Arne Slot Set To Start Liverpool Player Against Southampton In Premier League

The Reds will travel to St Mary’s for a Sunday Premier League clash against Southampton

Jarell Quansah, Cody Gakpo and Conor Bradley during a training session at the AXA Training Centre ahead of the UEFA Champions League match between AC Milan and Liverpool FC / IMAGO / Propaganda Photo

Liverpool return to Premier League action on Sunday when they take on rock-bottom Southampton at St Mary’s as the Reds look to maintain their impressive form this campaign.

Arne Slot's Reds have secured 15 wins out of 17 games they have played in all competitions and have lost just once in the top-flight to Nottingham Forest at Anfield back in September. They are currently five points above defending champions Manchester City.

Liverpool have some injury issues ahead of the Saints clash and could be without four key players. Ahead of the match, Slot confirmed that Trent Alexander-Arnold has not trained with the squad this week, but he should be able to return shortly.

Alexander-Arnold sustained a hamstring injury in the first half of Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa before the international break, but the injury is deemed not as serious as it was initially feared.

Providing an update on Alexandre Arnold's fitness at his pre-match press conference, Slot said: "Trent isn't training with us yet, but he is getting there so we expect him to be back with us soon."

Conor Bradley is now poised to start for Liverpool away at Southampton as Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to miss the game and is a doubt for their clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League next week as a result.

The Northern Ireland right-back featured for his country in their 2-0 victory over Belarus and 2-2 draw with Luxembourg during the November international break, finding the back of the net in the latter as they secured promotion in the Nations League as winners of Group 3C.

Bradley has racked up 10 appearances for Liverpool so far this season but is yet to start in the Premier League since the Reds’ 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace back in April. He has already missed three matches after reporting back injured following the October international break.

On the game against Southampton, Arne Slot added: "I would say [they’re] much more than a capable team. I’ve seen them already playing against City and Arsenal and against Wolves.

"Those are the three games I’ve seen already and with two more days coming up I will probably see one or two more. They’ve shown that they are very, very capable of playing teams like us. I think it was against [Manchester] United where they had a penalty first, so they’ve been in my opinion a bit unlucky.

"The playing style has been excellent and they’ve been in almost every game. They could’ve had a result in almost every game they’ve played. I know everybody is looking at Madrid and City as difficult, but in my opinion Southampton is going to be a difficult one as well."