Jurgen Klopp could make several changes to the Liverpool side that beat Everton, for the Reds’ Europa League fixture vs. Toulouse at Anfield.
Liverpool’s victory in the Merseyside Derby put the Reds back into form after an international break of waiting.
Toulouse are the next team up, and Klopp’s side will be hoping to rebuild the momentum gained early in the campaign.
The manager has a few selection conundrums, though – some good, some bad – and there will likely be plenty of changes.
Here’s how Liverpool could line up.
Here’s what Klopp revealed in his press conference:
Cody Gakpo “has been in full training now since Sunday” and “is available for the squad”
Darwin Nunez “is fine for this game” after feeling some cramps towards the end of last week
Stefan Bajectic “is not in team training,” nor is Thiago
Andy Robertson “had surgery and all went well” but Klopp admitted “we don’t know how long it will take” to return
Liverpool have a busy run of fixtures with eight games, plus an international break, in the next five weeks and the manager has said “we will make a few changes” for the Toulouse match.
Rotation will be required but it shouldn’t worry supporters as the Reds have managed to come through both Europa League matches so far with two wins from two.
There could be opportunity to field other more inexperienced players, and Ben Doak would ideally be involved.
When Klopp was asked if there were fitness problems in the squad, Doak’s name didn’t come up, however the youngster didn’t take part in full training on Wednesday afternoon.
Here is what Klopp is likely to do:
Curtis Jones to play in midfield with Wataru Endo as Alexis Mac Allister gets a rest
Caoimhin Kelleher to return after missing the Union SG match through injury
Cody Gakpo should start his first game since injuring his knee against Tottenham
This is how Liverpool would line up:
Kelleher; Gomez, Matip, Quansah, Chambers; Endo, Elliott, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo
There are a couple of obvious choices to start, like Curtis Jones who is suspended domestically, but it is a game of balance for Klopp as he seeks to rest players while winning.
In the previous lineup, we included Luke Chambers. The young left-back debuted vs. Leicester and played half of the under-21s’ match vs. Benfica at the weekend, possibly with a view to featuring on Thursday.
He faces competition from Joe Gomez, Calum Scanlon and, of course, Kostas Tsimikas, while Andy Robertson is out injured.
