Iraola confident Wirtz will be fit for Chelsea clash, but Szoboszlai and Victor Munoz remain doubtful

Florian Wirtz limped off at the Amex Stadium on Sunday, setting off alarm bells for a moment at Liverpool. But Andoni Iraola has played down the concern ahead of Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea: the Basque coach said he was "optimistic" about the German's availability.

Wirtz had been heavily involved in the match against Brighton, which Liverpool won 2-0, before asking to come off with ankle discomfort. According to Iraola, the player finished training "pretty well," though the final call will be made at the last training session before the game.

The situation looks less clear for Dominik Szoboszlai and Victor Munoz, both of whom have missed the last two matches through injury. On that front, the manager was considerably more cautious than he was with Wirtz.

"We still have to wait. We train later, we want to use this last day. He was pretty good, Florian, I'm quite optimistic he'll 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 complicated than with Florian, yes."Andoni Iraola

Rotation, yes, but without losing sight of the goal

Asked whether he plans to shuffle his lineup against Xabi Alonso's side, Iraola didn't mince words: there will be changes, but the aim remains to win. The manager himself admitted that managing players' legs has become almost mandatory given the packed schedule between the Premier League, the Champions League and now the Carabao Cup.

The draw hasn't been kind to either club, with both sides meeting in a round that Iraola described as shared "bad luck." Even so, the reward of advancing in the competition can only be earned one way.

There's more to this match than just a cup round: on the other side of the pitch will be one of his closest friends in soccer. Iraola and Alonso grew up together, played on the same team, competed against each other and even represented the Spanish and Basque national teams together. Liverpool's manager was clear about how that feels heading into the match.

"We were close friends, we grew up together, we played on the same team, we played against each other, we played together for the Spain national team and the Basque Country team. But now he's the opponent and we want to beat him, the same way he'll try to beat us. After the game we can talk, for sure."Andoni Iraola

Liverpool's form is, for now, good: they've won four straight across all competitions and eight of their last ten matches after opening the season with two draws. Iraola allowed himself to celebrate in front of the Kop for the first time following the win over Brighton, though he insists that the fans' trust has to be earned match by match, not given away.

Before facing Alonso, Iraola already crossed paths last week in the Champions League with another friend, Inigo Perez, manager of Villarreal. And the string of reunions doesn't end there: on Sunday he'll see Mikel Arteta, Arsenal's manager, from the other side of the touchline.