Dominik Szoboszlai will miss the trip to Sunderland on Wednesday and with no recognised right-back returning, gives Liverpool boss Arne Slot a problem
Arne Slot’s right-back woes have increased after Liverpool’s home loss to Manchester City(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Arne Slot is facing a selection crisis at right-back after Dominik Szoboszlai was suspended for Liverpool’s trip to Sunderland on Wednesday. The Hungary international will serve a one-match ban having been sent off for preventing a goalscoring opportunity when pulling back Erling Haaland during a bizarre ending to the Reds’ painful 2-1 Premier League loss at home to Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.
Szoboszlai, who opened the scoring with a brilliant free-kick, was playing at right-back with Joe Gomez, Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley all missing injured.
And with Frimpong and Bradley already ruled out of the game at Sunderland, Slot has revealed he expects Gomez – who sat out the last three games with a hip problem – to again be absent.
OPINION
Ian Doyle
OPINION
Ian Doyle
“Jeremie for sure not,” said the Reds boss. “We knew that when he got injured, it was a few weeks.
“To be honest, I don’t expect Joe back for Wednesday, but you never know. Then he is back from being out for three weeks, would you play him now? I have to make that decision.
“Let’s see what decision we make. We have other players that can play that position as well.
“Dom played very well in that position again, but unfortunately, he is unavailable for Wednesday.”
Wataru Endo played almost the full 90 minutes when replacing the injured Frimpong during the 6-0 Champions League romp against Qarabag a fortnight ago.
Calvin Ramsay, who has been on the bench in recent weeks, started the League Cup home loss to Crystal Palace in October but has yet to feature in the Premier League almost four years after being signed from Aberdeen.