Liverpool boss Arne Slot has named his starting XI to take on Brighton in the Reds’ last away game of the season, with Federico Chiesa in the line-up. The Premier League champions have made changes again, with the title already long wrapped up.
Alisson Becker is in the Liverpool goal with Conor Bradley starting at right-back. Trent Alexander-Arnold has traveled with the team and starts on the bench. Ibrahima Konate and Jarell Quansah are at center-back with Kostas Tsimikas at left-back. Virgil van Dijk is on the bench, as is Joe Gomez, who returns to a matchday squad for the first time since limping off against Plymouth in the FA Cup.
In midfield, Liverpool lines up with Harvey Elliott alongside Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch. Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones are among the options left in reserve but there is no Alexis Mac Allister.
Mohamed Salah has 46 goal involvements for Liverpool so far this season in the Premier League (28 goals and 18 assists). He starts in attack needing two more goal contributions in the final two games to overtake the record held by Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer.
Joining Salah in the forward line are Federico Chiesa and Cody Gakpo, with Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez among the substitutes and Diogo Jota left out. Gakpo and Diaz both scored on their last visit here in the Carabao Cup in October, while this is Chiesa’s first Premier League start since arriving on Merseyside from Juventus last summer.
In his press conference on Friday, Slot had insisted that a team for today’s game was still to be determined. “As you know, I wasn’t here in the last few days and neither was Trent, so I haven’t spoken to him yet,” he explained.
(Image: Nikki Dyer – LFC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“Today is the first day we come back together. We feel this is also a very good lead-up to our game on Monday, because I have said before that it is quite difficult for a team that already won the league to train so many days in a row if you’ve already won something.
“So you need to find the balance between days off and preparing very well for the next game. So, we train today, tomorrow and Sunday, that’s three days in a row to be very well prepared for Brighton.
“Keep in mind that these players never had a few days off during the season because we were in the FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League — and of course the Premier League — for a long time.
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“So where other teams maybe had a few days off during the season, we hardly ever had that.
“That’s not an answer to your question but I wanted to make that clear. And then in answer to your question if Trent is involved, yes or no, that is why I told you this – because it’s the first day we train after a few days off.
“So it’s quite early for me now to say what the team would look like and what the squad would look like for Monday.”
Brighton starting XI: Verbruggen, Webster, Van Hecke, Estupinian, Minteh, Baleba, Wieffer, Adingra; Gruda, Ayari; Welbeck. Subs: Rushworth, Igor, Julio, Dunk, Mitoma, Gomez, O’Riley, Veltman, Hinshelwood, Howell.
Liverpool starting XI: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Quansah, Tsimikas; Elliott, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai; Salah, Chiesa, Gakpo. Subs: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Robertson, Van Dijk, Jones, Endo, Diaz, Nunez.
