Liverpool duo Xherdan Shaqiri and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could miss out on the friendly match this weekend against VfB Stuttgart.
The German outfit is Jurgen Klopp’s hometown club and were an obvious option for an exhibition match, as they’re in the area.
But eagle-eyed Liverpool fan Jack Sear spotted that neither Shaqiri nor Ox were training with the squad today in Austria.
He does appear to be right, but the claim that neither were present in training yesterday as well is false – they were both pictured at the training camp.
Divock Origi was also absent, but he hasn’t trained with the squad for a few days now.
With that considered, it’s probably safe to assume the trio will be absent for the Reds’ game against Stuttgart.
Predicting the starting team for a pre-season fixture is especially difficult, but I’ll do my best:
Adrian is likely to start in goal, with Alisson making a cameo in the second-half, as Jurgen Klopp keeps one eye on the Community Shield next weekend.
The back four will probably be Neco Williams, Joe Gomez, Nat Phillips and Kostas Tsimikas, with the senior-most players being kept fresh.
A midfield trio of Fabinho, Curtis Jones and Naby Keita seems likely. Up top, I predict we’ll start with Takumi Minamino, Sadio Mane and Rhian Brewster.
Billy Koumetio is more than likely to get the nod at some point too, with the youngster training with the senior team in Austria, and Harvey Elliott too.
There will be a lot of rotation throughout the game, so I can say with near-certainty, if the players I’ve mentioned don’t start, they’ll feature.