Arne Slot has unsurprisingly rung the changes for Liverpool in tonight’s Carabao Cup tie against West Ham, with just two players keeping their places in the starting XI from the win over Bournemouth last weekend.
A first Reds start for Federico Chiesa is the standout bit of team news, although Paul Gorst was a little surprised to see one talented youngster miss out on the matchday squad entirely.
VOTE for Empire of the Kop at the FCAs in Best Club Content Creator – Premier League HERE
Reacting to the line-up announcement for the Liverpool Echo’s live match blog (19:02), the journalist wrote: “No place for young Trey Nyoni, however, despite Slot hinting he might feature, even more peculiar since he wasn’t involved for the U21s last night at Harrogate.”
READ MORE: ‘He does ask a lot…’ – Liverpool gem shares insight on how demanding Arne Slot can be
When Nyoni was left out of the under-21s’ clash in the EFL Trophy last night, it suggested that he’d be involved in the matchday squad for Liverpool’s Carabao Cup fixture against West Ham.
However, he was a notable omission from a strong substitutes’ bench named by Slot, with Vitezslav Jaros and Tyler Morton the only non-regulars among those waiting in the wings tonight.
Even though he only turned 17 in the summer, the ex-Leicester starlet served notice of his prodigious talents with some fine displays with the first team in pre-season, with the highlight being his goal against Sevilla at Anfield on the second weekend of August.
We share Gorst’s surprise with Nyoni not featuring among the matchday squad against the Irons, although it seems from the list of players in reserve that Slot is indeed taking the Carabao Cup very seriously from the get-go.
Hopefully we’ll see the gifted teenager being given first-team opportunities at some point in the season.
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions