Arne Slot is assessing the fitness of Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League clash at Southampton on Sunday
Arne Slot admits he will have a decision to make over Liverpool’s South American contingent as the strain of the international break continues to take its toll. Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez were all in action for their respective countries during the latest round of World Cup qualifiers during the last fortnight.
Diaz twice played the full 90 minutes in Colombia’s defeats to Uruguay and Ecuador, while Nunez featured for the duration against Colombia but was substituted at half-time in Uruguay’s 1-1 draw in Brazil for tactical reasons.
Mac Allister, meanwhile, played 64 minutes in Argentina’s defeat in Paraguay before being substituted in the closing moments of the win over Peru having been on the receiving end of a poor challenge.
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The midfielder, similar to Nunez and Diaz, was nevertheless able to train on Friday as leaders Liverpool stepped up their preparations for Sunday’s Premier League trip to bottom-placed Southampton.
None of the triumvirate started when the Reds resumed after the October international break with a win over Chelsea, while in the first game after the September pause Nunez was only a substitute and Mac Allister and Diaz were replaced after an hour in the 1-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest.
Mac Allister has featured in every Liverpool game so far this season and has been absent for just two since returning from injury at the start of January.
And when asked whether he was mindful of the minutes being played by the World Cup winner given his additional travel demands in recent months, Slot said: “I particularly keep an eye today on the players that come back from South America and that is not only Macca, it’s also Darwin, also Lucho.
“Especially the ones who played two times 90 minutes. You keep an eye on them and see how they are doing, how fit they are, you talk to them a bit more about how they feel than I do with the ones who played in Europe.”
Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa will not be considered for the trip to Southampton, although all three are back on the training pitch with Chiesa having taken part in Friday’s full training session.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is out with a hamstring problem with Conor Bradley expected to come in at right-back. Harvey Elliott is available after almost three months out with a fractured foot but the midfielder is not in the running for a start as he builds up match sharpness.
