Liverpool travel to Austria to face LASK in the Champions League looking to make it two wins from two in the league phase, with Andoni Iraola hinting at squad rotation. Bradley Barcola is expected to start.
Iraola prioritises freshness
The Reds began their league phase campaign with a comeback win over Atletico Madrid at Anfield last month. This is Liverpool’s second of nine games in a 28-day period, and Iraola is keen to freshen up the side.
“You don’t have a lot of time to train,” the Spaniard said in the pre-match news conference. “You try to prepare the games now a lot of times just with the videos and the tactics boards, just a little bit outside.
“You have to prioritise the freshness of the players. Especially now we are playing four games in 10 days, it’s keeping all the legs, all the energy in the games.
“But in cases like Bradley [Barcola] especially, who has been probably the last one to arrive, the more he plays and the more he gets connections with the ones around him, the better he will become.”
Injury absentees limit options
However, with Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo all failing to recover from their respective knocks in time to be available for selection, Iraola’s options are limited. The forward pair were ruled out of Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City after sustaining injuries during the international break, while Szoboszlai was a surprise absentee because of a hamstring issue.
Liverpool flew out to Linz on Tuesday afternoon without the aforementioned trio, though Iraola provided an update later in the evening. “We are taking it day to day,” he added. “Probably I think the three of them are not far, I would say. But it’s going to be… I don’t know if they are going to be ready for Brentford, for Villarreal, for Brighton, I don’t know. I don’t really know.”
Youth and defensive changes
As Isak and Gakpo miss out again, youngster Lewis Koumas may well keep his place in the Liverpool attack as Iraola is short of options with Federico Chiesa unavailable due to not being named in the Champions League squad. Wataru Endo’s ineligibility (for the same reason as Chiesa) opens the door for Trey Nyoni to partner Alexis Mac Allister in midfield. That said, Iraola could stick with Ryan Gravenberch as the Dutchman will be suspended against Brentford at the weekend.
Taking into account the short turnaround between two away games for Liverpool this week, there could be some rotation in defence. Jeremy Jacquet shook off a hamstring strain to start against Man City but could be rested, and Jeremie Frimpong might get a start at right-back.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Frimpong, Gomez, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Munoz, Wirtz, Barcola; Koumas
Injured: Bradley, Ekitike, Leoni, Isak, Gakpo, Szoboszlai
Ineligible: Chiesa, Endo
Time and date: 5.45pm BST on Wednesday, October 14, 2026
How to watch: TNT Sports
Venue: Raiffeisen Arena
