Liverpool manager Arne Slot has confirmed that he could be without five members of his first-team squad for the match against Bournemouth, with both Federico Chiesa and Ibrahima Konate likely to be absent.
The Reds come into the weekend off the back of an impressive 3-0 win over Marseille in the Champions League in midweek, with Joe Gomez deputising for Konate, who was absent due to a family bereavement.
“I’ve spoken to him a few times and these are private matters and they should stay that way,” said Slot on the Frenchman.
“It’s very obvious when something like that happens the player needs time to be there for his family and for himself,” he added.
While Slot has to contend with the long-term absences of Alexander Isak, Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley, the Dutchman also added that he could be without Chiesa this weekend, with the Italian “maybe 50-50” to feature.
“Federico wasn’t able to be on the bench on Wednesday. There was a recovery session yesterday, [it’s] difficult to say if he’s available for Bournemouth. Maybe 50-50,” said Slot.
In better news, Slot added that “nobody picked up a knock or problem after the game” against Marseille, with the 47-year-old adding that he expects all the same players to be available this weekend.
The Reds are currently on a 13-game unbeaten streak across the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League, though six of those results have been draws, meaning Slot has found himself under pressure of late at Anfield.
However, Slot explained that he feels his team is “in a very good place” at present, adding that “there is a lot of confidence from me looking to the future”.
“In the 13 games unbeaten maybe only the Brighton game we conceded more than 1.0 xG which shows we don’t concede many chances,” he explained.
“We have had many good performances which don’t always come to light if you lose too many games as it looks not a lot we do is positive. We’ve had quite a lot of good individual performances.
“We are already in a good place but this team will be in a good place the day after tomorrow and after that,” he added.
Liverpool’s match against Bournemouth takes place on Saturday 24 January at the Vitality Stadium, with kick-off set for 5.30pm GMT.
