Galatasaray officially announce 23-man squad to face Liverpool

Image Credits: Imago Images

After a 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, the Reds also dropped points in a Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend.

The result dented their top-four hopes, especially after Chelsea lost to Newcastle United. Now, Liverpool face a tough task to reach the quarter-finals, having been eliminated at this stage in their last two attempts.

Ibrahima Konate is fit for Liverpool’s clash with Galatasaray, but Joe Gomez remains a doubt. Konate missed the draw with Tottenham due to hamstring discomfort, but is available for the Champions League second leg at Anfield, where Liverpool must overturn a 1-0 deficit.

On Konate, Slot said at his pre-match press conference: “Yeah, he is at this moment of time [ready to play]. “The day after the game is recovery, if you play so many games with only two days of rest in between you cannot do a lot but he is declared completely fit, he doesn’t feel the discomfort anymore.

“So, then he is ready to start and hopefully fulfil 90 minutes or, if needed, even longer. But that’s what we have to find out tomorrow.”

On Gomez, Slot added: “He wasn’t ready to train today, he had too much issues after our last game, although he had these issues already after the Galatasaray game [and] wasn’t planned to play against Tottenham but unfortunately Ibou got discomfort in his hamstring so we couldn’t take the risk of playing him.

“That’s why Joe had to play and that has built up so much that now he’s a bit of a doubt for tomorrow. Galatasaray will look to defend their advantage at Anfield, though the stadium’s European pedigree offers Liverpool hope.

The Turkish side come into the clash in strong form, having beaten Istanbul Basaksehir 3-0 to extend their lead at the top of the Super Lig.

Galatasaray are on a five-game winning run and recently knocked out Juventus in the playoff round. Manager Okan Buruk has named his 23-man squad for Wednesday’s clash, with Davinson Sanchez suspended.