Arne Slot confirms £40m star could RETURN to line-up

Arne Slot has confirmed he could drop one of Liverpool's longest-serving players from the starting line-up.

The Dutchman doesn't have an easy job at the moment. Paradoxically he has quite a few injuries to contend with which makes his decisions more difficult when it comes to selection. Yet at the same time, he also has to keep some of his players happy, who want to start every game but cannot.

It's a delicate balance. Building a squad is always an insurmountable challenge and you're never going to get it right completely.

Over the course of the last week we have seen Slot go back to more of the basics. Rather than playing all his new players, he's only opted for a couple of new faces and instead playing his old guard.

That worked against Real Madrid and Aston Villa. However, for Manchester City, the Dutchman has confirmed he is going to have to change things around.

The last week has been a very intense one for Liverpool. The game against Villa had a lot of pressure on it because of the consecutive defeats in the Premier League.

Real Madrid coming to Anfield is always a huge game. There was even more riding on it this time around with the game being Trent Alexander-Arnold's first back at Liverpool coming up against his old side.

Now, facing Pep Guardiola is another challenge in itself. Liverpool want to get back to winning ways and they want to be competing for the Premier League title.

In order to do that, they need to get a result at the Etihad. Otherwise, Arsenal could take a lead that is simply impossible to catch up to.

One player who could be involved dropped and rested for this game is Andy Robertson.

Speaking in his press conference ahead of Man City's game, Arne Slot spoke about how much the Scotsman has played over the course of the last week, and how he needs to be assessed.

"Robbo started three games in seven days as he started against Palace. I had to take him off towards the end," Slot said.

"I felt he was tired but we will wait to see where he is today."

This suggests that instead of Robertson, Milos Kerkez could return to the line-up. The Reds' £40m signing from the summer has taken a bit of time to adjust to Slot's system.

But he has a brilliant track record against Manchester City. Last season he registered two assists against Guardiola's side to help his side to a 2-1 victory.

Liverpool will hope he can do the same again on Sunday.

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