Liverpool face a short-term selection problem after right back Jeremie Frimpong withdrew injured during Wednesday’s Champions League win. With Conor Bradley already sidelined, manager Arne Slot warned the club will not make a kneejerk signing in the remaining days of the January window.

“We as a club always make decisions we at least think are smart decisions,” Slot explained, adding that any addition must fit beyond the immediate need. “We not only look at the short-term, we look at the long-term. It always depends on [if] there are players available that we think can help us and if they are can we afford them … and [if] it is also helpful for the longer-term future because our players come back from injury as well.”

Slot also cautioned against an overstocked roster, noting that “Having a squad with “four right backs, 12 midfielders and three or four No. 9s” is not viable.” The club already regard two of their right backs as among the best in the world, and Slot underlined that both will return to full fitness in the months ahead.

Fabrizio Romano has outlined on YouTube that preliminary market assessments, conducted after Bradley’s injury on Jan. 8, concluded there are “no good right backs” of the “level” Liverpool would demand available in this window. Time is limited: the transfer window closes at 7 p.m. GMT (2 p.m. ET) on Monday and normal fixtures continue across the weekend.

Slot was pragmatic about immediate availability. “Let’s first see how Jeremie is, maybe he is not able to play Saturday, but maybe he is able to play one or two days later,” he said. “We now go into a schedule where we have one game a week, so that would usually mean less injuries—but you are never sure.”

It is Frimpong’s fourth hamstring injury of the season. Liverpool’s automatic qualification for the Champions League round of 16 means no European matches until mid-March, allowing the squad to focus on the Premier League and FA Cup. Their only midweek fixture before March is the Feb. 11 trip to Sunderland, and the reduced schedule should provide more recovery time.

Jürgen Klopp will return to the Liverpool touchline for a one-off legends fixture, but not as a replacement manager. The German will join Sir Kenny Dalglish’s management team for the charity match against Borussia Dortmund on Mar. 28 (3 p.m. GMT / 10 a.m. ET KO).

Klopp’s involvement ends speculation that a managerial comeback was imminent. He has been extensively linked to a return to coaching despite stating on numerous occasions that he has no desire to take another job of that kind. Real Madrid were strongly linked in the aftermath of Xabi Alonso’s dismissal, and some Liverpool supporters have clamoured for a return to Merseyside as Arne Slot encounters the dreaded ‘second-season syndrome.’

Instead Klopp is heading back to the club he served for eight-and-a-half years to work alongside Dalglish. The pairing will be a notable gathering of Liverpool managerial history: Dalglish, Klopp and Bill Shankly are widely regarded as among the greatest managers to have taken the reins at Anfield. Klopp ended Liverpool’s 30-year wait for a top flight crown, winning the Premier League in 2019–20, and also steered the club to their sixth, and to date last, Champions League win.

Ian Rush and John Aldridge will assist Dalglish and Klopp for the fixture, which will direct 100% of proceeds to the LFC Foundation and Forever Reds. The game will carry extra significance for Klopp, who previously worked as Dortmund’s manager and successfully toppled Bayern Munich in consecutive Bundesliga seasons.

The full squad for the match is not yet complete as names continue to be released. The confirmed participants so far include the goalkeeping trio of Jerzy Dudek, Pepe Reina and Sander Westerveld, plus former captain Sami Hyypiä, Fábio Aurélio, Grégory Vignal and Martin Kelly. Organisers say the list of players will be finalised ahead of the March fixture, with proceeds benefiting the club’s charitable causes.

Steven Gerrard told TNT Sports that Arne Slot is “I think he is under pressure, for sure,” and that “I think there is a large section of the Liverpool fans that are very frustrated. I think some have had enough.” Gerrard accepted the uncomfortable reality around the manager while agreeing with reporting that the club’s hierarchy are not preparing an immediate change.

The season’s trajectory explains the mood. After the first Merseyside derby of the campaign, a 2–1 win that marked Liverpool’s fifth successive league victory to start the defence of their Premier League crown, results have collapsed. The Reds have taken 21 points from the subsequent 18 top-flight games; Everton can lay claim to 26. Over a span representing almost half a league season, Liverpool have the 12th-best record in the division.

The problems are visible in several areas. Liverpool have conceded three goals on five separate occasions, have nearly lost their most legendary player of the modern era from the club, and were beaten by a Manchester United team led by Ruben Amorim. Amid that run a clear replacement candidate is already noted in the background; Xabi Alonso has been linked previously.

Gerrard argued that the pressure on Slot is primarily external and that the club’s senior figures will provide backing because of recent success. “I think they would want to give the manager, on the back of last season, and any manager for that point, as much support, and they would want to be extremely strong for Arne Slot during this tough time, try and give him the opportunity to get the team out of it and fix the issues that they have got,” he said.

On the relationship between Slot and the sporting leadership Gerrard added: “I think also, knowing [sporting director] Richard Hughes a little bit and [CEO of football] Michael Edwards a bit more, they would want to be strong and rally around the manager,” and: “They are not really a club that makes a lot of changes, so I think the pressure’s more external than internal.” The Athletic summed the position: “The pressure is real but he’s not on the brink.”

Key statistics from the period include non-penalty expected goals for 34.8 (5th), non-penalty expected goals against 24.2 (3rd), set-piece goals for 5 (joint 17th) and set-piece goals against 14 (19th).