Arne Slot set to make SURPRISE Real Madrid selection

Heading into the Real Madrid game at Anfield Arne Slot could make a few surprise calls.

At the moment his squad is very much depleted with a number of injuries to key players.

As well as the long-term injuries to Jeremie Frimpong, Alisson and Giovanni Leoni, Slot can't call upon Alexander Isak either.

It means that his squad heading into one of the biggest game of the season so far for the Reds isn't as strong as he would like.

He has just 20 players available to him, and this includes Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni. With the Champions League permitting teams to submit up to 12 players, there's a good chance we are going to see the Liverpool head-coach bring in some new faces and make a few surprise calls for the game.

But just who could they be?

Liverpool don't have many options left who are registered to their A squad, which was submitted in September. However, they have a number of players registered to the B-list who they can call up to the game.

B-squad players have to be born after January 2004, and must have spent at least three years at the club.

Monday's training session at the AXA might have given a clue as to the changes Slot is going to make and the surprise players who might have earned a call-up for this mammoth of a game at Anfield.

As well as Nyoni and Ngumoha, Slot called up three players from the U21 team. One of those was Calvin Ramsay, who was part of the travelling squad against Aston Villa after a brilliant performance midweek against Crystal Palace.

Now Ramsay was not registered in Liverpool's A squad, and he can't be registered as a B-list player as he was born before 2004. So, him training with the first-team merely confirms his status as of now.

He won't be involved in the game against Madrid but he could continue to be involved in other games, especially after the international break, and especially with Frimpong out for probably most of this month and next month.

The other three involved in Liverpool training on Monday were Tommy Pilling, Kaide Gordon and Wellity Lucky. The former made his debut against Athletic Bilbao in a pre-season friendly for the Reds.

He's a tenacious midfielder, who has been involved in League Cup squads with the first-team so far this season and is thought to be well-liked by Slot.

Lucky made his competitive debut for Liverpool against Palace in the League Cup last week, and completed 21 out of 21 passes in what was an impressive cameo despite the Reds' poor result.

Interestingly, before signing a contract extension at the club, the Spanish youth international also attracted the attention of Real. So, in another world, he could have been in the travelling squad in the opposite dugout on Wednesday night.

Gordon has been in great form as well this season, and he looked promising in his brief cameo against Palace last week. In six games for the U21s he has two goals and three assists.

So, given Slot's lack of options, he could surprise everyone with naming the trio of Gordon, Lucky and Pilling on the bench in a huge game for the Reds.

Maybe one of them may even be given a chance to impress again depending on how the game goes.

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