Arne Slot handed fitness boosts ahead of Atletico Madrid clash but ‘excellent’ star still injured – journalist
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Liverpool begin their Champions League campaign on Wednesday at Anfield.
The Reds sit top of the Premier League table on a maximum of 12 points, although how they have achieved that is rather extraordinary.
The one team who will probably not let them get away with this is Atletico Madrid, with the Spanish giants being Liverpool’s first European opponents this season.
Atletico are going through an injury crisis themselves at the moment, but Arne Slot now seems to only be without one star for this game.
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
The Reds are putting in their final preparations for their game under the lights, with this one set to be very special for many reasons.
Not only is the Champions League back, but Liverpool have a hugely exciting squad who are heavily tipped to go all the way.
And Wednesday could be a night of firsts as Alexander Isak could make his debut for the club, with journalist James Pearce confirming that he is taking part in the open training session at Tuesday lunchtime.
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As well as this, Alexis Mac Allister is training with the team fully after his injury scare against Burnley, suggesting that he might go straight back into the starting line-up.
One player who will not be, though, is midfielder Curtis Jones, with the Englishman one of the only absentees from the training session.
Jones, who was once hailed as ‘excellent’ but teammate Andy Robertson, went on international duty with England but did not feature due to a muscle injury, with it looking like it might be a bad one.
After failing to feature in any of the training sessions so far, Jones will certainly miss out on the Reds’ Champions League fixture, although his recovery time is not yet known.
The only silver lining with Jones being out is that both right-backs, Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are back fit, meaning Dominik Szoboszlai can play if Mac Allister cannot.
Jones and the Hungarian regularly battle it out for that spot in the team when an injury arises, but Szoboszlai now has a free run at it.
As well as this, his impressive performances from full-back have only meant he has earned the right to play, with his energy in the middle of the park something that could prove key.
Liverpool will be the favourites going into this game, but the one thing fans will be desperate to see will be Isak making his debut.