Liverpool receive major fitness boost ahead of Manchester City showdown in the Premier League on Sunday | OneFootball

Arne Slot and Liverpool have received a significant boost to ease selection dilemmas in defence for the meeting with Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

The Premier League champions travel west onto Merseyside in a desperate run of form across competitions, having failed to win in any of their last six matches and throwing away a three-goal lead in midweek.

As Feyenoord came to town on Tuesday, City thought they were cruising back to winning form as they held a 3-0 advantage heading into the final 15 minutes. However, three goals in response from the Dutch side shared the points and frustration for the hosts was maintained.

Manchester City know that they must avoid defeat on Sunday afternoon when they take on Premier League and Champions League leaders Liverpool at Anfield in order to remain somewhat within reach of Arne Slot’s in-form squad.

But the challenge of Liverpool has not been made any easier in the lead-up to the fixture, with Slot confirming some very welcome team news for the hosts and a name that they will be all too happy to bring back into their selection.

As confirmed by manager Arne Slot during his pre-match media conference on Thursday afternoon, Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is now fit to start for the Merseyside club against Manchester City this weekend.

Slot has also revealed that both Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley are “still being assessed” following injury concerns sustained in their 2-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday night, and as such it is “difficult to see where they are” ahead of the weekend.

Manchester City face a very different fitness situation, with a large list of players lacking in match sharpness and readiness, whilst Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, and Oscar Bobb all remain sidelined through injury.

Ruben Dias, Kevin De Bruyne, and Jeremy Doku will be hoping that their own fitness improves in the days leading up to the clash, having all battled varying injury problems over the last few weeks, and returned to training only recently.

The trip to Liverpool is part of an unrelenting fixture schedule for Manchester City, who also take on Manchester United, Aston Villa away from home, and Juventus in the Champions League across December alone.