Man Cityvs.Liverpool

The Dutchman addressed the media fewer than 24 hours after Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, where Liverpool missed the chance to go 10 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table.

The Merseyside giants at least extended their advantage to eight points, but Arsenal - who have a game in hand - could now cut the gap down to five by defeating London rivals West Ham United on Saturday.

Liverpool were already missing Tyler Morton, Joe Gomez and Cody Gakpo for the clash with Unai Emery's side, where they were dealt an additional blow over Conor Bradley, who came off late after only being introduced as a substitute.

Gakpo would undoubtedly be the biggest miss against Man City, and Slot is keeping his fingers crossed that his compatriot will return on Sunday, but he conceded that he was yet to take part in team training.

Slot provides Gakpo, Gomez, Bradley latest before Man City

"I hope [he's available], I'm not 100 per cent sure. He hasn't trained with the team yet. Maybe he does a bit today. I don't know exactly. It will be a close call," the Liverpool boss told reporters.

In Bradley's case, Slot had already conceded on Wednesday that there was a "99.9%" chance that the Northern Irishman would be unavailable this weekend, and he echoed that sentiment as the Reds wait to learn how severe his problem is.

"No, he [Bradley] still has to come in, so we don't know yet. I would be completely surprised if he's involved in the Sunday game, or the Wednesday game against Newcastle. You can assume that's not going to happen," Slot added.

Meanwhile, after revealing earlier this week that long-term hamstring victim Gomez might need surgery on the issue he picked up in the FA Cup loss to Plymouth Argyle, Slot confirmed that the defender had gone under the knife and is set for months out.

"Joe Gomez had surgery for his hamstring injury, so he's out for a long time. He will be back maybe just before the end of the season," the ex-Feyenoord boss revealed.

"Then, of course, these two players are not injured but they come back from an injury - [Diogo] Jota and Trent [Alexander-Arnold], so that's also the reason they don't play 90 minutes five times in a row in 15 days. That would be a big risk, we could see this yesterday with Conor Bradley."

Slot criticises Darwin Nunez attitude after Villa miss

Gakpo's possible return would offer Slot an attacking alternative to Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez, the latter of whom added to his catalogue of high-profile misses on Wednesday when he blazed over the bar with most of the goal at his mercy.

While Slot could accept the Uruguayan missing that opportunity, he admitted that he subsequently did not see the usual Nunez "working his arse off" afterwards, suggesting that the striker let that wasted chance get into his head too much.

"I can accept every miss. What is harder for me to accept is the behaviour after that chance. It was not the usual Darwin who works his arse off. He was too disappointed at missing that chance," Slot concluded.

Liverpool made light work of Man City in a 2-0 home win earlier this season, and the reigning Premier League champions come into the encounter after being sent packing from the Champions League by Real Madrid.

Written by

Ben Knapton