Szoboszlai out and Koumas in for Liverpool's City test

Szoboszlai out, Koumas in: Liverpool's week turns on one hamstring\n\nDominik Szoboszlai is out of the Manchester City match at Anfield, and Lewis Koumas starts up front instead. Iraola did not dress it up. \"He came with an overload, he felt a tight hamstring,\" the manager said. \"He's tried somehow, kind of pushing through training, but he was not feeling 100 per cent and we will have to wait for Dom\" [(2)](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/breaking-dominik-szoboszlai-man-city-34748896)[(17)](https://talksport.com/football/4637792/dominik-szoboszlai-misses-out-liverpool-manchester-city). Another international break, another body lost. Liverpool have now had three of them this autumn.\n\nThe Szoboszlai absence is the story of the week, and it is not just about Sunday. He is the one midfielder Liverpool cannot take out without changing how they press. So they change.\n\n## Koumas gets the shirt because there is no one else\n\nIsak is injured, picked up with Sweden, and Ekitike is a long-term absentee, so Iraola has gone with Lewis Koumas, the young Welsh forward with Greek Cypriot roots, through the middle [(3)](https://www.thisisanfield.com/2026/10/confirmed-liverpool-lineup-man-city-team-news-premier-league)[(13)](https://fosonline.gr/podosfairo/diethni/article/393198/oi-11ades-sto-liverpoyl-siti-vasikos-gia-toys-reds-o-ellinokyprios-koymas)[(18)](https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/liverpool/news/liverpool-vs-man-city-confirmed-xis-huge-szoboszlai-semenyo-koumas-mac-allister-decisions-made_606676.html)[(19)](https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/premier-league/20261011/1004237423/ausencia-sorpresa-estrella-liverpool-city.html). That is not a rotation choice. It is what is left.\n\nLiverpool have scored once in their last two league games, the 0–0 with Fulham and the 1–0 at Bournemouth. Now a teenager is the focus of the attack against City's back line. It says everything about the depth up front, and it makes the week's other story look less strange.\n\n## The right-back question is already being asked\n\nReports say Liverpool are planning to sign a new right-back, with doubts over whether Jeremie Frimpong is the answer. Jules Koundé is the name mentioned [(25)](https://fotbolltransfers.com/nyheter/uppgifter-liverpool-planerar-att-ersatta-jeremie-frimpong/222773)[(27)](https://www.plbold.dk/nyhed/klar-til-at-opgive-arne-slots-indkoeb-liverpool-vil-hente-stjerne-i-barcelona). Frimpong came from Bayer Leverkusen in summer 2025 and has not found his best form.\n\nPut the two stories together. Fifth, or seventh by the live table, D-W-W-D-W, and a squad already being reviewed [(22)](https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com/football/premier-league/direct-liverpool-manchester-city-suivez-le-match-de-la-6e-journee-de-premier-league-en-live_LS-202610110268.html). The start is decent on points and shaky on identity. Two of last summer's signings are under scrutiny, the centre-forward is injured, and the fixture list is City, LASK Linz on Wednesday, Brentford on Saturday, Villarreal and Brighton.\n\n## Anfield is part of the story\n\nCity took an alternative route to the ground to avoid the usual welcome, and got booed anyway. Chants, banners, one reading \"A generation of supporters cheated\" [(5)](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/man-city-bus-arrival-anfield-34748189)[(10)](https://www.liverpool.com/liverpool-fc-news/features/liverpool-fans-clear-manchester-city-34748190)[(11)](https://radioh.no/haaland-avgjorde-byderbyet-mot-manchester-united-lagkamerat-utvist-for-pause)[(26)](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/man-city-greeted-boos-chants-150647603.html). This is City's first match since the guilty verdict on the Premier League's financial rules, and Anfield is not treating it as a normal fixture.\n\nThe players will get twenty minutes of noise for free. What they do after that is on Iraola and on Koumas.\n\n## What to watch\n\nWednesday at LASK Linz, Brentford next Saturday, Villarreal at home on October 20. Liverpool cannot rotate up front because there is nobody to rotate in. Koumas starts against City, starts again in Europe, and probably starts at Brentford.\n\nFour points from City and Brentford and the table looks fine. Nothing from both, and the right-back talk becomes a conversation about the whole rebuild.