Mohamed Salah is in line to return to the starting lineup when Liverpool welcome Napoli to Anfield in their fifth Champions League Group E tie on Wednesday.
Liverpool will be aiming to book their place in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 and also confirm their status as Group E winners when they play hosts to Napoli at Anfield on Wednesday. And, Jurgen Klopp has a near-full strength squad at his disposal ahead of the Matchday 5 fixture.
There is no replacing Alisson Becker in goal for Liverpool, with Adrian being his backup once again. The defence is unlikely to see many changes, especially with Joel Matip still recovering from his knee issue. Klopp did provide the latest on the Cameroonian’s injury as well as a general update on Nathaniel Clyne during his pre-match press conference.
“Good, good. No long-term injuries – no Joel [Matip], no Clyney, no Paul [Glatzel]. This week we have kind of a reassessment scan [on Matip] where you have a look at how it improved, but there’s nothing you can really do a lot, you have to wait until the body is doing the job pretty much. And we will see that, then we’ll know more. He looks fine but is not able to play and not able to train at the moment.”
With Matip out injured, Dejan Lovren will likely get the nod ahead of Joe Gomez to partner Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Liverpool defence. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson are certain starters in the full-back slots.
Up ahead in midfield, Naby Keita is in contention after recovering from illness. The Guinean midfielder, though, is only likely to be a backup option this time around, with Klopp likely to stick with his usual big-game trio of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum.
That also means that there is no place for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the starting lineup despite his strong recent form, with Mohamed Salah set to return to the side. The Liverpool boss was also quizzed on Salah and whether the Egyptian was fit enough to start.
“Mo looks really good. He looked really good in training the day before yesterday especially, after the game. It was really good. Yesterday we didn’t do too much, so we will see today – but I’m not worried about it.”
Klopp’s words suggest Salah, who scored the winner against Napoli at Anfield in the Champions League group stage, will take his place in Liverpool’s three-pronged attack, with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino for company in the final third.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane
