Bradley Barcola is fully fit to face Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday, Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has confirmed, but Dominik Szoboszlai and Victor Munoz are both set to be absent for the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Barcola was rested for Tuesday's 4-3 Champions League win over Villarreal after playing the vast majority of the minutes available in the preceding three matches against Manchester City, LASK and Brentford, which took place in the space of seven days.
Barcola returns to training
The Frenchman went through a solo session at the AXA Training Centre on Thursday before returning to regular team training on Friday. The £123m summer signing is now expected to be in the squad for the weekend visit of the Seagulls.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Iraola said: "Bradley has trained today normally, he's fine. Victor had a knock in the first half against Brentford. He could finish the game but he's dealing with some pain. I think it's going to be difficult (for Brighton)."
Szoboszlai and Munoz sidelined
Iraola later confirmed that Szoboszlai had not yet returned to full team training, although he is undergoing individual sessions. Szoboszlai missed the meetings with Manchester City and LASK following the international break, and although he returned to the starting line-up at Brentford last weekend he would only last 32 minutes before having to be replaced.
Iraola had said after that game that the Hungary captain hadn't suffered a new injury but was instead struggling with a continuation of the previous problem, and he was absent for the midweek win over Villarreal.
Munoz, who scored in last week's win at Brentford, also missed that game with a knee injury, while Jeremie Frimpong was forced off only moments after coming on at half-time in west London and is expected to be out until after the next international break, joining long-term absentees Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni on the sidelines.
Brighton challenge ahead
Brighton arrive at Anfield sitting above Liverpool in the Premier League, and Iraola is impressed with the job that Hurzeler is doing.
"They are doing incredibly well and deserve all the praise they are getting," he said. "They are well coached, very good in every phase, one of the best teams with good quality. We will have to be at our very best. I see my team in a good place.
"It will probably not be too different a game vs Villarreal. They control the phases, are good technically, so we will see this. It will maybe not be a 0-0 where nothing happens. Both teams will try to control the game."
