£35m Liverpool player is surely set to make first start under Arne Slot against Brentford

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Liverpool are back in Premier League action as they play their first home game of the season on Sunday.

While the Reds kicked off the weekend’s action last Saturday, they have to wait to be the final fixture played this time around.

Brentford are the visitors in what will be the first time Arne Slot takes charge of a competitive Liverpool game at Anfield.

With the Bees having just signed two players from Liverpool, there will be a slight extra meaning to Sunday’s encounter. Let’s hope Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg do not have a happy return to Merseyside.

From a Liverpool point of view, Slot has some decisions to make with his XI. Owing to news coming out of the AXA Training Centre on Friday, though, one may have just been made for him.

Ibrahima Konate set for Liverpool start

It has been fascinating to see the evolution of Slot’s Liverpool teams since the start of pre-season. By and large, the head coach has gone with the best team he has available to him.

That continued last Saturday, with one possible exception. Slot opted to go for Jarell Quansah over Ibrahima Konate as Virgil van Dijk’s centre-back partner.

The decision itself was understandable. Quansah had a very good pre-season while Konate came back later and carrying some poor form from last year.

However, things were soon ripped up by Slot. Quansah was hauled off after 45 minutes having lost one too many duels for the head coach’s liking.

READ MORE: Arne Slot has new explanation for why Joe Gomez missed Ipswich vs Liverpool

Konate came on and Liverpool instantly improved. On the back of that display alone, it felt as though the Frenchman would have earned himself a starting berth for the Brentford game.

What has now cemented that is that on Friday Slot confirmed that Quansah has picked up a knock. The Dutchman said although the 21-year-old may be back in training that same day, he was not sure that he would be.

And according to journalist Paul Gorst, Quansah did not make it in time for Friday’s session with his teammates.

“Jarell Quansah not involved in LFC training at the AXA Centre,” Gorst reports. “Defender is an injury doubt for Sunday, Arne Slot confirmed this morning.”

Liverpool must dip into the market

If Quansah does miss the visit of Brentford, then Slot’s options to replace him are Konate, Joe Gomez and Nat Phillips.

With reports that Gomez is exploring a move away from Liverpool, there is now a very real possibility that the Reds are in a situation where Phillips is once again needed.

To be in that situation one week away from September 2024 is quite frankly ludicrous from Liverpool. The planning appears to be non-existent.

Given the situation around Gomez, it’s clear that Konate will be the man chosen to face the Bees. But with the £35m man being notoriously injury-prone himself, the whole thing is deeply concerning for the Reds.

With one week left to go in the transfer window, Liverpool have been given another warning sign that they need to sort this out. Konate is a brilliant defender and will do fine against Brentford. Beyond that, though, reinforcements are surely needed.