Right back Conor Bradley has returned to training but is not yet ready to feature. Slot revealed the full-back has only just rejoined team sessions and still requires careful workload management.

Teammate Jeremie Frimpong is also close to a comeback following the muscle injury he sustained in October. While the Dutchman is expected to resume full training next week, he will still miss at least three more matches.

“Conor trained with the group for the first time yesterday,” Slot explained. “Jeremie should be back with us next week, but he’ll miss several games. We play a lot in the coming weeks, so we need to be cautious.”

The Reds remain without long-term absentee Giovanni Leoni, who suffered an ACL tear in September. The young defender is ruled out for the remainder of the season as he continues rehabilitation.

With the defensive shortages, Slot has been forced to deploy Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, and Joe Gomez at right-back in recent matches.

Sunderland also has injury worries ahead of the 8:15pm kick-off. Manager Regis Le Bris confirmed that Mouhamadou Habib Diarra is still recovering from groin surgery, while Noah Sadiki is dealing with a facial injury picked up against Bournemouth. However, the Black Cats boss expects Sadiki to be available for the Liverpool fixture.

Defenders Dennis Cirkin and Leo Hjelde are nearing full fitness after appearances for the U21s, offering Sunderland a timely boost.

Both sides enter the match needing points: Liverpool aim to build on their win over West Ham, while Sunderland continues pushing to climb further up the table.