Fabio Carvalho will make his first start for Liverpool, while Darwin Nunez is available for the Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday.
Liverpool will aim to continue the recent winning run when they lock horns with Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon in the first Merseyside derby of the season. And Jurgen Klopp has greeted a mixed bag of updates on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Jordan Henderson is the latest absentee for Liverpool after sustaining a hamstring injury earlier this week against Newcastle United. The Liverpool captain has joined Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hamstring), Ibrahima Konate (knee), Calvin Ramsay (knock), and Naby Keita (knock) on the sidelines.
In addition, the game has come too soon for Thiago Alcantara, who might return in a week or two. But there is some good news, as Diogo Jota has trained this week and will be at Klopp’s disposal. The Liverpool boss can also call upon Darwin Nunez, who has served a three-match suspension, against Everton.
During his pre-match press conference, Klopp spoke about Henderson, Jota, and Nunez while providing an update on deadline-day signing Arthur Melo’s availability. The Liverpool manager said, “My information is it will not happen until tomorrow, the international clearance. We all hope he will be fine for Napoli.”
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“He [Henderson] is definitely out, he is injured, but the extent I don’t know. Diogo probably will be in as well, he trained yesterday with the team first time. He will train today. I have to make a decision, does it make sense that we involve him already or not? But if, it is the first time we have five attackers – sounds like Christmas!”
“He is in really good shape and if you look at how we came through this now with the last two games winning, we don’t see it [his suspension] as a bad thing, the time he was out. We used it with him, we tried to give him some extra input physically as well as tactically. He looks really settled now, even more than before, he had a really good last week. What we will make of that, you will have to wait until tomorrow.”
Despite being available, Nunez will unlikely return to the starting lineup, considering Roberto Firmino’s brilliant form in the last couple of games. The Brazilian forward will spearhead the Liverpool attack against Everton, with Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz being the two wide men.
As for the midfield unit, Henderson’s absence means Klopp does not have many alternatives to fall back on this weekend. But Fabio Carvalho might have done enough to earn his first start for Liverpool following his match-winning cameo against Newcastle United. Carvalho will join Fabinho and Harvey Elliott in the middle of the park.
Meanwhile, the defensive unit should remain largely unchanged, even though Kostas Tsimikas has given Klopp a reason to pick him. But Andrew Robertson should continue as the Reds’ left-back against Everton, with Trent Alexander-Arnold picking himself on the opposite flank. But Joel Matip should return to pair up with Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Liverpool defence, with Alisson Becker starting between the sticks.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Elliott, Fabinho, Carvalho; Salah, Firmino, Diaz
