Liverpool team vs Galatasaray confirmed as Salah, Ekitike and Konate decisions made

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Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike has returned to the starting XI following his one-match suspension, and he replaces Alexander Isak in Arne Slot's team to face Galatasaray in the Champions League.

Ibrahima Konate, despite a terrible first half against Crystal Palace at the weekend, retains his spot in the team. Jeremie Frimpong, Virgil van Dijk and Milos Kerkez make up the rest of the back four.

Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones are in midfield alongside Dominik Szoboszlai. And in attack, Ekitike is joined by Florian Wirtz and Cody Gakpo, the latter of whom came on at half-time in the game at Selhurst Park. Mohamed Salah is left out.

On matchday one, Liverpool won 3-2 against Atletico Madrid thanks to a late Van Dijk header. Galatasaray lost heavily against Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany.

"Their loss against Frankfurt, I have watched that game and for me they were very, very, very unlucky in that game," Arne Slot said in his pre-match press conference.

"The chances they gave away were only small and it was either the quality of Frankfurt or a little bit of bad luck for Galatasaray that they conceded five.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.

"If they play the same game again, they will never, ever, ever concede five goals again in that same game because they played much better than the 5-1 showed.

"That's also what you see now at the beginning of the season here in Turkiye, seven wins and only conceded two if I am correct, scored a lot of goals, so a very, very good team and a very good manager who has been so successful over here as a player.

"So they know what it takes to win the league and know what it takes to win a game of football, so we have to be prepared for that.

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"We knew Galatasaray were also strong on set-pieces, but I can tell you we were a force on set-pieces last season and we won our last Champions League game because of a set-piece [when] we scored the 3-2 with Virgil.

"We were very, very, very close to scoring one against Palace. Every team you face at the moment, you have to be so, so, so well prepared when it comes to set-pieces.

"Back in the days when I was still playing, we only talked about football and there was not even a set-piece, let alone a set-piece meeting.

"Nowadays, set-piece meetings take just as long as the tactical meeting or the preparation for the game football-wise. That tells you the importance we give to set-pieces and I think every team around Europe gives to set-pieces."

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