Liverpool trio face late fitness tests before Brentford Premier League trip

Liverpool will make late decisions on Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak and Dominik Szoboszlai before Saturday’s Premier League match away to Brentford, with all three still in contention to return from injury.

The players have missed Liverpool’s past two games after suffering injuries during the September and October international break. However, head coach Andoni Iraola said their availability for the meeting at the Gtech Community Stadium had not yet been ruled out.

“We have to wait and see. I think it’s still very early, but in the same way I said they were not available for the previous games, I leave the chance open this time,” Iraola said.

Liverpool will monitor the trio in their final training session before assessing whether any of them are fit enough to be involved against the Bees.

The fixture comes fewer than 72 hours after Liverpool’s Champions League win against LASK in Austria, leaving the squad with limited time to recover between matches.

Iraola said the demanding schedule would make changes to the team necessary, with Liverpool due to face Villarreal in another European fixture three days after the Brentford game.

“In this period especially, when we are basically playing every three days – almost less than three days – you need more players,” he said.

“That’s why we changed the team a little bit yesterday. We will need to change again at the weekend, and we will need to change again when we face Villarreal in another three days.”

The Liverpool coach said every member of the squad would have a role during the congested period, with the team required to manage a sequence of fixtures played in quick succession.

“We need everyone, we will need everyone at one moment or the other. Everyone has to be ready because we will probably need him,” Iraola added.