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Manchester City midfielder Rodri is still being carefully managed after coming back from injury, and Pep Guardiola says he will not take any risks with the Spaniard, who could miss out against Liverpool.
Arne Slot's men travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday looking to overtake Manchester City in the standings and keep pace with Arsenal. But Rodri has only played a minute since limping off against Brentford over a month ago.
"We will see tomorrow but I think we will not take a risk," Guardiola said. Rodri came off the bench against Bournemouth last weekend but then missed out on the matchday squad entirely against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League midweek.
"It’s international break afterwards," Guardiola continued. "We can wait for the moment he feels strong, feels fit and can sustain the actions in the game which are so demanding, so he can sustain it properly, to make that step.
"Still, we are in November. The best part of the season is ahead of us and we need him.
"Still, we are playing without a Ballon d’Or winner, a massively important player for us and we are desperate to have him back. But Nico (Gonzalez) right now is becoming a really good and important player."
In February, Liverpool went to the Etihad and won by two goals to nil, with Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai scoring. Arne Slot, who also addressed the media today, will be hoping for a repeat.
"[The Manchester City match is] a very interesting game to look forward to because when I wasn’t working here and when I was in Holland, I did know when City v Liverpool was or when Liverpool v City was," Slot said.
"I could tell you I was 100 per cent sure in front of my television when this game was there. Similar to the Clasico, by the way, but these are the few games everyone is looking forward to and if you are not part of it, you are looking forward to it as well.
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"I think it’s always worth watching because so many great individuals are playing that game and these teams, nine out of 10 times, give you what you expect.
"For me with Pep [Guardiola] that’s 10 out of 10... what I liked about Pep Guardiola’s teams is that 10 out of 10 times you get what you are hoping for: a great game of football.
"No time-wasting and all kinds of things that I start to dislike more and more and more about football. These are not the things you can see if you are watching a Man City game."
Liverpool.com says: Rodri is yet to get back to his best after missing almost the whole of last season. Even if he plays, he is not at his peak yet. The biggest threat, by some distance, right now is Erling Haaland.
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