New Watford boss Claudio Ranieri will assess Josh King ahead of Liverpool clash

Posted Friday, October 15, 2021 by PA

Watford will assess striker Josh King ahead of Claudio Ranieri’s first game in charge against Liverpool.

King is recovering from a knee injury suffered in the defeat against Leeds, where Francisco Sierralta and Christian Kabasele (both hamstring) were also injured and have not yet returned to training.

Nicolas Nkoulou is set for another three weeks on the sidelines while Peter Etebo (quad) is a long-term absentee.

Liverpool will be without goalkeeper Alisson Becker and midfielder Fabinho as the pair have flown directly to Spain for next week’s Champions League match to avoid UK quarantine restrictions.

It means Caoimhin Kelleher will make his first Premier League appearance in goal since February.

Curtis Jones will also miss out having returned from England Under-21s duty with an injury, and with Thiago Alcantara (calf) still unavailable, midfield resources are being stretched but Trent Alexander-Arnold will return at right-back after missing the last two matches.

Watford provisional squad: Foster, Bachmann, Elliot, Femenia, Ngakia, Troost-Ekong, Cathcart, Masina, Rose, Gosling, Louza, Cleverley, Kucka, Tufan, Sissoko, Sema, Sarr, Pedro, King, Fletcher, Dennis, Hernandez.

Liverpool provisional squad: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson, Milner, Henderson, Keita, Salah, Firmino, Mane, Adrian, N Williams, Gomez, Konate, Tsimikas, Clarkson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Minamino, Jota, Origi.