Kostas Tsimikas is set to make a return to Liverpool’s squad in their bid to pull off a monumental Europa League comeback against Atalanta.
The Reds head into the quarter-final second leg in Bergamo trailing 3-0 on aggregate after last week’s shock loss at Anfield. Jurgen Klopp’s side then following that up with a 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace which severely dented their chances in the Premier League title race.
For the Palace reverse, Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker were all back in a squad for a league match for the first time in two months after respective injuries. Alisson started between the posts while Jota and Alexander-Arnold were introduced from the bench.
As a result, Klopp left Kostas Tsimikas out of the match-day squad of 20, having been substituted at half-time in the Atalanta loss But with Conor Bradley coming off injured and now sidelined for the next 2-3 weeks, Tsimikas will take up a spot among the substitutes against Le Dea.
Meanwhile, Europa League rules permit Liverpool to allow 12 players in reserve. As a result, Bobby Clark, Jayden Danns and James McConnell are also set to make up the numbers.
The trio all trained with the Reds ahead of the clash. Clark, 20, has made 12 appearances for Klopp’s men this term and scored in a 6-1 win over Sparta Prague in the last 16 of the competition.
Danns, 18, has bagged two goals in three games and awaits his European debut. Meanwhile, three of 20-year-old McConnell’s 10 first-team outings this term have been in the Europa League.
But Stefan Bajcetic has not made the trip to Atalanta.. The midfielder was an unused substitute in the first leg against Atalanta – the first time he was in a match-day squad for six months because of injury. The following day, Bajcetic featured for 30 minutes in the under-21s’ 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Bajcetic, 19, trained with Liverpool yesterday but has been left on Merseyside to build fitness.
