Arne Slot promises to pick Liverpool line-up 'nobody would expect' as big clue dropped

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has intriguingly hinted at his strategy to tackle his team’s defensive woes ahead of their clash with Southampton on Wednesday. The Reds are stretched thin defensively, with only four senior defenders available following Andy Robertson’s red card against Fulham.

Slot confirmed Kostas Tsimikas is set to return to training but is unlikely to feature from the start against the Saints due to a lingering ankle injury from the November international break.

In a surprising twist, Slot suggested he might not rely on stalwarts like Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold at St. Mary’s, hinting at potential involvement from academy players or repositioning squad members for the Carabao Cup quarter-final line-up.

He also shed light on Federico Chiesa’s situation after a lengthy absence, saying: “It’s definitely a moment where he (Chiesa) can get minutes,” but cautioned: “The amount of minutes is a question mark.

“You cannot expect him to play 90, especially not at this level where the intensity is so high because he has been out for five or six months now. But he will, if he has a good training session, he will get minutes.”

The manager emphasized squad management: “But it’s going to be a game where not all of our starters will start so we have to manage minutes. If we want to use a few starters, it will not be for 90 minutes, so we have to balance.”

“You talk about these two now,” Slot said, referencing academy prospects Amara Nallo and James Norris, who were notably absent from Liverpool Under-21s’ recent fixture against Crystal Palace.

“But I think we have a few others who have made a good impact in our training sessions until now.” He added: “We have also used them – Trey (Nyoni) has been used already in the League Cup.”

Slot acknowledged the limited defensive options, indicating that regular starters might not complete the full match or appear at all. The Liverpool boss provided insights into the squad selection challenges they are facing, stating: “It’s going to be either academy players who are going to get playing time or it’s going to be players who nobody would expect to see playing in the last line that are going to play in the last line tomorrow.”

He further clarified substitution limitations: “I can only make five substitutions. The ones that get minutes and go off, maybe at half-time, can’t be more than five as you can only make five substitutions.”

He affirmed Chiesa’s participation in the upcoming match: “He will make minutes, Federico, tomorrow. If he starts or comes in to play the second half, that’s something we have to make a decision about during today.”

Meanwhile, Slot has confirmed that Caoimhin Kelleher will be back between the sticks for the upcoming clash against Southampton, hinting as well that Wataru Endo is likely to feature in the midfield. “That for me is one of the positives about the League Cup because, like you have seen until now, we haven’t played with many starters yet.

“So it’s mostly been a game where the ones that haven’t played that much started the game. And that’s really important for the likes of Wata Endo for example. He hasn’t played that much but, fortunately for us, he plays for his national team. “And a few times he can play in the League Cup helps him to keep his rhythm as well.”

Slot went on to say: “Yes, you can (expect Kelleher to come back in). It’s one of the most difficult jobs in football if the first goalkeeper is always available, because you work for the whole season and you hardly ever have a chance to play because you normally don’t come in 10 or 15 minutes before the end.

“He’s, unfortunately for us but good for him, already played quite a lot of minutes. So I think if we make a list of players of the amount of minutes, there will be players that have far less playing time than him.

“I think he can look back on the first half of the season for himself as a positive first half of the season. We as a club, of course, hope that all players will be available for the second half of the season so he will not make the amount of minutes that he made in the first half. But we are really fortunate to have such a great second goalkeeper, that, if we need him, he is able to do as well as he did.”