Alexis Mac Allister will replace Curtis Jones in the Liverpool starting lineup when they take on Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Liverpool will be eager to return to winning ways when they lock horns with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday afternoon. Arne Slot has received a positive update on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Joe Gomez has stepped up his recovery from a hamstring injury, and he may be in the matchday squad this weekend. However, Giovanni Leoni (knee), Wataru Endo (ankle), and Alexander Isak (leg) remain in the treatment room.
Additionally, Mohamed Salah remains unavailable due to his participation in the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Slot provided a fitness update on Gomez. The Dutch tactician also discussed managing Florian Wirtz’s minutes.
The Liverpool manager said, “I expect Joe to train with us [on Friday] and Wata not yet. Again, I think to see we had four players on the bench that haven’t played any minutes in the Premier League and these players just keep going with so many games to go. So, if anyone was like, ‘Why does he take Florian off?’ for example, two days after the [Wolverhampton Wanderers] game he felt his hamstring still too much.”
“That’s why he couldn’t train, he only trained [on Wednesday]. With all games coming up, for me it was too much of a risk if you don’t have so many players available with Premier League experience – and, of course, Cody [Gakpo] is a good replacement to bring in.”
The Liverpool boss continued, “These are all the things I, we have to take into account to keep players available with at least some Premier League experience for the schedule we are going in – and not only going in, we have already had now two months of non-stop football and most of them [even] six or seven months of non-stop playing football.”
“Everyone stayed fit [against Leeds], positive. A clean sheet. If I have to take something positive from the game then [it is] those two things – and Ibou [Konate] didn’t get a yellow so he is not suspended.”
Alisson Becker is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Liverpool lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Fulham on Sunday. The backline will feature Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, and Milos Kerkez.
As for the midfield unit, Dominik Szoboszlai will line up alongside Ryan Gravenberch in the double pivot, with Alexis Mac Allister reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Hugo Ekitike will lead the line for the away side against Fulham, with Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong completing the numbers in the offensive unit. So, Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo will be backup options on the bench.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch; Frimpong, Mac Allister, Wirtz; Ekitike
