Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate will feature in the Liverpool defence against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux on Saturday.
Liverpool have picked up three wins from their four league matches so far, with the other contest ending in a draw. They will look to climb to the top of the table when they take on Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds will be without the services of Trent Alexander-Arnold because of an injury blow. The England international sustained a hamstring injury during the win over Aston Villa, and he is expected to begin recovery work next week. But there is some good news, as Ibrahima Konate has trained with the side over the last couple of days. The French international is expected to start here.
Virgil van Dijk misses out with suspension, but Darwin Nunez is expected to be fine for the game despite sustaining a knock on international duty. Thiago Alcantara has stepped up his recovery but the Spanish international is unlikely to be available for this one.
Jurgen Klopp discussed the team news during his pre-match press conference, saying, “[There is] no concern [over Alexander-Arnold]. He is not available, we knew that before. He didn’t train with the team once yet and will take a little bit. It is not the worst hamstring injury you can have but it’s a hamstring injury and they barely heal in two weeks – and this one didn’t, either.”
“As he is running already, we hope he can start ball work early next week and then we will see and go from there. Ibou trained for two days with the team. I didn’t see him [Nunez] yet, but we obviously had contact and he said it was fine, but we will see that now and make a couple of decisions there. Darwin should be fine.”
“Thiago is running, but that’s it. [Quansah] trained the full week with us, so it was obviously then enough time to rest. Stefan had a good camp with the [Spain] U21s, played only a few minutes but [it] helped him anyway. I think that’s it.”
Liverpool are expected to line up in their usual 4-3-3 formation, with Alisson Becker in goal. Joe Gomez is likely to deputise as the right-back in the absence of Alexander-Arnold. Konate will start at the heart of the defence along with Joel Matip. Andrew Robertson will feature on the left of the defence.
In the midfield, Japanese international Wataru Endo will start as the defensive midfielder, and he will look to break up the opposition attacks. Dominik Szoboszlai will feature on the right of the midfield, and he will look to add creativity and drive to the side.
Alexis Mac Allister will start on the left and he will look to add control and composure to the side. Finally, Nunez is expected to lead the line for the Reds here, with Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz on either side of him.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Gomez, Matip, Konate, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Endo, Mac Allister; Salah, Nunez, Diaz
