Liverpool trained on Monday ahead of the mammoth Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
The Reds head into the second leg with a one-goal advantage supplied to them via Harvey Elliott’s late winner last week. That goal has thoroughly frustrated the Parisians, who certainly aren’t short of belief that they will make it through to the quarter-finals.
But Liverpool’s players seemed relaxed ahead of the game, laughing and joking in training a day before what feels like the biggest match of the season so far. Liverpool.com was in attendance and we have picked out five things spotted from the open session.
Who trained?
The big news from the session was that Cody Gakpo trained having missed the last two matches with an ankle injury. But he was spotted with the group at the AXA Training Centre, in what will be a welcome addition for Arne Slot. The Liverpool boss will likely provide an update on Gakpo’s availability in Monday evening’s press conference.
There were no notable absentees during the training session, just Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton, who are missing through injury, while James McConnell and Rio Ngumoha were involved with the first team. The former was a slight doubt for the game after being replaced in the 30th minute of Sunday’s Under-21s match due to a knock.
No Nyoni
While the two youngsters were part of the senior training, one minor detail to note was that Trey Nyoni wasn’t involved. Instead, he trained with the youth team – perhaps slightly surprising given he has tended to take part in first-team sessions this season and has been involved in four of the nine Champions League matchday squads.
Cramped Kirkby
Six days ago a small number of journalists and broadcasters gathered to watch Liverpool’s open training session ahead of the first leg, but there must have been four times that number on Monday. Admittedly a healthy contingent of French reporters helped to boost those numbers on what was a sunny spring afternoon, but the impressive turnout indicates just how big this match is and the huge media interest it has attracted.
Brief Jones scare
Midway through a passing drill there was a brief moment of concern when Curtis Jones yelped and staggered away after Wataru Endo had inadvertently caught the academy graduate. The Japan international immediately apologized for the mistimed tackle and, thankfully, there was no lasting damage. A minute later Jones was moving as normal in the rapid keep-ball drill.
Gomez spotted
Gomez has been recuperating from a hamstring injury for several weeks and was seen undergoing recovery work inside and away from the rest of the group on Monday afternoon. From where the press were positioned, it was difficult to see exactly what work Gomez was undertaking – and the glare of the sun on the glass front didn’t help. But it didn’t seem too strenuous and the defender is not expected back for another month or so.
