Arne Slot still without TWO key stars but injury crisis begins to EASE

Liverpool are in the midst of their busiest spell of the season. From the middle to the end of December, the Reds are scheduled to play FIVE times in a little over two weeks.

Head coach Arne Slot needs all the help he can get from his squad and mercifully the injury and suspension backlog has begun to clear.

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Liverpool had been without top stars such as Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kostas Tsimikas, Diogo Jota, Harvey Elliott, Federico Chiesa through injury - as well as Alexis Mac Allister through suspension - putting a lot of pressure on the squad’s resources.

However, Slot has been able to welcome back that group of players to his matchday squads in the last couple of fixtures.

Konate and Bradley still OUT

With Tottenham around the corner - and games against Leicester and West Ham to come before 2024 closes out - Liverpool have got close to a full complement in the ranks for the first time in a long time.

That said, there are still TWO notable absences for the Spurs game and it means another patched-up Liverpool defence will be on show on Sunday.

Liverpool will be without first-choice centre-back Ibrahima Konate, who was injured back in November during a Champions League victory against Real Madrid. Konate has resumed working out at the club’s AXA Training Centre but is not yet back with his teammates.

Similarly, Conor Bradley must wait before he re-enters team training and contention for the first team.

“These are the two that are still ‘in the red’, so they don’t train with us at the moment,” Arne Slot told his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“They are on their way back but they don’t train with the team yet.”

Robertson BACK after suspension

Right-back Bradley was also injured during the Madrid game, putting pressure on Alexander-Arnold to stay fit through the festive schedule. It means Joe Gomez or Jarell Quansah is likely to deputise for Konate once again the centre of Liverpool’s defence.

Andy Robertson will return to the lineup following his one-match suspension. Although he was sent off for a straight red card offence last week in the Premier League against Fulham, the Scotland international served his ban during the midweek EFL Cup quarter-final victory at Southampton.

Gomez started at left-back for that encounter with Tsimikas coming off the bench at half time following his ankle injury layoff.

Robertson is due to return to the lineup on Sunday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Slot will be hoping for a clean bill of health for the weeks and months ahead.

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