Arne Slot issues right-back injury update as Liverpool count the cost of Szoboszlai suspension
Arne Slot is facing a heightened selection crisis at right-back after Dominik Szoboszlai’s red card in Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.
With Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Joe Gomez all ruled out through injury, the Hungarian midfielder deputised in defence once more for the visit of Pep Guardiola’s side to Anfield; and it to put it mildly, he had an eventful outing.
The 25-year-old gave his team the lead in the 74th minute with an outrageous free kick from distance, but in trying to prevent an even longer-range goal for Rayan Cherki deep into stoppage time, VAR ruled that he was denying Erling Haaland an obvious goalscoring opportunity and Craig Pawson duly issued a red card.
Slot facing heightened right-back crisis
It means that Szoboszlai is now suspended for the midweek Premier League trip to Sunderland, and given the tight turnaround time, Slot isn’t expecting any of his natural right-back options to be fit in time for the fixture at the Stadium of Light.
When asked whether Frimpong or Gomez would be available for Wednesday night, the Liverpool head coah replied (via liverpoolfc.com): “Jeremie, for sure not. We knew this when he got injured, that it was a few weeks. To be honest, I don’t expect Joe to be back as well, but you never know.
“He is back after being out for three weeks – would you play him then? You say no, but you don’t have to make the decision. I have to make the decision. Let’s see what decision we make.
“We have other players that can play that position as well. Dom again played a very good game in that position but unfortunately he is unavailable for Wednesday.”
Who will play at right-back for Liverpool on Wednesday?
The suspension for Szoboszlai has come at a particularly inopportune time for Liverpool – if we’d had a full week until our next Premier League game, that might well have been sufficient time for Gomez to be available to step in.
Alas, the three-day turnaround is set to leave Slot with a choice between deploying another midfielder at right-back in Curtis Jones, or putting his trust in a largely untried natural option in Calvin Ramsay, whose only first-team all season came in a much-changed line-up in the Carabao Cup exit to Crystal Palace.
Although the Reds boss said that he ‘could live with‘ the red card for our number 8 on Sunday, the process which led to the decision angered Gary Neville on Sky Sports and is likely to be even more damaging to LFC than a third Man City goal would’ve been, seeing as we lost 2-1 anyway.
Jones’ solitary start at right-back this season came in the 4-1 drubbing at home to PSV Eindhoven in November, when he and his team endured an especially tough night at the office, and he could have his hands full with trying to curb the influence of Chemsdine Talbi against Sunderland in midweek.
That’s not a dig at the 25-year-old, whose ability to deputise in defence is greatly appreciated, but it’s logical that we’d prefer to see a natural defender in such a crucial area of the pitch, so fingers crossed that Gomez might yet be passed fit to play on Wednesday night.
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