Curtis Jones will replace Cody Gakpo in the Liverpool starting lineup when they take on Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday.

Liverpool will aim to return to winning ways when they lock horns with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night. Arne Slot has received a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Dominik Szoboszlai is the latest absentee after being sent off late in the Premier League game against Manchester City this past weekend. Additionally, Jeremie Frimpong (hamstring), Giovanni Leoni (knee), Conor Bradley (knee), and Alexander Isak (leg).

However, Joe Gomez should be fit and available to take on Sunderland after recovering from a hip injury and resuming training this week. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Slot provided a fitness update on Gomez.

The Liverpool head coach said, “Joe has not trained with us yet. I’m expecting him to train with us for the first time today. If Joe is not ready to start then we are missing four players who have played in that position. But Curtis [Jones] and Wata [Endo] also played in that position this year, so we’ve had six different right full-backs this season.”

Meanwhile, during his presser, Slot also discussed his team’s performance heading into a crucial phase of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign. The Liverpool boss added, “That is always the question. It feels like that, that’s for sure.”

“Even if we sign a player and he’s not even playing for us he gets injured! So, sometimes it feels like that but the moment you start to feel it’s all bad luck, probably it comes to you as well. So, we should keep it away as much as possible and just focus on the performance and focus on what we can do to improve it. The amount of times we conceded late goals in extra time is far more than usual.”

“The question is, is it bad luck or are we to blame? I think I’ve tried many different things, so I’ve made defensive substitutions and the ball went in and I kept playing the same players and the ball went in. We’ve tried a lot and sometimes it feels… I can fairly say we haven’t been lucky, that’s definitely true. Is it then unlucky or is this part of who we are? That is something we can only find out in the upcoming three to four months.”

Alisson Becker is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Liverpool lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Sunderland on Wednesday. The backline will feature Calvin Ramsay, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, and Milos Kerkez. However, Wataru Endo may start as right-back if Slot does not trust Ramsay.

As for the midfield unit, Curtis Jones will join Ryan Gravenberch in the double pivot, with Alexis Mac Allister reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Hugo Ekitike will lead the line for the away side against Sunderland, with Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah completing the numbers in the offensive unit. So, Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa will be among the backup options on the bench for the Reds.

Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Ramsay, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Mac Allister, Wirtz; Ekitike