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Liverpool’s problems on the field culminated in a mechanical problem with the team plane which meant they were unable to fly Merseyside In time for Eintracht’s trip to the Champions League frankfurt,
head coach Arne SlottWho is looking to prevent the club from losing a fifth consecutive match for the first time in 73 years, and the midfielder Dominic Szoboszlai He was scheduled to address the media at Deutsche Bank Park at 7.30 pm local time.
However, 40 minutes before the scheduled start the club canceled their press conference as they had not yet flown out of the country.
They ultimately took off at 7.51pm for their 80-minute flight, ensuring they would arrive before Frankfurt Airport closed for arrival at 11pm local time, but Slot insisted that this would not affect their preparations.
“No, it will not affect the preparation for tomorrow’s game,” he told UEFA.com.
“We have trained here at AXA. Normally we would get to Frankfurt a few hours earlier, now we are a few hours later.
“That can never be an excuse for tomorrow’s game.”
It may be a bit early to call it a crisis, but Slott are struggling to integrate the £450million talent they bought in the summer into a team that easily won the Premier League last season.
It’s uncharted territory for midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who said the players discussed among themselves how to turn around a season that started with seven straight wins.
“We have to stick together. We had many meetings, we talked to each other and the most important thing is that we stick together when times are tough,” the Hungary captain said.
“It will change. If you work hard and keep moving forward, luck will be on your side.”
“We definitely have to take the three points but the most important thing is we have to show what character we have liverpool Can do and what we are capable of doing.”
Midfielder Ryan Gravenberch did not travel with the team, having missed training earlier in the day with an ankle injury sustained in the defeat to Manchester United.
This will force at least one change in the slot and while he has heard calls for rotation – most importantly for Mohamed Salah’s misfire – the Dutchman says there needs to be a plan behind it.
“Rotate always seems like ‘Ah, let someone else play a bit’, but as I’ve said before we’ve got a lot of good players and I can use them all and if you play three games in seven days it’s probably smart to use them all,” he said.
Striker Hugo Ekitike looks set to start against the club he left in the summer, along with £100m signing Florian Wirtz and his Bayer Leverkusen teammate Jeremy Frimpong who were all substitutes at the weekend.
“I think it’s always special for every player if you go to one of your former clubs, especially if you have performed really well,” said Slote on Ekitaik.
“Special for him, special for Florian also to go back to Germany, special for Jeremy Frimpong because like Florian and Hugo he was also successful in Germany.”
Frankfurt head coach Dino Topmöller, son of Klaus, who coached Bayer Leverkusen when they defeated Liverpool in the 2002 quarter-finals, underestimated his opponents’ poor form.
“Liverpool is lacking a bit of energy at the moment, for whatever reason,” he told a news conference.
“They have been the better team in the games they have played recently and have had better chances. We will be facing a world-class team.”