Arne Slot could turn to 9 youngsters amid Liverpool injury nightmare and player shortage
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Liverpool IconLiverpool FC NewsFeaturesLiverpool FCThe Reds could be without eight players for Saturday's game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, but Arne Slot has already provided an indication of which youngsters he will turn toArne Slot is short of squad depth for Saturday's game against Wolves(Image: 2025 CameraSport)Arne Slot will have plenty of time during the Christmas break to mull over his squad selection for Saturday’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers.Liverpool hosts the Premier League’s bottom-place club on Saturday, with Wolves looking to earn a first victory of the season. While the Reds are heavy favorites to take all three points, Wolves’ hopes have certainly been boosted by the outbreak of an injury crisis in Arne Slot’s squad.Up to eight players have been ruled out of the encounter, with Alexander Isak adding his name to that unwanted list following the broken leg he suffered last week in the win over Tottenham Hotspur.READ MORE: Wolves handed major injury blow ahead of Liverpool trip as key man ruled out for 'weeks'READ MORE: Liverpool handed Joe Gomez injury boost just hours after Arne Slot updateSlot also confirmed that Joe Gomez and Wataru Endo won’t be available, while Giovanni Leoni is a long-term absentee.
Mohamed Salah is at the Africa Cup of Nations, and ever-present Dominik Szoboszlai is suspended after he picked up a fifth yellow card of the season last weekWith Conor Bradley and Cody Gakpo described as “50-50” by Slot, that means Liverpool’s squad could look a little threadbare on Saturday.In fact, Liverpool may have just 12 regular first-team players available for the clash against Wolves.Slot will have plenty to consider ahead of the Wolves game(Image: Getty Images)Slot will inevitably have to turn to fringe members of the squad or youth-team players to make up the numbers. Calvin Ramsay and Trey Nyoni are likely to be involved in some capacity and were both seen training on Tuesday.Wellity Lucky has been part of the first-team group lately and has been named in the last three matchday squads.The 19-year-old defender made his first-team debut in the Carabao Cup loss to Crystal Palace in October, but has yet to play in the Premier League.Lucky has been handed first-team opportunities due to Liverpool's injury issuesIn fact, Lucky was one of three Liverpool debutants that night, along with Trent Kone-Doherty and Kieran Morrison.
The latter has trained regularly with the first team this season and was named in the matchday squad against Brentford a few days prior to the Palace encounter.Amara Nallo and Kaide Gordon also played in that 3-0 defeat at Anfield, while Carter Pinnington, Michael Laffey, Tommy Pilling and Keyrol Figueroa were named as unused substitutes.All nine youth-team players will be on Slot’s radar ahead of Saturday, although he won’t need to call upon that many youngsters.Two or three will likely be drafted in, with the Liverpool head coach hoping some of his absentees will be available in time for the game against Leeds United on New Year’s Day.