With Trent Alexander-Arnold out of Liverpool’s win over Leicester, Jurgen Klopp suggested he may not be fit to start for Tottenham.
The Reds recorded a fourth consecutive 3-1 win on Wednesday night as they came back from 1-0 down to progress to the fourth round of the League Cup.
Klopp made 10 changes to his starting line-up three days earlier in the win over West Ham, with four of his starters – Alisson, Joe Gomez, Andy Robertson and Mo Salah – left out altogether.
One player who held steady was Curtis Jones, who led the team’s unexpected right guard.
This comes after Stefan Bajcetic started in that place when he did so in the 3-1 win against LASK in the Europa League. But when Klopp explained the need to use Jones at right-back, he revealed the fitness problems of both Bajcetic and Gomez.
The manager also suggested that because Wednesday’s game was “too early” for Alexander-Arnold, his No.66 may not be ready to start for Saturday’s trip to Tottenham.
“We couldn’t play Stefani [for long], we have to be careful with him,” Klopp told reporters.
“Joey will be fine this weekend, but not today. It’s too soon for Trent.”
Alexander-Arnold was already ruled out on Wednesday, with assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders explaining that although he returned to training on Monday, the third-round draw was “too soon” for him.
But the fact that Gomez was also left out of the Anfield squad, with emergency option Jones used instead, could be a clue to Klopp’s line-up for the weekend. Gomez now looks more likely to start in north London as Alexander-Arnold returns from the bench after nearly a month out with injury.
Of course, this is now seen as less of a risk due to Gomez’s excellent form in recent games.
His performances – and to a lesser extent those of Jones and Bajcetic – played down the importance of returning Alexander-Arnold as soon as possible.
