Liverpool travel to Sunderland on Wednesday night fully aware that getting back to winning ways will not be straightforward, with serious selection issues complicating the task.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s defeat to Manchester City was costly in more ways than one. Alongside dropped points, it brought a suspension that further stretched a squad already hit hard by injuries in several key positions.<\/p>\n
According to Liverpoolfc.com\u2019s latest squad availability update, last revised on February 8, the Reds are dealing with seven injury concerns in addition to Dominik Szoboszlai\u2019s one-match ban. That leaves Arne Slot potentially without up to eight players for the trip to the Stadium of Light.<\/p>\n
The problem is not just the volume of absentees, but where they are concentrated. The right side of Liverpool\u2019s defence, in particular, looks worryingly short of options.<\/p>\n
A daunting availability list for Sunderland<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s most recent update paints a challenging picture for Wednesday, combining long-term injuries, shorter setbacks and a suspension that removes a valuable stop-gap option.<\/p>\n
Based on the official update, the situation is as follows:
\n\u2022 Stefan Bajcetic \u2013 Injury (yet to feature in 25\/26): Out
\n\u2022 Conor Bradley \u2013 Serious knee injury: Out (season)
\n\u2022 Jayden Danns \u2013 Fitness issue: Out
\n\u2022 Jeremie Frimpong \u2013 Muscle injury: Out
\n\u2022 Joe Gomez \u2013 Injury (hoping to return to training): Doubtful \/ late decision
\n\u2022 Alexander Isak \u2013 Ankle surgery (fibula fracture): Out
\n\u2022 Giovanni Leoni \u2013 ACL injury: Out (season)
\n\u2022 Dominik Szoboszlai \u2013 One-match suspension: Out<\/p>\n
Szoboszlai\u2019s absence is especially inconvenient. The midfielder has recently been deployed as an emergency option in an unfamiliar role, and his suspension removes both that flexibility and his usual influence in midfield.<\/p>\n
Slot\u2019s growing concern at right-back<\/p>\n
While much of the post-City discussion has centred on individual moments, the broader squad context looms large as Liverpool face another quick turnaround.<\/p>\n
Slot was candid when discussing the right-sided issues, offering little certainty about potential returns.<\/p>\n
\u201cJeremie, for sure not,\u201d the head coach said. \u201cTo be honest, I don\u2019t expect Joe to be back as well, but you never know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also stressed the need to weigh up the risks of rushing Gomez back, while noting that alternative solutions exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have other players that can play that position as well,\u201d Slot added. \u201cDom again played a very good game in that position but unfortunately he is unavailable for Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those comments underline why the Sunderland trip is far from a simple bounce-back opportunity. It is not only about improving performance, but about who is actually available to carry out the plan.<\/p>\n
The mental response matters too<\/p>\n
Beyond the physical issues, there is also a psychological challenge in reacting to the City defeat. Gary Neville highlighted that aspect while analysing the game.<\/p>\n
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, he said: \u201cThat\u2019ll be a tough take\u2026 for Arne Slot and his players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neville focused less on blame and more on how Liverpool respond.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they can compartmentalise it\u2026 and not let it infect and create something negative, then they\u2019ll still be fine and they\u2019ll still be okay,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
That is the test on Wednesday night: securing the result, maintaining control, and doing so with a makeshift group in a fixture that will demand full intensity and concentration, regardless of the names on the team sheet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool travel to Sunderland on Wednesday night fully aware that getting back to winning ways will not be straightforward, with serious selection issues complicating the task. Sunday\u2019s defeat to Manchester City was costly in more ways than one. Alongside dropped points, it brought a suspension that further stretched a squad already hit hard by injuries …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":58442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_2024.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58566,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58565\/revisions\/58566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}