Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team is currently in Austria, preparing to do battle with Red Bull Salzburg in this evening’s final Champions League Group E fixture.
Joel Matip, Fabinho and Adam Lallana all missed out on the trip due to injury. Matip won’t be fit for action for another couple of weeks while Fabinho is expected to be out until January at least. According to Klopp, he could have risked Lallana but did not want to aggravate his injury problem further, opting instead to let the midfielder fully recuperate before a busy few weeks ahead.
Alisson Becker will start in goals tonight for Liverpool. The Brazilian international has missed several games through injury and one game due to suspension this season but when he is available he is still Klopp’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Dejan Lovren went off injured in the first half of Liverpool’s 3-0 win at Bournemouth on Saturday. However, the Croatian centre-back has been passed fit to travel with the squad to Austria. I don’t think Klopp will start Lovren in Salzburg, though. Joe Gomez could get the nod at centre-half alongside Virgil van Dijk. This means Trent Alexander-Arnold will start at right-back with Andrew Robertson on the left.
In midfield, I think we can expect a trio of Gini Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Naby Keita had a great game on Saturday so he will be pushing for a start. My only concern is that a second consecutive start so soon after just returning from injury would set him back. If he doesn’t start tonight, he should make an appearance from the bench.
I think Klopp will go full strength in attack with Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané.
**Note – the game kicks off at 17:55 UK time so get home from work as fast as you can!
Predicted Liverpool lineup (4-3-3) Vs RB Salzburg: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Firmino, Mané
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Cqn I go for Origo instead of Bobby..