In the fourth round of the competition, the Reds travel to Etihad Stadium for an 8pm GMT kickoff in order to restart their 2022–23 season. In a news conference on Wednesday, assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders gave a preview of the game and laid out the strategy for players who had just returned from international service.
The people who have already come back, like Hendo, Trent, Ali, and Fabinho, do so with a great sense of purpose. You can tell that they bring great enthusiasm, a pleasant pace, and confidence. That’s crucial, he said.
We still have one session left, and today we’ll assess everyone’s physical condition, Lijnders continued. The lads that returned earlier appear incredibly well, but we know they needed a lengthy break of maybe eight or nine days.
However, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, and Arthur Melo continue to be out while they recuperate from injuries, and Curtis Jones is still a week away from rejoining the club for training. Kaide Gordon, who started two games as Liverpool won the League Cup last season, also received an update on her health from Lijnders.
The Dutchman remarked, “He travelled to Dubai with us and started running [for the] first time. He merits a mention as well since the youngster is highly professional and offers everything, and with these long-term ailments, there is a lot of uncertainty.
“We basically never will forget the old little ones,” the speaker said, “even when fresh lads are growing up, soaring, and making huge steps.” Kostas Tsimikas’ performance in Manchester would be his 50th for the team.
Pep Guardiola, the manager of City, said on Wednesday that six additional players have joined the team for training after taking part in the World Cup. They followed those who had previously returned to workouts, like Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Nathan Ake, Rodrigo, Aymeric Laporte, and Manuel Akanji.
People “come back step by step,” stated Guardiola. “Six players returned today for the first time. They played pretty well overall, and we are glad they are back. “I think the men at the World Cup are in better form than the players here,” the athlete declared.
Therefore, Sergio [Gomez], Erling [Haaland], Riyad [Mahrez], and Cole [Palmer] lack rhythm a little bit in comparison to, say, Manuel Akanji, Rodri, Aymeric, and Nathan. Usually, they were in excellent shape when they returned.
“We had vacations, but they trained and played every day. Because of this, maintaining the rhythm and helping the guys who weren’t at the World Cup develop their rhythm was of utmost importance. Since Julian Alvarez was a member of the Argentina team that won the World Cup last Sunday, he is unavailable for a sportsunfold visit.