Mohamed Salah will return to the Liverpool starting lineup when they take on Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday.
Liverpool will be eager to return to winning ways and continue the recent unbeaten run when they lock horns with Leeds United at Elland Road on Saturday evening. Arne Slot has received a positive update on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Conor Bradley should be fit and available to take on Leeds United after recovering from a muscular injury that had kept him on the sidelines since the international break. So, Giovanni Leoni (knee) and Jeremie Frimpong (hamstring) are the only players in the treatment room, with the former’s campaign coming to a premature end several weeks ago.
Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Slot provided a fitness update on Bradley, suggesting the Northern Irishman should be ready to take on Leeds United this weekend. The Dutch tactician also discussed Joe Gomez’s situation after the versatile English defender recently struggled with a knock.
The Liverpool manager said, “I expect him to train today and then he is available to be in the squad tomorrow. Joe Gomez got a knock in the West Ham game but was still able to start. He couldn’t make the full 90 minutes but I think he will be able to train again today. Yesterday was a recovery day for most of them, today we will train again and let’s see where they are.”
Meanwhile, the journalists present at the press conference grilled Slot about his decision to overlook Mohamed Salah and Federico Chiesa in recent games. The Liverpool boss said, “Every player is in my mind to start a game of football because we have so many good players. Mo has been such an exceptional player for us. He’s always in my mind to start or to come in.”
“As I just said, every player has a possibility to start. But we have many options to start in his position, as I said so many times before. But he’s indeed having his impact coming off the bench a few times. Normally you bring a striker in to score a goal, but he in this situation [in stoppage time versus Sunderland] kept on running in a moment where a player could also feel, ‘Hmm, I don’t think I can do a lot anymore because he’s going to go one-v-one.'”
Alisson Becker is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Liverpool lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him against Leeds United on Saturday. The backline will feature Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, and Andrew Robertson. So, Conor Bradley will be a backup option on the bench.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, and Ryan Gravenberch. Finally, Mohamed Salah will replace Cody Gakpo in the offensive trifecta, joining Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak in the attacking trio. So, Gakpo, Chiesa, and Hugo Ekitike will be backup options on the bench.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Isak, Wirtz
