Andoni Iraola says he trusts his Liverpool players to step up in the absence of Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak against Manchester City on Sunday. The Reds boss also explained how he is looking to redress the balance to make a defensively-solid side more adventurous going forward following an analysis of results and performances during the international break.
Injuries to key forwards
Isak is the top scorer so far with four goals, which have all been supplied by the in-form Gakpo, who has registered two strikes himself. Both forwards are injured for Sunday's clash at Anfield. Gakpo hurt his ankle in a challenge with Ipswich Town's Sasa Lukic when the Netherlands beat Serbia 2-1 during the international break, while Sweden striker Isak picked up a thigh problem after a game he scored in against Romania.
Iraola admits the setbacks are far from ideal but he challenged the rest of the squad to deliver when Enzo Maresca's unbeaten league leaders visit Merseyside.
Iraola's challenge to the squad
"It's definitely not something I wanted from this international break but we can't control it," Iraola said. "It is what it is. We can't change it so we have to adapt. It's a bad thing for us, definitely, because both of them have been prolific forwards at the start of the season but the good thing when you coach Liverpool is you still have very good players available. I trust the players we have ready to go. It's also a good moment for those players to step up, to add good numbers and good performances while we recover Cody and Alex."
Asked for his assessment of the Reds' games so far this term during the international break, Iraola, whose side kept three successive clean sheets for the first time in two years before the break, added: "They've been different games. Probably the first games we played were a little bit more open. I think we improved that side and controlled the other games better."
Balancing defence and attack
"Defensively we have been much better but it has taken a little bit from our offensive side, it has taken a little bit of our arrivals, the volume of them offensively. Now is the moment when you think: 'OK, let's keep this defensive solidity, stay comfortable defending and not giving a lot of chances away'. But it's difficult. Ronald Araujo is the clearest example. You change him in and probably you are more solid at the back but you lose a bit of threat going forward. We want to balance it a little bit, use all of the squad and take the right decisions for games that are going to be very different from one to the other."
