Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has confirmed his starting XI to take on Wolves for the second time this week, with decisions made on Rio Ngumoha and Cody Gakpo in the FA Cup
19:00, 06 Mar 2026Updated 19:02, 06 Mar 2026
Rio Ngumoha and Arne Slot during the Champions League game between Liverpool and Qarabag.(Image: Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
Rio Ngumoha starts for Liverpool as the Reds look to bounce back from a late defeat at Wolves in the Premier League by taking on the same team in the FA Cup.
Arne Slot has made four changes to freshen things up, with his side in the middle of a run of three games in seven days. Liverpool goes to Galatasaray next in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Alisson Becker, not Giorgi Mamardashvili, is in goal, with Dominik Szoboszlai, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson lining up across the back four. Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch are in midfield alongside Alexis Mac Allister, with Florian Wirtz returning to the bench after recovering from a back issue.
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Ngumoha, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo make up the rest of the team, with the likes of Hugo Ekitike and Federico Chiesa available off the bench.
Ahead of the game, Slot was questioned by reporters on his team’s “approach” in its last clash with Wolves, where it started slowly and didn’t really look like creating much.
“It’s not the perfect word to use because it’s not what I feel, but I cannot come up with another one: I’m almost annoyed if you say ‘that approach’,” Slot said.
“Because the approach is not different: the approach is we want to have the ball as much as possible, and we want to have it back as soon as possible. So, we always press high and when we have the ball we try to attack.
Wolves boss Rob Edwards shakes hands with his Liverpool counterpart Arne Slot after Tuesday’s Premier League match at Molineux (Image: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
“Then, in the final part, when we have the ball in the same position, it leads to chances as it didn’t happen in the first 70 or 80 minutes — that is something I see as well.
“But that’s not down to approach. Or maybe we don’t understand each other exactly when you mean ‘approach’.
“We don’t approach the game by saying, ‘OK, in the first 70 minutes, we don’t want to have the ball or we don’t want to attack.’ No, we do. That it doesn’t lead to anything, that we completely agree on.
“But that might also be due to the fact that an opponent is fitter in the start of the game than in the end. Maybe, I don’t know, that they became a bit more like, ‘Oh, we’re 1-0 up so let’s be even more defensive, let’s give them a bit of more space.’
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“Or there’s more urgency with us. But it’s never the approach. We always start the game in the same way and we play it in the same way. But that there is a difference between the last 10 minutes in chance creation compared to the first 80, that’s clear.
“There’s no difference in the approach. If you mean that I approach it like, ‘OK, let’s stay calm and let’s wait, wait, wait.’ No, no, no. ‘Attack as much as you can.’ That’s also what you see in the game.
“We bring enough players forward, but that we’re not able from all the ball possession to create a lot of chances, that’s not something new to me. That has happened throughout the whole season.”
Liverpool starting XI: Alisson; Szoboszlai, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Jones, Ngumoha; Gakpo. Subs: Mamardashvili, Konate, Frimpong, Kerkez, Wirtz, Chiesa, Ekitike, Nyoni, Morrison.