Arne Slot has not used Wataru Endo much for Liverpool this season (Image: Getty)
manager is expected to make a number of changes to his starting line-up in the – and there are four players who should be guaranteed a start. Any of them failing to start would ignite some curious conversations.
– a team 19th in – are the visitors to Anfield today (12.15pm). And that offers the Dutchman an opportunity to rest some first-team regulars.
The three players with the most minutes played this season – , and Ryan Gravenberch – should not be in the match-day squad whatsoever. But questions will be asked if four of their lesser-used team-mates do not start.
Van Dijk, Salah and Gravenberch have each played more minutes individually this season than Harvey Elliott, Darwin Nunez, Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo combined. Elliott’s lack of game time post-injury has led to speculation he could leave the club with Brighton and Borussia Dortmund interested.
The 21-year-old was an unused substitute in the midweek Carabao Cup defeat at despite it being a game crying out for his energy and creative spark. He has started just once this season, when he shone in a cup win over Southampton.
Harvey Elliott has hardly featured for Liverpool under Arne Slot (Image: Getty)
And the England U21 international is in dire need of a start. The match with Accrington surely presents the perfect opportunity – it is a game a player of Elliott’s talents can dominate.
He is a No.10 of huge use to Slot given the manager’s system and it is peculiar he has yet to play more under him. Another who was loved by but has barely featured this season is Wataru Endo.
The Japan captain was used at centre-back against Spurs after Jarell Quansah was forced off. But ultimately Endo has started just three times under Slot, all in the Carabao Cup.
Slot has hailed the tenacious Endo’s “mentality and personality” while calling him “a quality player.” But his minutes total does not correlate with those comments. Endo failing to start against Accrington, a game in which it is expected he will partner Quansah in defence, would be a telltale sign about his future.
Slot said pre-match that Chiesa must earn his minutes after a difficult first half of his debut season at Anfield. If the Italian is not starting a third-round cup match against a team 87th out of the 92 EFL teams, his career is all but over already.
Federico Chiesa is expected to get a start for Liverpool vs Accrington Stanley (Image: Getty)
Chiesa has a measly 123 minutes of game time to his name and needs the platform to show his potential. This game is exactly that. The club’s supporters will be desperate for a glimpse of his talents following several weeks in which he has been on the bench one game and then absent from the squad the next.
Another attacker whose future hangs in the balance is Darwin Nunez – a £60million-plus No.9 who has more yellow cards than goals or assists this term. The Uruguayan has only produced extremely fleeting glimpses of his ability under Slot.
Nunez is a man who desperately needs a goal, and this weekend should be a chance for him to gain some confidence. If he does not start, it is surely a damning indictment of how Slot views the Uruguayan – and the fact his time at the club is ticking.
Though Endo, Chiesa and Elliott in particular have hardly featured for this season, they surely have enough quality to help win a game in which the Reds are massive favourites. A lot of conclusions will be made of Slot’s starting XI this afternoon.
Potential XI vs Accrington Stanley: Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Endo, Tsimikas; McConnell, Nyoni; Elliott, Szoboszlai, Chiesa; Nunez
Potential bench: Jaros, Nallo, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold, Jones, Morton/Norris, Ngumoha, Danns, Jota