Joe Gomez should start and Mohamed Salah is likely to be rested when Liverpool welcome Huddersfield Town to Anfield on Friday.
A return to the summit of the Premier League will be on the agenda for Liverpool, when they play hosts to Huddersfield Town at Anfield on Friday night. And, Jurgen Klopp does not have any major roster issues hampering his preparations ahead of the visit of the Terriers.
The Liverpool manager is only likely to be without the services of three first-team players. While Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is a long-term absentee who is nearing his return, Adam Lallana (muscle) and Fabinho (head) are minor doubts, but the duo could miss out on Friday.
In his pre-match press conference, Klopp was asked to provide an update on Fabinho and Lallana as well as Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Liverpool boss also talked about Dejan Lovren, who has recovered from an illness that forced him to miss two games last week, while also hinting that he will not make wholesale changes to his side.
“All a bit questionable, we don’t know exactly in the moment. We will have to see today. We gave them all [Lovren, Fabinho and Lallana] a proper rest. Dejan trained yesterday so that’s OK probably and the other two we will see. Ox trained, all good. We had enough time to recover after the last game, we have enough time to recover for the next game. Barcelona has nothing to do with the game on Friday night.”
The goalkeeping department should not see any shuffling, with Alisson Becker expected to start ahead of Simon Mignolet. But, Klopp could make two changes in defence, allowing Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip a rest.
In their stead, Joe Gomez and Lovren should start. While Lovren will have Virgil van Dijk as his partner at the heart of the Liverpool defence, with Gomez starting as the right-back. On the opposite flank, Andrew Robertson is expected to keep his place.
The midfield department should see only one change, with James Milner coming into the side in place of Jordan Henderson. With Fabinho expected to be preserved for the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona, Georginio Wijnaldum should reprise the no. 6 role once again when Liverpool face Huddersfield. Naby Keita will also keep his place in the middle of the park.
As far as attack is concerned, there have been murmurings about Mohamed Salah struggling with fatigue after his visit to New York City to attend the TIME 100 Gala. Klopp though, asserted during his presser on Thursday that there are no issues over Salah’s fitness.
“Travelling these days is no problem anymore. It would be more of a problem if his car was broken and he had to walk from here! That’s pretty comfortable. Today he will be in training and everything will be fine again.”
Salah though, could be rested when Huddersfield come visiting, keeping in mind the Barcelona game. In his place, Divock Origi should start, with Sadio Mane moving to the right side of the Liverpool attack, while Roberto Firmino should continue in his role of a false nine, leaving Xherdan Shaqiri as an option on the bench.
