'Going to play': Slot says he might now do something 'nobody would expect' with his starting XI vs Southampton
Today at 05:30 AM
Liverpool head to Southampton for the second time in less than a month on Wednesday as they aim for another Carabao Cup semi-final.
The Reds will be favourites for the tie having seen Southampton sack manager Russell Martin on Sunday.
However, the Liverpool fixture list is a punishing one at the moment, and Arne Slot has more than a few injuries to contend with.
Ahead of the Carabao Cup quarter-final, the Liverpool head coach has provided an interesting update on what he’s planning for Wednesday’s game.
Kostas Tsimikas has returned to training but will not be ready to start just yet. Furthermore, Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate remain sidelined.
As a result, Slot has now admitted that he could be about to spring a surprise with his selection in defence at St Mary’s.
Arne Slot set for surprise defence selection
Slot does not have much room to manoeuvre when picking his defence for Wednesday’s trip to the South Coast.
The Dutchman has seen the likes of Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah increase their importance to the Liverpool squad following a glut of injuries to other players.
Consequently 21-year-old James Norris could get his chance as the most senior natural left-back remaining on the books at Kirkby.
And when asked about Norris and Amara Nallo in particular playing against Southampton, Slot admitted that we could be about to see something ‘nobody would expect’ in the Liverpool defence.
READ MORE: Arne Slot confirms Liverpool have suffered a fresh injury blow ahead of playing Southampton
“I’m aware of the fact that we’ve only got four defenders available and probably the ones who have started a lot of times will not play 90 minutes for sure and maybe not even at all,” he said.
“So, it’s going to be either academy players who get playing time or it’s going to be players that nobody would expect to see in the last line [defence] that are going to play in the last line tomorrow.”
Who could Slot use in defence?
This is going to be fascinating. First of all, it’s safe to assume that none Virgil van Dijk, Gomez or Trent Alexander-Arnold are going to be playing.
With Bradley, Tsimikas and Andy Robertson ruled out, that leaves Slot without any natural full-backs, save for Norris.
We think this will lead to Norris getting a surprise start, while we think Wataru Endo should be an option at right-back.
Quansah will surely get the chance to put his bad form behind him with a start a centre-back, but who comes in alongside him is a real mystery.
It could be that Slot thinks Nallo is ready. If so, he would be the natural choice. If not, maybe Tyler Morton could do a job? We really are intrigued to see what Slot decides.
