Bradley Barcola is set to complete his £123m move from Paris Saint-Germain to Liverpool on Monday, and Andoni Iraola must decide whether the winger makes his full debut at Ipswich Town on Friday night.
The Reds travel to Portman Road for the second time in three seasons, with the transfer window closing at 11pm on Tuesday evening. Barcola should be through the door by then, giving him a full week of training with his new team-mates at the AXA Centre before the match.
Gakpo exit could shape the attack
The answer to whether Barcola starts will become clearer once the future of Cody Gakpo is resolved. The Netherlands international has been linked with a potential switch to Manchester City, and if he moves to the Etihad, Iraola is expected to throw Barcola straight into the starting line-up at Ipswich.
On the right side, Victor Munoz is staking a claim after his impressive showing against Nottingham Forest on Saturday lunchtime. Rio Ngumoha might be asked to deputise from the bench.
Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz will likely have another opportunity to build their relationship as the No.9 and No.10 in Iraola's system.
Midfield battle and right-back options
Behind Wirtz, the new head coach has three players - Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch - vying neck and neck for two positions. All three have started games so far this term, and it will be interesting to see what Iraola decides to do in his engine room.
Szoboszlai could be a stop-gap option at right-back, at least. Jeremie Frimpong has struggled so far this term, and the Hungary captain's ability on the ball and his tireless running mean he offers a decent alternative to the Dutch defender for now while Conor Bradley continues to get fit.
Trey Nyoni might be set for more midfield minutes on Friday, but they will almost certainly come as a substitute on the night.
Defensive partnership and Gomez update
Jeremy Jacquet is expected to continue his burgeoning partnership with club captain Virgil van Dijk, but Ronald Araujo is also ready if called upon. Araujo made his Anfield debut off the bench on Saturday when replacing Jacquet, and it feels like Iraola has a nice blend to choose from right now in the centre of his defence while Giovanni Leoni and Joe Gomez continue on the comeback trail.
An injury update on Gomez might be forthcoming later this week. The versatile and long-serving defender has been sidelined since limping out of the 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville on July 26. Iraola said he expected Gomez to be out for around a month at the time, so it will be interesting to see how close the defender now is to returning to the fold.
