Tsimikas captains Liverpool for first time as Van Dijk benched against LASK

Kostas Tsimikas will captain Liverpool for the first time in a competitive fixture as the Reds travel to face Austrian side LASK in the Champions League on Tuesday, with Virgil van Dijk named on the bench and the armband bypassing vice-captain Alisson Becker entirely.

The Greek left-back, who scored the decisive penalty in Liverpool’s 2022 FA Cup final victory before spending last season on loan at Roma, is the longest-serving outfield player in the starting XI in Austria. His selection as skipper is the result of a chain of absences and a quirk in the rules governing on-pitch captaincy.

Manager Andoni Iraola had named Alisson as vice-captain at the start of the season following the departures of Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, but explained in August that the goalkeeper could never practically hold the role on the pitch. Under current rules, only the designated captain is permitted to speak to the referee during play, creating a significant disadvantage if that player is a goalkeeper stationed at the opposite end of the field.

“I explained to Alisson especially that it’s not going to be possible that he wears the armband because with the new rule I think there is a big limitation if a keeper wears the armband,” Iraola said. “If something happens in the opposition box the referee has to explain to the captains what’s happening, all the decisions. I had one season with Neto as captain in Bournemouth and then you have to start every game to say a different player that can act as a captain, and this is not viable.”

Iraola added that he still wanted Alisson to feel valued by the club despite the practical constraint. “I had to explain also the decision about the armband to Ali because he is a keeper and, unfortunately, they are putting the rules in a way that there is a lot of disadvantages to having a keeper as a captain.”

With fellow vice-captains Dominik Szoboszlai sidelined through injury and Joe Gomez named among the substitutes, Tsimikas — who wore the armband briefly in pre-season after Gomez was forced off — steps up for his first competitive outing as skipper.

Liverpool XI: Alisson; Frimpong, Jacquet, Araujo, Tsimikas; Gravenberch, Nyoni; Ngumoha, Wirtz, Barcola; Koumas.

Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Munoz, Chambers, McConnell, Danns, Sonni-Lambie, Lucky.