It was a quiet night for Liverpool news, so the focus this morning is on Virgil van Dijk’s calf ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League game at LASK.
After Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by Manchester City, the captain said: “I had a little knock in the end on my calf which is pretty painful so I’m going home to get some treatment to be ready for Wednesday.” He made it clear he wants to play if he is fit, while stressing that selection is the manager’s decision. Liverpool’s injury and suspension list, last updated on 12 October, still doesn’t include him, so he has not been ruled out. Andoni Iraola’s press conference in Austria this afternoon is the next chance for an update.
Szoboszlai, Isak and Gakpo still unlikely
There was no new club fitness update overnight. Iraola’s last word on the injured trio, quoted on the club’s injury list, still stands: “It’s true that now we play four games in 10 days, so it’s going to be difficult because we fly to Austria in two days. I think it’s going to be difficult to recover any of the players.” Dominik Szoboszlai has a minor hamstring problem, Alexander Isak a thigh injury and Cody Gakpo an ankle injury. Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni remain long-term absentees.
Ryan Gravenberch is available for LASK, as his one-match ban applies only to domestic games, but he misses Saturday’s trip to Brentford. Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo can’t play on Wednesday because neither is in the Champions League squad named in September. An overnight report in the Liverpool Echo, once a great paper, now part of Reach plc’s clickbait machine, said “two more” players had been ruled out, but it was referring to those two, not to new injuries.
Today in Austria
All times UK. Iraola’s pre-match press conference is at 3.30pm from the Raiffeisen Arena, and the club is streaming training live on its YouTube channel from the same venue at 5pm. LASK v Liverpool kicks off at 5.45pm on Wednesday, live on TNT Sports in the UK, with LFCTV’s Matchday Live from 4.30pm.
Fixtures
Wednesday 14 October: LASK v Liverpool, Champions League, 5.45pm. Saturday 17 October: Brentford v Liverpool, Premier League, 3pm. Tuesday 20 October: Liverpool v Villarreal, Champions League, 8pm. Sunday 25 October: Liverpool v Brighton, Premier League, 2pm.
Transfers, contracts and ownership
Nothing from the likes of David Ornstein and Paul Joyce overnight, and nothing credible on contracts, ownership or staffing. A report that Liverpool are confident of finalising a new contract for Rio Ngumoha comes from TEAMtalk, a long-running transfer gossip site with a patchy record, repeated by the Echo. January talk of Jules Koundé as cover for Jeremie Frimpong still traces back to Football Insider, a clickbait site. Neither is confirmed.
