All players outside the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Southampton

Liverpool continue their defense of their Carabao Cup crown on Wednesday night when they travel to Southampton in the last 16 of the competition.

The clash at St Mary’s serves as an opportunity for the Reds to move closer to a first piece of silverware under Arne Slott, with his predecessor Jurgen Klopp having won Carabao Cup last season. It turned out to be the German’s last trophy at the club.

Liverpool are the record winners in the history of this competition, lifting the cup with three hands ten times, and were presented with a favorable draw for the quarter-finals. Southampton without a manager are in dire straits after their 5-0 humiliation at Tottenham on Sunday.

Slot is expected to make changes to Wednesday’s starting lineup, but here are who he won’t be able to call up due to injuries and suspensions.

Liverpool’s questionable defensive performances in recent games have coincided with Ibrahim Konata be in the treatment room. The French giant suffered a knee injury during the 2-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League and since then all trace is lost. He will not perform here.

Similarly, right back Conor Bradley he was also absent from the meeting with the European champions. Despite enjoying an excellent night against Kylian Mbappe and co., the Northern Irishman pulled a hamstring during the encounter and will not be available as he is yet to return to training.

Kostas Tsimikas has missed recent outings due to an ankle injury sustained in training. However, Slott confirmed that he is “closer” to a return and will return to training with his teammates on Tuesday. However, he is not yet guaranteed a place in the matchday squad at St Mary’s.

Left-back will be a problem for Liverpool if Tsimikas is not deemed fit to play. Andrew Robertson will serve a one-match suspension against Southampton after being sent off in the 2-2 draw with Fulham for the weekend.

With a fully fit midfield at his disposal, Slot has only one concern in his stellar forward line. Unfortunately, it is Diogo Jotawho only returned from a long-term injury in the weekend draw with the Cottagers.

Jota made an immediate mark as he scored Liverpool’s equalizer late in the game, producing a typically clinical finish. However, Slot confirmed that he did not escape completely unscathed.

“Diogo would definitely be ideal for him, but after the (Fulham) game he wasn’t fully fit, so he didn’t train with us yesterday,” admitted Slott in his pre-match press conference.

“So let’s see if he can practice with us today. Don’t expect him to start. Hopefully he can get some minutes, but don’t expect him to start tomorrow.”

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