Jurgen Klopp will likely shift the shape of Liverpool back to a 4-3-3 to counter Manchester City and their formation when the two teams meet on Thursday.
A top-of-the-table six pointer is on the cards. Manchester City can cut the gap to just four points while Liverpool could open up a 9 point lead up top with a win over the Premier League champions. Jurgen Klopp is likely to revert to a three-man midfield to counter the shape of the Manchester City starting eleven.
The manager is unlikely to change any of the back four from the one that played in the 5-1 win over Arsenal. Dejan Lovren has done a commendable job in the absence of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip and the Croatian should pair up with Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Liverpool defence once again.
The manager has iterated in the pre-match conference that there are no major injury concerns to other players, which means Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson will start on either side of the back four. The duo have been crucial to Liverpool’s counter-attacks and with City vulnerable in the full-back area, it will be up to them to exploit any available space.
As far as the midfield is concerned, Liverpool should revert to three in the middle of the park. While Jordan Henderson is almost guaranteed to come into the lineup, James Milner is also back in training and could be in contention to feature against Manchester City, if not start.
“He was back in training with us yesterday for the first time, so we will see.”
Fabinho is likely to be the one to make room for fellow summer arrival Naby Keita while Georginio Wijnaldum should complete the midfield.
In attack, Xherdan Shaqiri will be the one to make way, despite his ominous form. It will be interesting to see whether the change from a four-man attacking unit back to a three disrupts the harmony, especially with the manager having to sacrifice the presence of the in-form Shaqiri.
Mohamed Salah had also returned to his usual scoring swagger in a central role. But, the Egyptian will likely find himself pushed wide to the right, with Roberto Firmino occupying the central position upfront and Sadio Mane on the left side of the three-pronged attack.
