Andoni Iraola believes Liverpool face an uphill battle when they visit Brentford this weekend, citing fatigue from a demanding schedule and a late return from European action.
Lack of sleep a concern
The Reds were in Austria on Tuesday night, beating LASK 6-0, but arrived back late and Iraola admitted his players may be short on rest ahead of Saturday's trip.
"I think obviously it's more difficult when we have played yesterday night, we arrive here [at the training ground] quite late at night and we haven't slept the hours we normally sleep," he said on Thursday, mere hours after getting back from Linz.
"But this is the challenge of playing, no? It's competitions like the Champions League and it's not going to just happen this week, It is going to be a constant thing this season so we have to adapt."
Rotation and quick turnarounds
Iraola was at least able to rest some key players against LASK. Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister both started on the bench and made brief cameos, while Milos Kerkez was not involved at all. Van Dijk played only 29 minutes in the win.
"We have to be ready, the same way it was a quick turnaround after Manchester City, this is going to be a quick one, the next one, we have like four that are just two days in between games," the Basque said.
"That is not normal but has happened this time and we have to adapt to these circumstances.
"But I think we could rest some minutes or some players yesterday (vs LASK) and I expect everyone to be at their best mentally and physically. Because you know, Brentford, you cannot play comfortable against them, we know this, so we have to be ready for a battle."
Everyone needed
With Liverpool playing twice a week until early November, Iraola stressed the importance of squad depth.
"In this period especially, when we are basically playing every three days – almost less than three days – you need more players. That's why we changed the team a little bit yesterday," he added.
"We need everyone, we will need everyone in one moment or the other. Everyone has to be ready because we will need him probably."
