Liverpool lineup vs. PSV: Projected starting XI, team news, injury as Slot ponders Ekitike or Isak question

Liverpool lineup vs. PSV: Projected starting XI, team news, injury as Slot ponders Ekitike or Isak question originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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• Liverpool projected lineup vs. PSV

• Liverpool injury list

• Liverpool vs. PSV match details

Liverpool will once again look for a UEFA Champions League tonic when PSV arrive at Anfield on Wednesday for the fifth round of league phase games.

Arne Slot's side have enjoyed restorative wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Real Madrid in their past two games in the competition, results that have eased the pain of a Premier League title defence that appears to have gone entirely off the rails.

Saturday's 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Merseyside was Liverpool's sixth in 12 games in England's top flight this season.

They only lost four in the entirety of a triumphant 2024/25 and huge questions remain over misfiring big-money signings Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak - the two most expensive players in British football history.

MORE:What's wrong with Liverpool? Why November fixtures will define 2025/26 season

Liverpool lineup vs. PSV: Projected starting XI

Formation 4-3-3

Alisson (GK)

Szoboszlai, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson

Jones, Gravenberch, Mac Allister

Salah, Ekitike, Gakpo

Liverpool team news

Slot will make a late check on Florian Wirtz after the Germany star missed the Forest defeat with a muscular injury.

Wirtz's return would be a boost, especially considering Dominik Szoboszlai is likely to have to play at right-back again with Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley still absent. Of the two, Frimpong is the one with a chance of making a late dart into the matchday squad.

Andy Robertson should rotate back in at left-back, while Slot might be tempted to plump for Hugo Ekitike ahead of the Alexander Isak at centre-forward.

MORE:Breaking down the prize money on offer in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League

Liverpool injury list

Below is the latest injury picture for Liverpool, including estimated return dates for those who are sidelined.

Conor Bradley

• Injury: Muscle

• Expected return date: December 13

Slot said Bradley had sustained a muscle injury during the international break in November and would not be involved for "the upcoming 22 days".

The home game with Brighton & Hove Albion on December 13 looks like a possible return date.

Florian Wirtz

• Injury: Muscle

• Expected return date: November 30

Like Bradley, Wirtz suffered a muscle injury prior to Liverpool's game with Nottingham Forest, but Slot said he did not expect the Germany international to be out for as long. He could target the this weekend's match with West Ham for his return.

Jereme Frimpong

• Injury: Hamstring

• Expected return date: November 26

Frimpong suffered the second hamstring injury of his fledgling Liverpool career in Frankfurt and faces another month on the sidelines as club medics look to get to the bottom of a nagging issue for the former Bayer Leverkusen star.

Slot does not expect him to be available to face Forest, but Wednesday's Champions League game against PSV is a possibility.

Giovanni Leoni

• Injury: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear

• Expected return date: August 2026

Summer signing Leoni suffered a nightmare debut as he horrifically tore an ACL against Southampton. The Italian defender underwent immediate surgery and his campaign has already been cruelly ended.

Liverpool vs. Nottingham Forest match details

• Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2025

• Kickoff time: 8 p.m. local / 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT / 7 a.m. AEDT (Nov. 27)

• Location: Anfield (Liverpool, UK)

• Competition: Champions League (league phase, matchweek 5)

• Referee: Alejandro Hernandez

• VAR: Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez