If we sell Mo or not will be up to himself. I don't think we really want to sell him, but if he wants to start every game and not get taken off then he might want to get out. Hes simply not at the level to be a day in day out type of player.

Hat tip to slot and the guys though. They've been night and day different since the Salah stuff. Introducing all the midfielders to the starting 11 has played into our strengths instead of chasing a weakness.

Going to be a super interesting winter transfer window. We need at minimum one CB, but I could make the argument two. We absolutely positively need a world class level winger. No clue what they do though.

Kerkez looked like a different player tonight. What a difference without Gakpo ignoring him every run he makes.

CuJo has been playing his socks off and is increasingly making himself undroppable.

Gomez going off injured. Again. Seems like if he plays more than 4 games in a row, his body can't handle it.

Szoboszlai is the engine of this team. How he goes, we go. Simply an incredible player.

Wirtz is growing in confidence. Looking better and better

James Pearce is reporting that Szoboszlai is to be sidelined until February with a hamstring injury

Wait with a hammy? I thought he rolled his ankle? Good lord though this is about as bad as it gets. It's what happens though when you play guys 90 minutes game after game after game.

It's an ankle injury and Pearce is saying he's in contention for this weekend. He's not out until February. That was a parody account that tweeted that.

eiggA2002 said:

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It's an ankle injury and Pearce is saying he's in contention for this weekend. He's not out until February. That was a parody account that tweeted that.

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Always happy to be proven wrong with injury news to our best players.

Side note: Is Szoboszlai our Player of the Season so far? I would say yes. Ekitike would be second

YNWA.2013 said:

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eiggA2002 said:

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It's an ankle injury and Pearce is saying he's in contention for this weekend. He's not out until February. That was a parody account that tweeted that.

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Always happy to be proven wrong with injury news to our best players.

Side note: Is Szoboszlai our Player of the Season so far? I would say yes. Ekitike would be second

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100 Player of the season

I don't think it's even particularly close. What he does for our team makes him maybe the most valuable player in world football imo. Only guys I can think of who are in the same category in terms of value to their team are Halaand, Messi with Miami, Kane, Mbappe (this year in particular). He's that important of a player imo. We'd get run through like **** through tin horn without him.

Who had the Reds and Ags both 0-0 at the half?

Isak scores but he's down and it doesn't look good

Bradley out too right before half with injury

Costly win. Isak, Bradley, Hugo and Wirtz all took damage.

We also looked completely inept against a 9 man team.

I'd like to see Harvey Elliot come back to Liverpool. He might get some run with the 5 man midfield we have used lately. We will also need him now that we will likely be without Isak and Mo for at least a month.

They need to invest again in this next window. We need bodies and more talent in the forward group and in D.

Yeah, very costly win potentially. And a hard win even though TOT was down a man from 33 on and even down to 9 late. Still conceded a goal and had to hang on ….i mean it looked like we were the team a man down. Just who we are this year and will take 3 pts any way we can.

Isak snapped his ankle today right?

Sounding like Isak broke his ankle or at the very least has a severe ankle sprain.

And there it is. Broken lower leg. I doubt he's back this season at all. What a massive blow.

We need the depth but maybe it at least settles some of the confusion around the team.

Szo suspended for Saturday for his 5th yellow

Currently out: gakpo, Salah, Isak, Gomez for awhile. Unknown for how long: Bradley and Gomez.

Anyone else im missing?

Honestly I might play some young guys like Nyoni and maybe Rio. Not saying you throw the game, but because you are already so thin, you mix in a few young dudes to the starting mix to get them experience and a big boy game.

Slot is going to have to play those guys. And he should have gotten those guys more minutes already. But that's another story. He may be finally forced to play Chiesa, but I'll believe it when I see it.

It's home v Wolves. Best fixture of the season to get some fringe guys minutes. If there was ever a good time to have this fixture....it's right now. Need all 3 points.

The Isak news pretty much all but affirms the fact that we'll make a hard and fast move for Semenyo on January 1. Don't know if we'll get him or not, but we're going to activate the release clause. I'd expect we move pretty quickly for a CB too.

The Isak news is brutal too because not only is he back to square one, but the the forward group as a whole is back to square one. At the moment we only have three healthy forwards (Ekitike, Chiesa and Rio). When Gakpo is back that is four. Isak is done for the year and Mo will be out a good while. If we added Semenyo that's still only four because we all know Rio won't play almost at all.

If you stick to playing 4-5 midfielders per game, you might be able to get away with only having Ekitike, Gakpo, Salah and Semenyo if they get him, but you are limiting yourself to that formation the rest of the year. Also, if you do that I think you kinda have to bring Harvey back. You'd need to extra body in midfield imo. Szbo, Gravvy, Mac Allister, Jones, and Wirtz cannot play every game week in and week out. One of them likely needs to be resting on occasion.

hoosierAG said:

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Szo suspended for Saturday for his 5th yellow

Currently out: gakpo, Salah, Isak, Gomez for awhile. Unknown for how long: Bradley and Gomez.

Anyone else im missing?

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By my count, our injury/suspension report (in squad number order):

- Joe Gomez - Played more than 3 games, so of course he is injured.
--> Return Date : Unknown (could be this weekend)

- Wataru Endo - Picked up an undisclosed muscle injury vs Brighton on Dec 6
--> Return Date : Possibly Late Jan. Slot said "weeks" at a Dec 12 press conference

- Ibrahima Konate - Not an injury or suspension but should be noted that he is on 4 yellows. One more and he is suspended. He needs to make it past the Wolves and Leeds game where the YC restarts at 0 after 19 games played, the halfway point in the season.

