FPL Gameweek 8 team news: Alexander-Arnold and Jota expected to be available

Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) and Diogo Jota (£7.6m) are expected to be available for Liverpool’s Gameweek 8 clash with Watford on Saturday.

Alexander-Arnold missed the Reds’ last two competitive fixtures before the October international break due to a groin problem, while Jota withdrew from Portugal’s national team squad on Monday having not kicked a ball for his country over the last week.

But both players are set to rejoin full training with their club colleagues ahead of the trip to Vicarage Road.

“They are all good, they are all in a good way, let me say it like this.

“So it looks really like Trent and Diogo will be fine, they will train with us tomorrow completely normal, that’s the plan.” – Jurgen Klopp, speaking on Wednesday about his side’s fitness

Both Liverpool players have hemorrhaged owners since Gameweek 7, with Alexander-Arnold the most-sold defender ahead of this Saturday’s FPL deadline and Jota fourth for transfers out among midfielders.

The right-back will surely return to the Liverpool starting XI this weekend if fully recovered but with Roberto Firmino (£8.8m) not involved with Brazil over the last fortnight, there is less certainty over whether Jota will be handed his fifth successive league start regardless of fitness.

The Saturday lunchtime contest is likely to come too soon for Thiago Alcantara (£5.3m), who has a calf problem.

“Thiago needs probably a little bit longer, [he] was not in team training yet – that’s always not a good sign for starting the next game.

“And the rest [of the] international [players], some are back, obviously some are not back yet. And we will see.” – Jurgen Klopp

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Harry Maguire (£5.4m) revealed he was “progressing” from a calf issue but had still not been involved in full training with Manchester United, which suggests that the Red Devils are set to be without both first-choice centre-halves for the trip to Leicester City.

The only official pre-match press conference of the day saw Claudio Ranieri on media duties for new employers Watford.

The Hornets earlier confirmed that Joshua King (£5.5m) would be assessed after a return to training but that Francisco Sierralta (£4.3m), Christian Kabasele (£4.4m) and Peter Etebo (£4.5m) remain out with muscle problems.

We should have a minimum of five pre-Gameweek 8 press conferences taking place on Thursday, with the rest following on Friday.

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