Liverpool finally get back to competitive action this weekend when they play Everton in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Sunday evening. We’ve had a look at the starting eleven Jürgen Klopp may go with.
On Thursday, Klopp confirmed to Liverpoolfc.com that he has a full-strength squad to choose from going into the Premier League run-in.
Regarding injuries and what the staff encountered upon their return after the COVID-19 layoff, Klopp said:
“We had the normal things, I would say, after a long break, but I am not sure it has anything to do with that. It was just that we trained and things can happen – and we played as well and things can happen.
“In the moment, nobody really is ruled out for Sunday, but we have to see.
“A few trained more, a few trained less, most trained all [sessions], so that’s good news and in the end we will have a good team on the pitch, 100 per cent.”
This means Liverpool should be at full strength – based on whatever Klopp believes the best starting eleven to be after recent training and friendly fixtures.
Alisson will return in goals. The Brazil international had missed the last few games due to injury back in March. He’s back to full fitness now, thankfully.
The regular back four should be in place, consisting of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson on each flank with Joe Gomez partnering Virgil van Dijk in central defence.
Midfield is probably where Klopp has to make the toughest decisions. I think he’ll go with Fabinho as the defensive-midfielder with Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum just in front of him.
In attack, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané should get the nod as they are all fully fit.
Players like Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be chomping at the bit to get some game-time, too. The good news is that a limit of five substitutes is allowed per game for the rest of this campaign. The bench can consist of 9 players now instead of seven. To interrupt too much disruption to the flow of the game, however, changes can only be made at three intervals during the match.
Predicted Liverpool lineup (4-3-3) Vs Everton: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mané
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