Andoni Iraola names two Liverpool stars unlikely to face Chelsea | Football

Andoni Iraola says Florian Wirtz should be available for Liverpool’s Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea on Wednesday, but it was not such good news for two other Reds stars.

The Reds host the Blues at Anfield this week with a place in the quarter-finals of the League Cup on the line.

Liverpool will be in buoyant mood after a 2-0 win over high-flying Brighton on Sunday, while Chelsea will not be so chipper, having lost 2-0 at home to Spurs on Saturday.

Iraola is dealing with a number of long-term injury issues, with the likes of Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley all still out.

Dominik Szoboszlai and Victor Munoz are both unlikely to return on Wednesday, but are close, while Wirtz should be able to feature.

Asked for team news in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, the Reds boss said: ‘I don’t think I can help you a lot. We still have to wait, we train later. We want to [use] this last day.

‘He was quite fine, Florian – I’m quite optimistic that he will be available.

‘And with Dom and Victor, I’m not so sure. I don’t want to say no, but I think it’s going to be more difficult than Florian, yes.’

Iraola confirmed that he will be mixing things up in his starting XI, but intends to name a strong team to keep hopes of early silverware in his Liverpool reign alive.

‘There will definitely be changes. But we want to win the game, we want to be competitive,’ he said.

‘We need to see how the legs are. We are not just in the Carabao Cup, also in the Champions League we are trying to make some changes from game to game, because I think it’s almost mandatory.

‘We want to be in the next round. We’ve been unlucky in the draw, we are playing Chelsea. They have been unlucky also. But we want to earn the right to be in the draw again and that only happens if you win.’

The likes of Kostas Tsimikas and Joe Gomez will hope to get a run out at the back, while Rio Ngumoha will be keen to return to the starting XI.

The 18-year-old sparkled in the Champions League against Villarreal last week but had to settle for a brief substitute appearance against Brighton.

The flying winger came through the youth ranks at Chelsea before leaving for Liverpool in 2024, so will fancy a crack at his former club.

As for Wirtz, it was a good week for him as he scored against Villarreal and then forced an own goal against Brighton, with his influence on the team seemingly growing.

The German has come in for criticism for his lack of impact since his big-money move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2025, but says he is unfazed by the chatter.

‘I don’t care at all about what anyone says about me, because I pay it no attention whatsoever,’ he said. ‘I play football because I enjoy it. I want to succeed, and that is natural.’

On why he is attracting a lot of media attention, he laughed: ‘Maybe I’m just an interesting person.’

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