Sport24.az
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot held a press conference regarding the upcoming match against Qarabağ in the UEFA Champions League. According to Sport24.az, he spoke about the condition of key players, the team's current situation, and the game plan.
According to the Dutch specialist, defenders Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate will not play in the match against Qarabağ:
"Joe will not be able to participate in tomorrow's game. I spoke with Konate, and we know he is going through difficult days (his father passed away recently - ed.). I hope he returns soon, but not for tomorrow."
He stated that it will be very difficult to stop the pressure due to their current position in the Premier League:
"Even winning a few games won't stop the noise. It's impossible to stop this pressure if you are not fighting for the championship in such clubs."
The specialist noted that a difference of one or two steps is not so important in the Champions League:
"It is difficult for us to compete in both the Champions League and the Premier League. We lost points in many matches after Champions League games."
Slot stated that they want to finish the League stage of the Champions League in the top four and have prepared well against Qarabağ:
"We want to win. However, we have injured players in the squad. I couldn't afford not to give a chance to 11 players from the main squad in the match against Bournemouth. Qarabağ's head coach Gurban Gurbanov did this in their last match in the Azerbaijani championship. I couldn't repeat the same thing."
According to Slot, Qarabağ has shown its capabilities against strong teams this season:
"The opponent has fast players in the squad. They handle the ball comfortably. Qarabağ has shown its capabilities against strong teams this season. They are not an easily defeated opponent. Even Qarabağ achieved a 2:2 draw against Chelsea in the Champions League this season. This shows that there are no weak teams in the continent's most prestigious club tournament. All the teams we faced in the Champions League this season have been strong."
