Academy prospects to feature for Liverpool against Leicester

Liverpool will bring in a number of fringe players for their Carabao Cup quarter-final at home to Leicester.

Virgil Van Dijk, Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara and Curtis Jones are all still isolating after positive Covid tests and left-back Andy Robertson is suspended, while striker Divock Origi has not recovered from a knee problem in time.

It means players from the academy will come in to bolster a team which is still likely to include the likes of Joe Gomez, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Takumi Minamino.

Leicester had Premier League games against Tottenham and Everton postponed following a Covid outbreak at the club, so it remains to be seen who will be available at Anfield.

Jannik Vestergaard, Hamza Choudhury, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ayoze Perez and Ademola Lookman missed the games against Napoli and Newcastle this month because of illness and coronavirus-related issues.

Jonny Evans and Caglar Soyuncu both suffered hamstring injuries during the Foxes’ last match against the Magpies on December 12 and may have been afforded enough time to recover without having missed a fixture. Daniel Amartey will be back in the squad after his recent absence.

Liverpool provisional squad: Kelleher, Bradley, Gomez, Konate, Tsimikas, Williams, Morton, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Minamino, Gordon, Firmino, Pitaluga, Alisson, Quansah, Matip, Beck, Milner, Dixon-Bonner, Keita, Mane, Jota, Blair.

Leicester provisional squad: Schmeichel, Ward, Jakupovic, Castagne, Thomas, Evans, Soyuncu, Bertrand, Nelson, Amartey, Ndidi, Daley-Campbell, Dewsbury-Hall, Soumare, Maddison, Albrighton, Barnes, Tielemans, Marcal-Madivadua, Vardy, Daka.