Liverpool are without all three of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai for the Carabao Cup final today (3pm) after none were spotted on their pre-match stadium walk. Jurgen Klopp makes just two changes to his starting eleven at Wembley. The German is without 11 first-team players and a number of youngsters have made the 20-man match-day squad to face Chelsea as a result.
Sky Sports reported on Sunday morning that none of Salah, Nunez or Szoboszlai – all sidelined by muscle injuries – were on the pre-match walk around the Wembley pitch.
Vinny O’Connor said on Sky Sports News: “There was no Mo Salah, no Darwin Nunez and no Dominik Szoboszlai either with the group as they made their way out on the Wembley turf. We’re just wondering what that says about the potential team Jurgen Klopp will put out.”
The Reds were also without the trio for the midweek Premier League win over Luton Town. Klopp named a makeshift front three of Cody Gakpo, Harvey Elliott and Luis Diaz in that match.
All three scored in a 4-1 victory at Anfield but there were no senior attackers on the bench. Jayden Danns, 18, made his first-team debut while 19-year-old Kaide Gordon was an unused substitute and the only other forward in reserve.
Salah and Nunez have contributed a combined 32 goals and 21 assists across all competitions. Liverpool are also without the 14-goal, four-assist Diogo Jota who may not play again until April due to a knee problem.
Gordon, Danns and Lewis Koumas are the forwards on the bench against Chelsea. At 2pm, it was confirmed Salah, Nunez or Szoboszlai are not in the squad. Klopp starts nine of the 11 players that played against Luton, with Caoimhin Kelleher in goal.
The two changes both come in defence, where Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate displace Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah respectively. Captain Virgil van Dijk and Conor Bradley complete the backline.
With the front three the same as against Luton, Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister make up the midfield. The bench is similar to midweek, with James McConnell, Bobby Clark and 16-year-old Trey Nyoni the back-up midfielders.
As well as the absences of Salah, Nunez, Szoboszlai and Jota, Klopp does not have No. 1 goalkeeper Alisson Becker, first-choice right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, starting midfielder Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak or Joel Matip.
The Liverpool manager is looking to win his second Carabao Cup after his team beat Chelsea on penalties in 2022. It could be his final ever match at Wembley after he announced last month he will leave the Merseyside club at the end of the season.
Previewing today’s contest, he said: “The result we had here [a 4-1 league win over Chelsea at Anfield in January] doesn’t help. Of course we have to play the game again and it;s like firing the opponent up slightly. The final is a completely different game, there’s no home ground obviously.
“We played them now a couple of times in a final and we know one part is blue and one is red. We know what our people are able to do, but the Chelsea people will be looking forward to it as well. But everybody knows, a final, there is no favourite.
“It starts at nil and for each little advantage you want to have, you have to work incredibly hard. The two Chelsea games in the finals [in 2022], I remember as two of the best draws I’ve ever been part of in my entire life because it was from a tactical point of view incredible, from an intensity point of view incredible, and then 0-0, 0-0 – strange one.”
