It’s that time of year again. The possibility of silverware – the first of the 2023/24 season (if you disregard the Community Shield) – hangs sweetly in the air.
Jurgen Klopp’s men will be spending the time in between with their fingers crossed tightly amid a burgeoning injury list that threatens to bubble over into a full-blown crisis.
Liverpool are set to take on Chelsea at Wembley in a repeat of the 2022 final.
The good news? Fans clamouring for Carabao Cup Final Tickets need not fear about their chances of making it inside the stadium.
It seems astonishing, yet hundreds of tickets remain in circulation ahead of the League Cup final on February 25.
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Reliable reporter Paul Joyce of The Times noted that Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez are potential doubts ahead of the meeting with Mauricio Pochettino’s men: “Both forwards are serious doubts for Wednesday’s Premier League game at home to Luton Town and will have to be continually assessed in the build-up to Sunday’s Carabao Cup final with Chelsea.”
We’d categorise that as optimistic, though it remains to be seen just how quickly the pair will recover.
On the other side of the spectrum, we look to be potentially without star ‘keeper Alisson Becker, judging by his international manager’s latest injury update. That said, we’d have most likely been without the Brazilian either way with Caoimhin Kelleher the accepted starter for the Carabao Cup.
It goes without saying that both Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones look set for a stint on the sidelines which will seem them ruled out of the upcoming final and potentially all of March.
Dominik Szoboszlai is currently deemed another “maybe”, with the midfielder likely to be assessed in a similar camp to Salah and Nunez.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, sadly, seems likely to miss the final at this current stage, though the availability of Conor Bradley will offer a point of reassurance.
First and foremost, if there are any serious lingering doubts over the likes of Szoboszlai, Salah and Nunez – they shouldn’t be risked with difficult games on the horizon. In particular, our league meeting with Manchester City on March 10.
That’s not to suggest in any way, shape or form that Liverpool should be throwing in the towel for an important first piece of major silverware. It will just simply be a matter of balancing priorities.
With that in mind, we’d be starting Caoimhin Kelleher in goal, as expected, behind a centre-back partnership of Virgil van Dijk and Jarell Quansah. Andy Robertson and Conor Bradley will be the likely choices selected at the fullback positions.
In midfield, the potential absence of our No.8 means we should potentially expect a combination of Wataru Endo, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch.
Up top, Cody Gakpo has proven a force of nature in this competition and could well be selected to start alongside Luis Diaz and Mo Salah (allowing for the Egyptian’s recovery).
The story of this season has very much been about our strength in depth – let’s hope some of our fringe stars can deliver once more on Sunday.
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