- Dominik Szoboszlai - Suspended for 5th yellow
--> Return Date : Thurs Jan 1 vs Leeds

- Alexander Isak - Reports indicate he has a "lower leg fracture"
--> Return Date : Unknown. Depending on severity, location, and if surgical intervention is needed. Best case scenario: 3-4 months. Worst case: 18-24 months. We really won't know until some statement is put out. But as a physical therapist, bone fracture > ACL.

- Mohamed Salah - AFCON duties
--> Return Date : AFCON Final is Jan 18. So Jan 21 vs Marseille at the latest. (Or has he already played his last game for Liverpool? Reports say he apologized to his teammates before the Brighton game and Slot says he is ready to move forward. Read into all that what you will.

- Conor Bradley - Appeared to pull his hamstring
--> Return Date : Unknown

- Giovanni Leoni - ACL Tear
--> Return Date : October 2026

- Cody Gakpo - Muscle Injury
--> Return Date : Early January 2026

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All others should be in contention for Saturday's Wolves visit. I hope Slot rotates some and gives some fringe players some valuable minutes. We should handle Wolves easily who have yet to win a game this season and have only picked up 2 points in draws with Brighton and Tottenham.

I expect Alisson to keep his place in goal. Frimpong and Kerkez in their respective fullback positions with VvD and Konate keeping their centreback partnership. I imagine Slot keeps at least 4 midfielders on the pitch so Gravenberch, Macca, and Jones are hopefully joined by Nyoni. Ekitike in his impeccable recent form is joined by Chiesa up front. Wirtz was rubbing his hamstring before being subbed off so maybe he should start on the bench. Hopefully Rio gets some minutes too. Has disappeared down the depth chart with each passing week. It is the most frustrating thing to me about Slot, his reluctance and fear of rotating and playing younger players. It was one of Klopp's best traits and paid dividends for him in a Carabao Cup win. Our depth is looking quite shockingly thin in these festive fixtures....

Eikitike -- Chiesa
Macca
Jones -- Nyoni
Gravenberch
Kerkez -- VvD -- Ibou -- Frimpong
Alisson

Subs:
Gomez, Wirtz, Robertson, Rio, Ramsey, Mamardashvili, a few other Academy players

It's real bad. I think they need to go out and bring another three or four senior players in january, but that quantity never happens in the winter. I think we need two wingers, one midfielder and one CB at the absolute minimum.

I'll be surprised if we bring in more than just a CB who can also play RB. If Semenyo is actually available, I don't know that we would win a bidding war with Man U right now. The Guehi deal with CP really f'ed us hard at the back, and I'm not exactly sure that there is any other starter-level player at the position the talent buyers at Liverpool actually want. I'm sure there are other prospects, but this team is a bad tackle away from an very real emergency on the back line. Konate would not have kept his position with the number of mistakes he's made if there were any realistic options to play that position.

Just a couple of things on my mind. Think we could see Frimpong play RW at times given the shorthandedness. If they think Semenyo is the long-term Mo replacement LFC will get him. If not, we'll wait for someone in the summer. Also think Schlotterbeck is an option if not the preferred option at CB. Guehi is fine with me, just not sure he's LFC's top choice. Price could be a deciding factor though. Guehi would be cheaper.

Not going to lie, I'm kind of excited about this period of chaos. Lot's of opportunity out there.

Paul Joyce is now reporting that Alexander Isak underwent surgery today "on an ankle injury that included a fibula fracture." No timeline given for a return but internally Liverpool expect Isak to play again this season. Honestly, once news of a fracture broke (pun intended), this was the best case scenario, imo.

eiggA2002 said:

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Just a couple of things on my mind. Think we could see Frimpong play RW at times given the shorthandedness. If they think Semenyo is the long-term Mo replacement LFC will get him. If not, we'll wait for someone in the summer. Also think Schlotterbeck is an option if not the preferred option at CB. Guehi is fine with me, just not sure he's LFC's top choice. Price could be a deciding factor though. Guehi would be cheaper.

Not going to lie, I'm kind of excited about this period of chaos. Lot's of opportunity out there.

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I agree with a lot of what you have said. I think if they believe Semenyo to be a legitimate long-term option at RW, we'll get him. The 65 million pound release clause is pretty palatable in today's day and age, and for an overall talent like Semenyo. Liverpool will be competitive in wages, and I think Liverpool long-term are a better bet than United or City. United don't really play a great system for him IMO, and while City appears to be back, they also are a bit of a conundrum from a system perspective. They have reverted to sort of Christmas tree formation just playing Foden and either Cherki or Doku right behind Halaand, and it's worked. The only question I would have is if they think they could legitimately acquire Michael Olise from Bayern. If they could do that then you do that.

I think Slot wants to play some variation of a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 (both of which require legit wingers), we just don't have the personnel at the moment.

I also think the Guehi deal won't happen and that ship has sailed. Palace effed him and so did we because we didn't get him sooner. And truth be told, I think Liverpool are and need to be seriously planning for the future without VVD. As you mentioned perhaps Schlotterbeck is an even better option, and I think there's real real interest in Alessandro Bastoni from Inter Milan. He to me is a VVD replacement through and through, but that deal wouldn't happen anywhere but in the summer. I just don't know what Geuhi's ceiling is if we're being honest.

Outside of the guys mentioned above idk what Liverpool do. They really need more bodies but I think we'll just scrape by this season until the summer, sell off some more guys (maybe Mac Allister, Salah, Gakpo, Robertson) and bring in another wave of new talent.

Sounds like City is the clear cut favorite for Semenyo right now. Pretty much out of it from all I've read.

Everything coming from Fabrizio makes it sound like Semenyo to City is pretty much a done deal in stone.

A wild Chiesa is starting!!

Not really any other option with how we've been lining up recently hahah!

Ekitike sure does love a back heel lol

Broken record so far. Slow meaningless possession with no idea what to do against a low block. And so bad at corners.