Liverpool manager Arne Slot has revealed how injury and the birth of a player's child impacted his team selection against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup. Premier League leaders Liverpool were stunned by Championship strugglers Plymouth, with Ryan Hardie scoring the only goal of the game from the penalty spot. It came off the back of a fresh injury blow for the Reds, who lost Joe Gomez early on. Gomez wasn't the only injury victim, though, with Curtis Jones telling Slot on the eve of the game that he wasn't 100 percent. Jones had been due to start, according to Slot, but the boss was forced into a last-minute change.
Darwin Nunez was also in line for a start as Slot looked to give the Uruguay striker minutes. The former Benfica star became a father in the lead-up to the match, though, and the boss opted to start with him on the bench. "A wise man once said to me nothing good comes from losing a game," Slot said. "We would definitely prefer to have played more. "Now after losing this game, there is a moment where we have a normal week. But that is not what we wanted when we went to Plymouth. The plan was to play with Joe for 60 minutes, the plan was to start Curtis but he didn't feel well enough to play.
"Darwin became a dad one or two days before the game, that happened in Spain and he came in one or two days earlier. We wanted to play with a stronger team. The fact we didn't win shows these players need these games. It makes it disappointing we don't have these extra games for them.". WIll Liverpool bounce back against Everton? Have your say in the comments section. Liverpool are back in action on Wednesday, taking on Everton in their rearranged Premier League game. Gomez will miss out after his early exit against Plymouth, but Trent Alexander-Arnold could return after missing the last two games.
“Trent has done parts of training sessions with us. Not ‘sessions’, a session, yesterday," Slot told reporters on Tuesday. “So, let’s see how he is today. He will train, hopefully, with us again and then we have to decide if we take him to the game, yes or no. “Joe, it’s the same leg where he had the injury last time," he added. "We are still assessing that but he will definitely not be available tomorrow.”.
Liverpool can move nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table if they win on Wednesday. David Moyes' Everton are coming into the game off the back of three successive league wins, though they were also eliminated from the cup over the weekend when they lost at home to Bournemouth. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
