Arne Slot’s Blunt Injury Update Spells Out Liverpool’s Selection Crisis

Liverpool will be attempting the thus-far impossible when taking on Sunderland in midweek.

Arne Slot is not looking forward to Liverpool’s trip to Sunderland. | Shaun Brooks-CameraSport/Getty Images

Liverpool manager Arne Slot effectively confirmed that neither Jeremie Frimpong nor Joe Gomez would be fit enough to start against Sunderland on Wednesday night, leaving the Dutch boss with a headache at right back in light of Dominik Szoboszlai’s suspension.

The referee’s controversial (but ultimately correct) decision to show Szoboszlai a red card at the end of Liverpool’s 2–1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday has robbed Slot of his best player and one of his few remaining options at right back. First-choice Conor Bradley is out for the season while the immediate return of his two potential stand-ins was grimly downplayed by the increasingly beleaguered Reds boss.

“Jeremie for sure not,” Slot sighed when rating Frimpong’s chances of facing Sunderland. “We knew that when he got injured, it was a few weeks.”

“To be honest, I don’t expect Joe back for Wednesday, but you never know,” he meekly added. “Then he is back from being out for three weeks, would you play him now? I have to make that decision. Let’s see what decision we make.”

Slot insisted that Liverpool “have other players that can play that position as well” but he’s rapidly running out of candidates.

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Who Can Liverpool Play at Right Back vs. Sunderland?

Curtis Jones has struggled for minutes in midfield this season. | Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images

Liverpool do have a fit, internationally capped right back on their books. The only issue is that Slot has absolutely no faith in him.

Despite being available for the entire season, Calvin Ramsay has been afforded just one senior appearance this term. The 22-year-old did not impress during a bleak 3–0 Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace. The one-time Scotland international has only played two previous games for Liverpool’s first team, instead spending the past two seasons on loan at four different clubs.

After failing to break through at Kilmarnock, Ramsay returned to Liverpool’s Under-21s in the summer in the hope of a injury crisis just like this one. Slot, however, has seen little reason to include the fullback in anything more testing than training. “He is with us, but I still think I have better options to play,” the head coach admitted back in January.

Even after those options were whittled down by Szoboszlai’s suspension, Slot may be inclined to turn to Curtis Jones instead. The proud Scouser has struggled for minutes in his natural midfield position, finding himself behind Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz in the pecking order for a central role. However, he could be called upon as an emergency right back this midweek.

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Liverpool’s Concentrated Injury Crisis

Potential Right Back	Injury/Absence	Expected Back
Conor Bradley	Knee	November 2026
Giovanni Leoni	Knee	August 2026
Jeremie Frimpong	Thigh	Feb. 21, 2026
Dominik Szoboszlai	Suspended	Feb. 14, 2026
Joe Gomez	Knock	Feb. 11, 2026

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Jones has endured a mixed record across his fleeting appearances in defence. It was in this position where he captained Liverpool to a 3–1 Carabao Cup win against Leicester City back in 2023 while he also played the full 90 minutes of last season’s Merseyside derby triumph at Anfield next to Ibrahima Konaté.

However, Jones was part of the backline which shipped four goals in the humiliating Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven back in November. Slot completely reformatted the tactics of his squad in the wake of that embarrassment, prioritising caution and control over the team’s more natural attacking instincts. Taking an inherently front-footed figure like Jones out of defence has been part of that drive.

Wataru Endo, a defensively minded midfielder who has more experience at centre back rather than trundling up and down the flanks, did moonlight at right back against Qarabağ last month after Frimpong first went down with his latest injury. One of the more eccentric options would be Federico Chiesa, who came through at Fiorentina as a right wingback but has no experience of operating in a back four.

Whoever does line up at the Stadium of Light in midweek will be in for a tough test.

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The Double-Edged Pain of Liverpool’s Trip to Sunderland

Lutsharel Geertruida knows Arne Slot well. | Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images

Liverpool will come eye-to-eye with the lost solution to their current woes on Wednesday. The Reds made some headway in a late winter move for Sunderland fullback Lutsharel Geertruida. The RB Leipzig loanee has experience of playing for Slot at Feyenoord and would swiftly offer another useful option across the backline.

The player was thought to be keen on a reunion with his former boss but the deal ultimately fell through due to the complexities involved. As Geertruida was only on loan at Sunderland, the Black Cats would need to be compensated before Liverpool could then strike a separate deal with his parent club, RB Leipzig.

Sunderland have no such shortage at right back and have been able to name Geertruida as a substitute for their last four Premier League matches, starting former Paris Saint-Germain fullback Nordi Mukiele out wide instead. The summer recruit is yet to lose a game at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, which has proven to be an unhappy hunting ground for teams with far more depth than Liverpool.

Manchester United and Manchester City were both beaten on Wearside by an aggregate score of 5–0 while league-leading Arsenal could only claim a point from their November visit. In fact, no side has been able to earn a Premier League victory away to Régis Le Bris’s dogged hosts. League Two leaders Bromley are the only other club in England’s four professional divisions with an unbeaten home record this season.

Virgil van Dijk couldn’t let himself get sidetracked by the controversy of Sunday’s defeat to Manchester City. “We have to turn our attention to Sunderland,” he warned. “That will be a tough one.” The lack of a natural right back will only make the challenge even more treacherous.

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