Liverpool head into their final pre-season friendly against Como at Anfield on Sunday with a lineup shaped heavily by a growing injury list, particularly in central defence, as manager Andoni Iraola prepares his squad for the upcoming Premier League campaign.
With the season opener against Newcastle just a week away, Iraola's central defensive options have been severely limited. Captain Virgil van Dijk remains the only fully fit senior centre-back available to the club. New signing Jacquet, who arrived for a reported £60 million, has been nursing an unspecified injury that kept him out of a recent 3-2 defeat to Monaco. The defender's situation echoes his final season at Rennes, which was also disrupted by a shoulder problem, and he has yet to feature in any pre-season fixture this summer. However, Jacquet has returned to full team training and is named in the starting lineup to face Como.
Elsewhere in defence, Giovanni Leoni continues his long road back from the ACL injury he suffered on his debut a year ago, while Joe Gomez is expected to miss the start of the new season after picking up a muscle injury in the 4-2 win over Sunderland during Liverpool's pre-season tour of the USA last month. Gomez was replaced in that match by academy prospect Ifeanyi Ndukwe, one of several young players Iraola has been able to call upon during the injury crunch. Ndukwe, alongside fellow new signing Mor Talla Ndiaye and academy defender Luke Chambers, has featured regularly in pre-season as the club manages its options at the back.
Adding to the defensive headache, Liverpool also lost established centre-back Ibrahima Konate this summer, with the Frenchman departing on a free transfer following the expiry of his contract before completing a move to Real Madrid.
In midfield, Curtis Jones remains sidelined by a hip issue, though he returned to training this week after missing the loss to Monaco. Despite the positive step, Jones has been left out of the squad to face Como as Liverpool continue to manage his return, all while speculation persists over a potential transfer to Inter Milan.
Longer-term absentees Conor Bradley (knee) and Hugo Ekitike (Achilles) remain unavailable, along with Danns, further stretching Iraola's resources heading into the new campaign.
On a more positive note, both Victor Munoz and Alexis Mac Allister have returned to training following their post-World Cup breaks. The pair featured alongside a largely second-string Liverpool side in a behind-closed-doors 70-minute friendly against Como at the club's training ground on Sunday, which finished goalless. Munoz has again made the matchday squad for the fixture at Anfield and will be hopeful of adding further minutes off the bench as he builds towards full match sharpness.
Iraola's starting XI to face Como reads: Alisson; Frimpong, Jacquet, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch; Ngumoha, Wirtz, Gakpo; Isak. The bench includes Davies, Munoz, Araujo, Nyoni, Koumas, Ndiaye and Wright.
The friendly, kicking off at 6pm BST on Sunday, August 16, at Anfield, serves as Liverpool's last competitive test before their Premier League campaign begins away to Newcastle United the following weekend. With several key defenders sidelined, Iraola will be hoping his squad depth proves sufficient to weather the club's early-season injury concerns.
Based on reporting from Standard Football (All Red Video).