Iraola leaves door open for Liverpool trio Isak, Gakpo and Szoboszlai to face Brentford

Brentford manager Andoni Iraola has left open the possibility of Liverpool players Cody Gakpo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexander Isak returning for Saturday’s Premier League meeting between the two sides.

Liverpool travel to Brentford in the seventh round of the Premier League, with the availability of the three players still to be decided.

Asked about Gakpo, Szoboszlai and Isak before the match, Iraola said: “It is too early to determine their situation. We still have tomorrow’s training session, but, as I said, they were not available for the previous matches, so I am leaving the door open to the possibility of them playing this time.”

The trio missed Liverpool’s emphatic Champions League victory over Austrian side LASK because they were not ready to return.

Iraola said Liverpool’s demanding schedule meant the club needed as many players as possible, with matches being played approximately every three days, and occasionally with less than three days between them.

“Especially in this period, when we play a match every three days or so, and sometimes with less than three days between games, we need a greater number of players,” he added.

“That is why we made some changes to the line-up against LASK in the Champions League.”

Liverpool defeated LASK 6-3 in their second match of the league phase of the Champions League.

Bradley Barcola scored a hat-trick for Liverpool, while the other goals came from Ronald Araujo, Jeremie Frimpong and Luis Koumas.

Robert Ljubicic and Florian Flecker, with two goals, scored for LASK.

Iraola said every member of the squad would be required during the season and needed to remain prepared.

“We need all the players, and at some point we will need every one of them,” he said. “Everyone must be ready because we will probably need their services.”

Liverpool are ninth in the Premier League table with nine points, while Brentford occupy fourth place on 10 points.