Eight players could miss Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid as Cody Gakpo a big doubt

The Reds will be back in action at Anfield on Wednesday night as they look to begin their European campaign with a victory.

Andoni Iraola secured his first win as Liverpool manager when the Reds claimed a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town in the Premier League last Friday night.

Iraola has been forced to be without several key players throughout the early stages of his time in charge at Anfield, and that will continue this week in the Champions League.

Cody Gakpo, who has started the season strongly despite summer links away, is now a major doubt after missing training. The Dutchman has linked up well with Alexander Isak and will be a huge blow if he misses out, having already registered one goal and three assists this season.

Hugo Ekitike remains a long-term absentee for Liverpool as he continues to recover from a serious Achilles’ injury that he suffered back in April.

Liverpool will also to be without Conor Bradley, who is also a long-term absentee for Iraola, with the right-back recovering from a knee injury he suffered back in January.

There will also be no Giovanni Leoni, who is in the latter stages of his recovery from a knee injury he picked up back in September last year. Joe Gomez, however, is back in contention, having been absent for six weeks with a muscle problem.

Federico Chiesa is yet to feature for Liverpool this season, with the Italy international also not being included in the Reds’ Champions League squad, while there will be no Wataru Endo for the same reason.

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For Atletico, Diego Simeone will also have some players on the sidelines when he brings his squad to Merseyside this week.

Alexander Sorloth is set to be unavailable for the La Liga outfit due to a muscle injury that is keeping the striker on the sidelines.

Atletico will also be without Arnau Ortiz, who will be suspended after being sent off in the last European fixture he was available for, which dates back to August 2024 in a UEFA Conference League qualifying fixture.