Arne Slot confirms five key Liverpool stars will not play in next game | OneFootball

Reds set to ring the changes in midweek amid hectic early season schedule

Arne Slot has ruled out five key Liverpool players for their upcoming Carabao Cup tie against Southampton.

The Reds host Will Still’s Saints at Anfield in the third round of English football’s secondary club competition on Tuesday night, looking to extend their impressive 100 per cent start to the season across all competitions.

Liverpool hung on to edge out Everton 2-1 in a home Merseyside derby on Saturday thanks to first-half goals from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike, staying perfect with five wins from five to start their Premier League title defence despite a Jack Grealish-inspired Toffees fightback that saw Idrissa Gana Gueye thump home to set up a tense finish.

Slot’s side also secured a dramatic late 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in their Champions League opener in midweek, and now they enter the Carabao Cup with a visit from Southampton, who were relegated last season and currently sit 19th in the Championship with just one win from their first six games back in the second tier, losing 3-1 at Hull on Saturday.

Liverpool are record 10-time winners of the Carabao Cup, reaching three of the last four finals including last season’s, when Newcastle won 2-1 at Wembley to secure their first domestic trophy for 70 years thanks to what proved to be a winning goal from Alexander Isak, who is now in the Reds’ ranks.

However, the competition offers a clear chance for squad rotation amid a hectic schedule in the Premier League and Champions League, with Slot confirming that none of captain Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Mohamed Salah, Gravenberch or Dominik Szoboszlai will be involved against Southampton.

“I can tell you now you won't be seeing them on Tuesday,” Slot said of that quintet after the win over Everton. “If that's any help for Southampton then they will know.”

Slot hailed Liverpool’s mentality after keeping their strong Merseyside derby record intact despite another wobble that has been a common theme of their season so far, telling reporters: “There was tension late on. We needed mentality today in a different fashion maybe than a few times before.

"We already knew it would be a difficult game, let alone if you don't have proper preparation time. If you play your third game in less than seven days against your rivals you know the second half could be very tough.

"You can see how well we can play if we are fresh - the first 45 minutes we played. The second half was more difficult because of Everton, of course. We ran out of energy a bit but we didn't run out of mentality."