Liverpool have confirmed the 23-player squad who’ve jetted off to Czechia for the Europa League round of 16 first leg clash against Sparta Prague on Thursday.
The full list of names was announced on the official LFC website this afternoon, and there are some standout inclusions.
Mo Salah makes the trip to the Czech capital after he trained earlier today as he nears a return to action following his recent muscle injury, while the squad includes two players in Mateusz Musialowski and Fabian Mrozek who’ve yet to play a first-team fixture for the club.
Jurgen Klopp mightn’t take a risk on deploying Salah tomorrow evening if he’s only just back training today, especially with a potentially defining Premier League showdown against Manchester City coming up on Sunday.
However, the 31-year-old’s inclusion among the travelling party firmly indicates that he’s on the verge of retuning to match action, which comes as a massive boost just days before Liverpool’s biggest game of the season so far.
It could be the case that the Egyptian doesn’t start against Sparta but is held in reserve for a possible second half cameo if the manager feels that the situation required it.
Elsewhere, with Klopp bound to have the City game on his mind, there could be minutes in Prague for young players such as Bobby Clark, Kaide Gordon, James McConnell and Lewis Koumas.
It’s unlikely that he’d throw Musialowski and Mrozek into the fray for a senior debut unless the Reds are winning comfortably in the closing stages, but then again who foresaw Jayden Danns going from first-team debutant to Carabao Cup winner and double FA Cup goalscorer in the space of a week?
The starting XI will make for interesting reading when it’s confirmed at roughly 4:30pm on Thursday, with plenty of eyes set to be trained on whether or not a certain Egyptian will be included.