Arne Slot will lead Liverpool into the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday (Image: Getty)
trained without Cody Gakpo, Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley the day before their showdown with . Reds boss will need his players to be firing on all cylinders against a side which has not lost in any competition since November.
But he will not be at full strength for the trip to the Parc des Princes as Gakpo, Bradley and Gomez all look set to miss out. The absence of Bradley and Gomez is no surprise, with both players set for several more weeks on the sidelines, but Gakpo’s no-show suggests that he may have suffered a fresh setback, having appeared off the bench in ‘s last two games after suffering an ankle injury in February.
The Netherlands international has scored three goals in just 349 minutes of Champions League action this season, and he is up to 16 in all competitions. Club photos showed Gakpo turning up to the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday, but the fact he was not involved in the group session suggests he may have been focusing on his own individual regime.
Bradley, who has provided competition for at right-back this season, was forced off against Aston Villa with a thigh injury on February 19. And Slot expects him to be out for ‘a few weeks’.
Gomez has only made one first-team appearance in 2025, and he is projected to return just before the end of the season after undergoing hamstring surgery. Whether are still in Champions League contention by that point will depend firstly on how they fare against PSG.
Cody Gakpo is in danger of missing Liverpool’s trip to Paris (Image: Getty)
The Reds have not beaten a French side away from home in a European competition since 2008. Manager Luis Enrique has the Parisians flying, with wingers Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola putting up impressive numbers this campaign.
With a comfortable 13-point buffer in the Premier League title race, Slot can afford to go all in on ‘s Champions League endeavours. They topped the pile in the league phase, with their only defeat in eight matches coming in a dead rubber against PSV Eindhoven.
Finishing first boosted ‘s chances of getting a favourable draw in the last 16. But a tough assignment against the reigning Ligue 1 champions ensures Slot will have to earn his spot in the quarter-finals.
PSG were forced into a knockout round play-off after struggling through the league phase. There, they demolished domestic rivals Brest 10-0 on aggregate, smashing them 7-0 at the Parc des Princes.