Arne Slot uses ‘striking’ Liverpool academy gem during first-team training ahead of match against Inter

Liverpool’s first-team squad was put to the test at the AXA Training Center on Monday morning before flying to Italy for their Champions League clash against Inter Milan tomorrow evening.

Mo Salah was a standout among the players taking part in the session, despite the Egyptian being involved his public swipe at Arne Slot and the club after the 3-3 draw against Leeds on Saturday, in which he played no part as he was an unused substitute.

Wataru Endo and Federico Chiesa look doubtful for Tuesday’s match at San Siro as they did not appear in Kirkby this morning, but there was an appearance from a prominent youth star.

Wellness Lucky trains with the Liverpool first team

As noted by Lewis Bower – who provides independent coverage of Liverpool’s underage teams – on XWellity Lucky trained with the Reds first team today ahead of the match against Inter.

The reporter described the teenage centre-back as ‘probably the standout defender in the academy so far this season’, adding that the 19-year-old has been drafted by both Spain and England at youth level (he was born in Zaragoza and his family moved to Britain when he was 11).

Lucky was excellent for Liverpool at underage level

Amid all the understandable attention to Salah’s involvement in the session, it was very pleasing to see Lucky called up to train with the first team on Monday.

The young defender made his Liverpool debut from the bench in the Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace in October, and was outstanding for the Reds under-19s as they defeated their PSV counterparts in the UEFA Youth League 12 days ago.

It seems highly unlikely that he will play against Inter in the Champions League tomorrow given his inexperience and the fact that the academy is playing a Youth League match against the Nerazzurri youngsters, but Slot is arguably aware of how well the teenager has performed.

Problems at centre-back were among the main themes of LFC’s dismal season, with the head coach having only three senior options available and one of them (Ibrahima Konate) enduring another error-strewn performance against Leeds on Saturday.

Realistically, Lucky isn’t quite ready to challenge for a first-team start, although he could plausibly be selected for Liverpool in the FA Cup third round next month, depending on who we play (the draw for that stage of the competition takes place tonight).

Hopefully in the coming months we will see the prodigious youngster push for more frequent senior participation, especially if the Reds continue to struggle at the back.