Arne Slot sends message to Wataru Endo and Cody Gakpo as Liverpool 'confirm' one player who will start

Arne Slot insists that he finds it difficult to deliver bad news to the Liverpool players he has to omit from his starting line-up.

The Reds have been firing on all cylinders since Slot took over in the Anfield hot seat in June. The transition from Jurgen Klopp to the Dutchman has gone as well as anyone could have hoped, with Liverpool topping the Premier League table. They also made a perfect start to the Champions League campaign, beating AC Milan 3-1 last month and thrashed West Ham 5-1 to move into the Carabao Cup fourth round.

In the league, Slot has largely used the same XI. In fact, only 14 players have featured from the outset, with the likes of Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Wataru Endo having to settle for support-act roles so far.

Liverpool face Bologna in the Champions League tonight, with Slot again expected to name a strong side. The likes of Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are expected to keep their respective berths, while Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott are the only players set to be absent through injury.

It means Slot will have to tell members of his squad working hard that they’ll again be on the bench - although the Liverpool boss says that’s part of football. Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Slot said: “You pick two now but I already think about Curtis Jones, about Kostas [Tsimikas], about Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley and I forget a few. The question was why we can compete at the levels at the moment and it's because we have a lot of quality. But also, we have a lot of players and that can help us. I’m very pleased to see every time we need a player, he shows up. But again, with the even tougher fixtures coming up, it's something we have to prove.

“It’s not hard because they have quality but because they train and work really hard and are involved in the team process. That makes it hard then to sometimes make the decision to say: 'I choose these 11 and not the other ones'. Not because they don't have quality because if they didn't they wouldn't play here. They all have quality and work real hard and make my life real difficult. It is hard to tell them they don't play but it's my job and part of their lives as well.

“You know if you're going to join a top club then there's competition and that's what they're used to. All of them are handling the situation really well and that's why there is a lot of team cohesion and energy in the group. That's the most important thing when it comes to competition.”

One player who looks certain to start is Alexis Mac Allister. The midfielder was also put on pre-match media duties at Anfield - which is frequently a sign that he will be featuring from the outset.