- Based in Liverpool, Beth Lindop is ESPN's Liverpool correspondent and also covers the WSL and UWCL.
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has said he is "optimistic" Florian Wirtz will be fit to feature in Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea.
Wirtz impressed for the Reds' in Sunday's 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion before being forced off with an ankle problem.
The midfielder looks set to be recovered in time for the visit of Xabi Alonso's side to Anfield however a final decision is yet to be made on Dominik Szoboszlai and Víctor Muñoz, who have both missed the past two games through injury.
"We still have to wait," Iraola said in his prematch news conference. "We train later. We want to [use] this last day. He was quite fine, Florian -- I'm quite optimistic that he will be available. And with Dom and Victor, I'm not so sure. I don't want to say no, but I think it's going to be more difficult than Florian, yes."
Asked whether he plans to rotate his squad against Chelsea, Iraola added: "There will definitely be changes. But we want to win the game, we want to be competitive. We need to see how the legs are.
"We are kind of, not just in the Carabao Cup, also in the Champions League, we are trying to make some changes from game to game, because I think it's almost mandatory.
"We want to be in the next round. We've been unlucky in the draw, we are playing Chelsea. They have been unlucky also. But we want to earn the right to be in the draw again and that only happens if you win."
Momentum is growing after four successive wins in all competitions, and eight in 10 since opening the season with two draws, but the Basque acknowledges there is plenty of work still to do.
Iraola allowed himself a moment after Sunday's 2-0 victory over Brighton to celebrate in front of the Kop for the first time, but he is well aware it does not take much for the confidence to be broken.
"It is not to gain the confidence. I said it since the first day, you have to earn the right to belong and you only get it with good performances, with wins, and this will take time," Iraola said, speaking ahead of Wednesday's Carabao Cup visit of a Chelsea team coached by his good friend Xabi Alonso.
"But I am glad because I felt the other day the supporters helped us a lot and they were enjoying it the same as we were.
"A start, yes. I would say a start -- still we need more wins, we need more performances so we need more time."
Having come up against one of his best friends in football in Inigo Perez in last week's Champions League tie against Villarreal he will welcome two more this week in Alonso and, on Sunday, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
"We were close friends, we grew up together, we played in the same team, we played against each other, we played together in the national team with Spain and the Basque country," Iraola added of Alonso. "But now he is the opposition and we want to beat him, in the same way he will do with us.
"After the game we can talk, definitely."
Press Association contributed to this report.
