Liverpool Faces Tough Test Against Tottenham in Carabao Cup
Andoni Iraola did not try to dress it up. Liverpool, unbeaten yet unconvincing, head into a crunch Carabao Cup tie with Tottenham in what their head coach calls the “worst scenario” of the season so far.
A new era at Anfield has opened with a stutter rather than a surge. Four Premier League games, three draws, and a flat 0-0 at home to Fulham have left a restless edge around a fanbase used to heavy-metal football. The results aren’t disastrous. The rhythm is.
On Tuesday night, the competition changes but the pressure does not. Tottenham arrive in the cup, and Iraola will roll the dice.
Mamardashvili to start as Iraola rotates
The first big call comes in goal. Alisson Becker, the established No.1 and one of the few Liverpool players already operating at his usual elite level, will step aside. Giorgi Mamardashvili steps in.
“Yes. Alisson is proven, there are little doubts, he is playing very well,” Iraola said, before turning to the man who will take the gloves against Spurs.
“I rate Giorgi very highly, I know him from his years also in Spain. We told him we tried to sign him for Bournemouth before I came here, he is a very good ‘keeper. He is going to start tomorrow.”
It is a calculated move. Protect the mainstay. Test the understudy. In a season that will be defined by how Liverpool cope with the grind of constant games, Iraola wants answers now, not in the middle of an injury crisis.
Mixed news in defence
The back line, already under scrutiny after a patchy start, brings a blend of relief and frustration.
“Joe [Gomez] is training with the team and is available for tomorrow,” Iraola confirmed. “It’s a matter of deciding how much he can play, or what the best thing is for him.”
That gives Liverpool another senior option at a time when the schedule is tightening. But the right side of defence remains a concern.
On Conor Bradley, Iraola was blunt: “He is not close to training with the team. He is training alone, but he has started touching the ball. Definitely I want him back as soon as possible.
“Leoni is a little bit ahead of him and it is going to take some time for sure.”
So Gomez is back in the frame. Bradley is still some way off. The younger options are edging forward, but not fast enough to ease the immediate strain.
‘Worst scenario’ schedule hits early
If the performances have been uneven, the calendar has been unforgiving. Iraola did not hide his frustration at the intensity of the early-season run.
“It’s the third game, it’s the worst scenario in terms of schedule, we haven’t been lucky,” he admitted.
The pattern tells its own story. Short turnarounds have left Liverpool trying to build a new identity at full speed. When they have had breathing space – “Five days in comparison to two to three days is a massive difference,” as Iraola put it – the team has looked sharper. When the games have stacked up, the energy has dipped.
“It is what it is. After the international break we have four games in ten days, so we have to get used to it.”
That line is not a complaint. It is a warning. The real storm has not even started.
Learning who can live with the grind
For Iraola, this period is about more than rotation for rotation’s sake. He is trying to map out which players can live with Liverpool’s new reality: high demands, relentless fixtures, no hiding places.
“You can put the same players in every game. The problem is there will be a moment they are very tired and there is more risk of injury,” he said.
“But there are players who play every three days and have no issues, they can accept it and performances don’t change too much. Then there are other players where the risk is bigger and the performances are different.
“And I am in a position where I have to learn who is ready to play every two or three days and who is ready to rest so their performance level doesn’t drop. I had an idea with some of them, but for some of them it is new as they haven’t played as many games and we are learning.”
That is the crux of his “worst scenario” comment. Not just the volume of games, but the timing: a new coach, a reshaped squad, and no chance to slow down and experiment quietly.
Tottenham on Tuesday will not just be a cup tie. It will be another live examination of Iraola’s early judgments – on Mamardashvili, on Gomez’s readiness, on who can truly carry Liverpool’s shirt every two or three days when the season starts to bite.
