Slot Praises Guardiola as Liverpool Struggles with Injuries
Arne Slot, the Liverpool manager, praised Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola on Thursday for his management of an injury-hit squad and raised concerns about his own players’ readiness ahead of their Premier League showdown on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium.
Right-back Conor Bradley is likely to miss the clash against Manchester City as well as the Newcastle United game on Wednesday due to a muscle injury. Meanwhile, defender Joe Gomez is out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his hamstring.
There are also doubts over the availability of forward Cody Gakpo, who missed Liverpool’s last two league matches due to injury.
“I hope he plays, but I’m not 100% sure,” Slot told reporters on Thursday. “Cody has not trained with the team yet. It will be a very tough match.”
He added: “Joe Gomez had surgery, so he will be out for a long time. Maybe he returns before the end of the season, but I’d be surprised if Conor is available. You can assume that won’t happen.”
“The reason why Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold haven’t played 90 minutes five times in 15 days is because they are just returning from injury,” he explained.
Manchester City, currently fourth in the league, was eliminated from the Champions League after a 6-3 aggregate loss to Real Madrid. Star striker Erling Haaland missed their 3-1 defeat away from home on Wednesday.
Speaking about Manchester City, which is in a fierce battle to secure a top-four spot, Slot said: “The style remains the same even if the team wears a different shirt. It’s Guardiola’s approach, even when they drop points. But he needs top-level players.”
He continued: “If you miss that many players in this league, it becomes extremely difficult.”
“City signed three or four players, and I can already see them bouncing back, considering their 4-0 win against Newcastle,” he noted.
He concluded: “You have to fight hard and put in a big effort to keep City away from your goal because they are extremely strong in possession. But they will also be up against a strong team that has gone 22 league games unbeaten.”
