Liverpool continue the defence of their Carabao Cup crown on Wednesday evening when they travel to Southampton in the last eight of the competition.
The duel at St Mary’s serves as an opportunity for the Reds to move closer to a first piece of silverware under Arne Slot, with his predecessor Jurgen Klopp winning the Carabao Cup last season. It proved to be the German’s final trophy with the club.
Liverpool are the record winners in this competition’s history, lifting the three-handled cup ten times, and have been presented a favourable draw for their quarter-final. Managerless Southampton are in dire straits after their 5-0 humiliation at the hands of Tottenham on Sunday.
Slot is expected to make changes to his starting lineup on Wednesday but here are those he won’t be able to call upon due to injuries and suspensions.
Liverpool’s questionable defensive performances in recent matches have coincided with Ibrahima Konate being in the treatment room. The French behemoth sustained a knee injury during the 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League and has been missing since. He won’t feature here.
Similarly, right-back Conor Bradley has also been absent since facing the European champions. Despite enjoying an excellent evening up against Kylian Mbappe and co., the Northern Irishman pulled his hamstring during the encounter and won’t be available, having not yet returned to training.
Kostas Tsimikas has missed recent outings due to an ankle injury he picked up in training. However, Slot has confirmed that he is “coming close” to a return and will be back training with his teammates on Tuesday. He’s still not guaranteed a place in the matchday squad at St Mary’s, though.
Left-back will be an issue for Liverpool should Tsimikas not be deemed fit to feature. Andrew Robertson will serve his one-game suspension against Southampton after he was sent off in the 2-2 draw with Fulham at the weekend.
With an entirely fit midfield at his disposal, Slot only has one concern in his star-studded forward line. Unfortunately, that is Diogo Jota, who only returned from a long-term injury in the weekend draw with the Cottagers.
Jota made an immediate impact as he scored Liverpool’s equaliser late in the match, producing a typically clinical finish. However, Slot has confirmed that he did not come through entirely unscathed.
“Diogo would have been definitely one that was ideal for him to play, but after the [Fulham] game he wasn’t completely fit, so he didn’t train with us yesterday,” admitted Slot in his pre-match press conference.
“So let’s see if he can train with us today. Don’t expect him to start. Hopefully he can make some minutes, but don’t expect him to start tomorrow.”
Player
Status
Ibrahima Konate
Out
Conor Bradley
Out
Kostas Tsimikas
Doubt
Andy Robertson
Suspended
Diogo Jota
Doubt
