Liverpool will look to bounce back from its disappointing draw with Manchester United by taking Arne Slot one step closer to his first final with the Reds tomorrow. But the head coach has confirmed he will be without two players for the first leg of the semi-final against Spurs.

All things considered, it's a fairly clean bill of health at Anfield at the end of a congested festive schedule. But in truth, there's not much of a let-up, with the games now set to come thick and fast for the remainder of the campaign; Slot will need everyone fit and firing if he wants to succeed in the cup competitions while maintaining a promising Premier League title tilt.

There is still the possibility of strengthening the squad further in the January transfer window. Sporting director Richard Hughes is thought to be assessing various options.

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Sure enough, Slot revealed that Liverpool is looking into possible additions this month. Reaffirming his commitment to the current squad, he added that the club would make a move "if there's a chance".

But new signings will not come in time for the Carabao Cup encounter. One of the players set to be sidelined against Spurs is Joe Gomez.

Slot name-checked him when talking about possible transfer activity, noting that the injury has knocked Liverpool from four center-backs down to three. The exact extent of the complaint suffered against West Ham has not been confirmed, but the coach expects him to miss multiple weeks.

A little more surprisingly, Slot also expects Dominik Szoboszlai to once again miss out against Tottenham. He was unable to face Man United due to illness, and did not return to training on Monday.

"Yesterday he wasn't in yet," Slot confirmed. "If he's in today, I would doubt if he's available to start the [Tottenham Hotspur] game. But hopefully he's in today. Yesterday he wasn't."

That will present Slot with an important selection decision. The absence of Szoboszlai has been a common theme in many of Liverpool's poor results this season, and the onus is on the manager to find a solution. Against Manchester United, Curtis Jones struggled to get up to speed. Interestingly, Diogo Jota ended up taking up the role — that could be something Slot looks to repeat.

Darwin Nunez picked up a fifth yellow card against Man United, and will be suspended for the next league game. As such, Slot might want to use the Uruguayan from the start against Spurs, although his form in front of goal leaves much to be desired. Meanwhile, Federico Chiesa has been sufficiently match-fit for the bench in recent weeks. He will be hoping to feature in some capacity.

Liverpool.com says: After a chaotic recent encounter in the league, Liverpool will want to exert a bit more control over Spurs this time around. The challenge for Slot is doing that without Szoboszlai, who glues so much together for the Reds.

Gomez will also be a miss. Ibrahima Konate might ordinarily have been given a break so soon after returning to action, but options are now a little more limited, and Slot will need to decide whether he trusts Jarell Quansah before rotating out the Frenchman.