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Liverpool will make a late decision on whether to select Trent Alexander-Arnold for the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
The vice-captain has missed their last two games with a thigh injury sustained in the win at Bournemouth but could give them a boost by returning to action at Goodison Park on Wednesday.
Head coach Arne Slot will assess the right-back in training before deciding whether to include him in the squad but will be without fellow defender Joe Gomez as he admitted he is worried by the injury he suffered in their FA Cup exit at Plymouth.
He said: “Trent has done part of a training session with us yesterday [Monday] so let’s see how he is today. He will train hopefully with us and then we have to decide if we take him to the game. Joe is the same leg as last time but he will definitely not be available for the game tomorrow. That is definitely a concern.”
Slot believes there are no benefits from getting knocked out of the FA Cup, even though it will reduce their workload, as he said Liverpool should be disappointed with both their display and the result against Championship strugglers Plymouth.
But while he has been criticised for leaving much of his first team behind on Merseyside, he argued he had hoped to name a stronger side at Home Park but, for different reasons, Curtis Jones missed the match and Gomez and Darwin Nunez only played parts of it.
He added: “A wise man that once said to me that nothing good comes from losing a football game and I completely agree, so we would have definitely preferred to play six games in 18 days or seven in 21 or eight in 24 because that is the schedule we are in. Now with us losing this game, there is one moment where we have a normal week but that is definitely not what we wanted when we went to Plymouth.
“It was difficult because the plan was of course to play with Joe for 60 minutes or longer. The plan was to start Curtis but he came out Sunday saying that he didn’t feel well enough to play. So then all of a sudden we missed two important players. I think people know Darwin’s situation that he became a dad one or two days before the game and that happened in Spain, so he came in a bit later.
“It should have impact because if you are working at a club like this you should compete for every trophy, we’ve said this from the start, and so to go out at the second occasion, to lose against Plymouth is not acceptable. Us as a team, and I think our fans are disappointed, by that result. Now we have to show a different side of us tomorrow because it wasn’t only the result but the performance was far from what Liverpool’s standards are as well.”
Slot believes Goodison will be even louder than usual on Wednesday because it is Liverpool’s final trip there before Everton move to their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock in the summer.
He added: “It is an extra reason why the atmosphere will probably be even better than all the occasions before.”
