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<\/p>\nLiverpool v Barnsley: FA Cup Preview and Latest Team News<\/p>\n
Liverpool return to Anfield with a familiar brief, progress in the Emirates FA Cup without fuss, protect key players where possible and maintain momentum in a congested winter schedule. Barnsley will come and look to provide a memorable cup upset in a game that is bigger than it looks on paper.<\/p>\n
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Arne Slot has been clear about intent. The strongest available squad will be selected, even if rotation appears on the bench rather than in the starting XI. That message reflects a manager who values rhythm and standards, especially at home, while recognising the physical realities of January.<\/p>\n
Liverpool team news and selection picture<\/p>\n
The headline for Liverpool concerns the fitness of Hugo Ekitike. The French forward has missed the last two games with a hamstring issue and delayed onset muscle soreness, and remains a late call.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHugo, that is not 100 per cent sure but we will do everything to have him available on Monday,\u201d Arne Slot said.<\/p>\n
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X: @LFC<\/p>\n
There are firmer absences. Conor Bradley is ruled out after sustaining a significant knee injury at Arsenal, while Mohamed Salah remains on international duty following Egypt\u2019s progress to the Africa Cup of Nations semi finals. Wataru Endo has been sidelined since early December with an ankle problem, and long term issues keep Alexander Isak, Giovanni Leoni and Jayden Danns unavailable.<\/p>\n
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Slot offered context on Endo and others.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if I am correct he [Endo] might start to train one of these days, but he has been out for two months now, that\u2019s of course different to being out for one week.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlex is not going to be back yet and Mo played on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Danns, he added:<\/p>\n
\u201cNot fit enough, no. Not even training, if I\u2019m correct. One of the players that got a stress fracture because he was young and from what we\u2019ve been told was a bit over-trained.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s why we are so careful with Rio Ngumoha, that he\u2019s two days a week off the pitch if that\u2019s possible, to not have that same situation with him. But Jayden is definitely not available in the short term.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Photo: IMAGO<\/p>\n
Barnsley availability and talking points<\/p>\n
Barnsley travel without suspended captain Luca Connell, a notable loss in midfield leadership. There is better news elsewhere, with hopes that Georgie Gent, Marc Roberts and Nathanael Ogbeta can be involved.<\/p>\n
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\u201cNathanael Ogbeta will definitely be back,\u201d head coach Conor Hourihane said. \u201cRobbo is going to be touch and go but we will give him every chance to be involved in such a good game.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorgie has not trained as many days but they could all potentially be back. It will be touch and go.\u201d<\/p>\n
New arrival Eoghan O\u2019Connell is also in contention.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will definitely be involved. We have to get him up to speed as best we can.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know when he gets fit and in a decent place he will be a really valuable player for us heading into the second half of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Recent form and final thoughts<\/p>\n
Liverpool drew 0-0 at Arsenal in midweek, with a lineup featuring Alisson, Konate, Van Dijk and Mac Allister, while Barnsley were held 1-1 by Wigan on New Year\u2019s Day. The gulf in level is obvious, but cup ties hinge on focus and availability. Team News suggests Liverpool will field experience with measured support from the bench, which usually proves enough at Anfield.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool v Barnsley: FA Cup Preview and Latest Team News Liverpool return to Anfield with a familiar brief,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[15865,20702,23970,498,64124,49,48,95148,171322,17706,171323,23974,15867,171320,78022,1417,171321,78021,171324,35416,171319,82319,561,82,61648,20700,95145],"class_list":["post-406328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-alexander-isak","tag-alisson","tag-arne-slot","tag-arsenal","tag-barnsley","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-conor-bradley","tag-conor-hourihane","tag-egypt","tag-georgie-gent","tag-giovanni-leoni","tag-hugo-ekitike","tag-jayden-danns","tag-konate","tag-liverpool","tag-luca-connell","tag-mac-allister","tag-marc-roberts","tag-mohamed-salah","tag-nathanael-ogbeta","tag-rio-ngumoha","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-team-news","tag-van-dijk","tag-wataru-endo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}