak and Luke Chambers, sadly, were casualties in that period, which should mean Jurgen Klopp will hand Kostas Tsimikas his first start for the Reds since the 4-4 draw with Southampton at the end of the 2023/24 season campaign.
We’ll be curious to see whether our 56-year-old manager opts to rest some of our South American stars, at the very least for the opening half of the clash with Sean Dyche’s men.
Mac Allister, for one, most certainly suffered following the transition from the international break to club football, with a dour first-half showing against Wolves resulting in the Argentinian being hooked at the break.
Whilst that may not necessarily be an issue for Alisson, Nunez’s post-Brazil admission of cramp he’d suffered from over-exerting himself in an impressive 2-0 World Cup qualifier win could see the Uruguayan temporarily relegated to the bench.
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️
It is a great boost that Gacpo is fit again. The early return of the four South Americans is music in my ears before the derby. But the injury to Robertson is a worrying factor especially the duration is not disclosed. However LFC have enough personnel to do without his services. Klop should unleash Jota,Gackpo and Salah from start.Endo can also get the nod in the first half.
Klopp must start Endo ahead of Mac Allister in no.6 role to avoid mistakes
Gakpo -Jota-Salah
Gravenberch -Endo-Szobo
Tsmikas-Van Dijk-Matip-Trent
A.Becker