Six Games in 18 Days: How Andoni Iraola can utilise his squad and prepare Liverpool for intense autumn
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The international break has left the AXA Training Centre mostly empty this autumn, but for Andoni Iraola, the elongated window could be the most critical tactical window of his Liverpool tenure so far. While the international break has given the likes of Florian Wirtz a chance to reset, Liverpool now look set to face Man City without some key stars.
With a match scheduled virtually every three days, there is little margin for error.Thankfully, Iraola is a meticulous man, and it has been reported that the 44-year-old has been using the international break to drill the skeleton squad left behind at Liverpool, while also drafting in some younger players to flesh out the group.Iraola could turn to youth as Liverpool embark on a punishing fixture schedule, and it would not be a surprise to see him throw in some new faces here and there.The Champions League and Carabao Cup fixtures will likely be where this happens, with the visit to LASK in Austria on October 14th, the home tie with Villarreal six days later and the fourth-round clash with Chelsea on October 28th the best time for Iraola to test out his youngsters.OpponentDateHome or AwayManchester City11/10/26HomeLASK14/10/26AwayBrentford17/10/26AwayVillarreal20/10/26HomeBrighton25/10/26HomeChelsea28/10/26HomeBut that doesn’t mean that Iraola can simply keep the same, strongest XI for the three Premier League fixtures spliced in between. Injuries to Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo have made the lack of depth even more stark, and with both coming home from international duty early, there is a chance they could miss all six of these fixtures.As a result, Liverpool will have to rely heavily on Victor Munoz and Rio Ngumoha, who have both been in and out of starting line-ups so far this season, while they may even need to utilise Florian Wirtz in the forward line.Defence and midfield options are availableMidfield is another area which will have to be carefully considered, and Iraola will have been delighted to see Ryan Gravenberch return to some form while playing for the Netherlands.
He can at least rely on back-up at left and right-back, which should see Kostas Tsimikas and Jeremie Frimpong play more, but neither have started the season well, and this could be where Liverpool come undone.Meanwhile, Virgil van Dijk is playing way too much after clocking up 360 minutes on international duty, and with Jeremy Jacquet becoming crucial to France as well, both of Liverpool’s starting two centre-backs are overworked. Giovanni Leoni will finally be back available, but not until after October 12th, and though he will not start games immediately, he is likely going to be needed towards the end of the month.Joe Gomez is also set to return and it is crucial that Iraola leans into his experience and versatility across the back line in order to give others a rest while sustaining the quality of the starting XI.Liverpool do have the means to tackle this packed period, and if Iraola can get the balancing act right then they could come away from it in a brilliant position in both the Premier League and Champions League and in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.