Liverpool and West Ham meet at Anfield this Saturday evening in the Premier League. We’ve had a look at the likely starting lineup Jürgen Klopp may go with for this fixture.
The Reds are without Virgil van Dijk, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fabinho for this game. It’s also believed that Klopp will not risk Joël Matip, Thiago Alcântara, Naby Keïta or Kostas Tsimikas.
With Liverpool’s hectic fixture schedule this season and the injuries they have already suffered, it’s completely understandable and 100% sensible for Klopp to not risk anyone that is not fully fit or completely recovered from a previous injury problem. The likes of Matip, Thiago and Keïta are going to play a huge part this season so rushing them back now is not a sensible solution.
Alisson returned in goals for Liverpool last weekend against Sheffield United. He played again on Tuesday against FC Midtjylland and looks to be in perfect condition. He should start again on Saturday evening.
In defence, Klopp is now without Van Dijk, Fabinho and Matip. That leaves a likely centre-back pairing of Joe Gomez and Rhys Williams. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson will take their normal positions on either flank.
Klopp could opt for a 4-2-3-1 shape again, allowing two holding midfielders – Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum so sit deep and provide additional cover for the young centre-backs.
The three attacking midfielders will be the in-form Diogo Jota alongside Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané. They’ll provide the support for our out-and-out striker Mohamed Salah.
Predicted Liverpool lineup (4-2-3-1) vs West Ham United: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Williams, Gomez, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum; Jota, Firmino, Mané; Salah
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every opposing team in the premier league is praying that LFC must lose each and every fixture. every time they’ve proven them wrong. they keep on conjuring up wins playing scrappy football at times. we can cry foul to the manner in which the VAR system is used and the VAR officials involved in every match on match days, but we will never get the absolute truth as to what’s going on behind the scenes. even on the worst day, VAR is not able to conjure up a loss for LFC. tomorrow’s match-up against WESTHAM should be couch edge. i hope that the officials on the day will be sober minded, positive, unbiased, true footballing personnel. i hope the referee of this match will be a man and make decisions that are in the interest of good footballing outcomes. may the better team win.