Liverpool boss Arne Slott said on Monday that there was no need to change the squad as Liverpool got more rest than usual for their Champions League trip to Girona after the weekend’s games were postponed and goalkeeper Alisson returned from injury.
The Premier League leaders’ game against Everton on Saturday was canceled due to bad weather and Slott will continue to avoid rotating his squad for European competitions.
“If we played Everton we would probably be playing the same team but you never know what this tight game could lead to,” Slott said at a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s game.
“I think canceling the game was a good decision and if you play a special game like this where it needs to be played in good circumstances then it’s a good decision. Everyone is ready now so There is no reason to rotate from the last game, so we will start tomorrow with a very good team,” he added.
Slott’s decision to field his strongest team has paid off so far, with Liverpool top of the Champions League table and guaranteed at least a place in the play-offs, but the aim is for the top eight to automatically advance to the last 16.
“If you start every time, you also need results because we try to end the next round on a high score. If you skip this round and still get a difficult draw, we think differently, But we have to wait and see. We want to stay in the top eight, so we need a win and the first chance is tomorrow,” he said.
Alisson has been sidelined since early October with a hamstring injury, but the Brazilian has now been included in the squad against Girona.
“He’s fit and healthy. I think if you can play with Alisson it speaks for itself and he’s done well for the club and for Brazil over the years and it’s definitely good to have him back and playing.” Slaughter said.
“But if you look at the performance of his successor (Kelleher), it’s not going to be easy to do better, so we expect it will certainly be the same and probably the margins will be a little bit better. But Cao Yixin performed very well, so we can say that we have two good goalkeepers who can do the job for us,” he added.
Girona, in their first season in Europe, have three points from five games and are 30th in the table, three points away from the playoffs, while Liverpool have 15 points, two ahead of Inter Milan. .
