For Liverpool manager Arne Slot, reports of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. The second year Reds boss has been both the subject of sacking speculation, and linked to Ajax. However, right now the belief is that he’ll see out his contract, which runs until 2027. However, you just never know what might happen down the stretch here for Liverpool. Perhaps they’ll tank further, between now and Championship Sunday, and then Arne Slot will get the sack? Yes, just one year after winning the league title no less.
Hey, such is life when you’re the manager of a big money, high profile Premier League club.
Chelsea at Liverpool FYIs
Kickoff- Saturday May 9, Anfield, Liverpool, UK, 12:30 pm
Team News: Liverpool Chelsea
Premier League Standing:
Liverpool- 4th, 58 points, close to clinching UCL qualification
Chelsea- 9th, 48 points, three pts outside of UECL qualification
Google Result Probability- Liverpool win 51%, Draw 24%, Chelsea win 25%
Reds Team News
If Liverpool do begin to slump, it likely won’t be this weekend, because Chelsea are an absolute mess. The Blues are on a long losing streak right now, and they just ended a nine hour goal-scoring drought. Liverpool have their issues, of course, but they’re in a much better place than Chelsea right now. However, they will likely still be without the services of two key players, starting goalkeeper Alisson and club record signing Alexander Isak.
“Alisson hasn’t trained with us yet, so that makes it quite simple,” Slot said on Sunday.
“We’re hoping for him to be ready next week, but we have to wait and see how the week will go. The same can be said about Alex – we’re hoping to have him back next week.”
He added the following on Isak:
“And then during the week we miss out on Alex as well… Of course, very unlucky and unhappy with the fact he picked up a really small injury. That’s why this game came a bit too early… It wasn’t much, but unfortunately, it was too much for [today].”
Both missed training on Wednesday, casting further doubt about their potential involvement on Saturday. We also had an additional training absentee today, one who was surprising- central defender Ibrahima Konate. Not much is known about his situation right now, or why he missed out, but we’ll keep you posted.
And then of course you have the standing injury absentees- Hugo Ekitike, Jayden Danns, Wataru Endo, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Mo Salah and Giorgi Mamardashvili. Of that list, only the final two are expected to return before the season concludes.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.