{"id":241741,"date":"2026-01-13T00:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/241741\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T00:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:15:13","slug":"injury-woes-at-both-ends-of-the-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/241741\/","title":{"rendered":"Injury Woes at Both Ends of the Pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liverpool return to action on Monday for the start of their FA Cup journey, with Barnsley the visitors to Anfield for a third-round clash.<\/p>\n

A run of 10 games undefeated has included plenty of highs and a few too many lows for Arne Slot\u2019s side, who are massive favourites to beat a side struggling towards the wrong end of the League One standings.<\/p>\n

The chance to rotate should be taken gleefully by manager Arne Slot, but injury issues leave Liverpool<\/a> without too many concrete options and the boss may have to get creative here.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Liverpool could set up for this one.<\/p>\n

FREE NEWSLETTER. New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC. dark<\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/p>\n

Rio Ngumoha will hope for a chance. \/ Paul Ellis\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

GK: Giorgi Mamardashvili\u2014Opportunities are going to be rare for Mamardashvili this season as Alisson\u2019s deputy, and so he will be determined to take this one.<\/p>\n

RB: Calvin Ramsay\u2014The loss of Conor Bradley to a serious knee injury further limits Liverpool\u2019s options at right back. Ramsay should be drafted in and may have a real role to play for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n

CB: Joe Gomez\u2014Resting both Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konat\u00e9 will be a priority for Slot, who should turn to Gomez from the start here.<\/p>\n

CB: Andy Robertson\u2014Recreating the partnership from the Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace, the experienced Robertson may be needed in a central role.<\/p>\n

LB: Milos Kerkez\u2014Slot would ideally like to rest Kerkez as well but a lack of alternatives may see the Hungarian start, although don\u2019t be surprised to see him withdrawn early on if things are going well.<\/p>\n

DM: Trey Nyoni\u2014Reports state Liverpool have knocked back plenty of loan interest in young Nyoni, who will be needed for fixtures like this over the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n

DM: Alexis Mac Allister\u2014Another who would be rested in an ideal world, Mac Allister is likely to start because of the injury to Wataru Endo. He will not complete 90 minutes unless absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n

RM: Jeremie Frimpong\u2014With Mohamed Salah still away at the Africa Cup of Nations, Slot will have to keep turning to Frimpong, who will expect to be given plenty of chances to impress in attack here against lesser opposition.<\/p>\n

AM: Curtis Jones\u2014Jones has been a regular in recent weeks, plugging gaps all across Slot\u2019s midfield. After being rested against Arsenal, he could make his return.<\/p>\n

LM: Rio Ngumoha\u2014Liverpool fans will be desperate for another run-out for Ngumoha. The 17-year-old has been starved of opportunities so far this season but has been the usual starter in cup competitions.<\/p>\n

ST: Federico Chiesa\u2014Injuries to both Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitik\u00e9 mean Chiesa is likely to see another chance as a central striker. Whether speculation about a January transfer away from Liverpool plays on his mind remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

\"Liverpool<\/p>\n

Arne Slot will not be able to rotate as much as he would like. \/ FotMob<\/p>\n

READ THE LATEST LIVERPOOL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS AND MORE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool return to action on Monday for the start of their FA Cup journey, with Barnsley the visitors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-241741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}