Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas should make their Liverpool debut while Thiago Alcantara also starts in the Carabao Cup third round tie against Lincoln City.
Liverpool enjoyed a relatively comfortable victory against Chelsea on the weekend, winning 2-0 with Sadio Mane on the scoresheet on both occasions. The game also saw star signing Thiago Alcantara impress on debut. Next up for the Reds are Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup third round.
Jurgen Klopp started his strongest team against Chelsea barring Joe Gomez, who has been ruled out of the game against Lincoln as well, due to injury. Despite the underlying fitness issues to Jordan Henderson and Joel Matip, assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders claimed that Liverpool would be fielding a strong starting lineup on Thursday.
“I think we passed the phase of opportunities, we passed the phase of talent. The boys who play tomorrow are really part of our squad, they take an important place in it. We want to attack, and that’s what we’re going to do tomorrow.”
We expect second-choice goalkeeper Adrian to pick up the gloves for the game against Lincoln, making his first appearance of the season in the process. In defence, new signing Kostas Tsimikas should be handed his official debut, replacing Andrew Robertson on the left side of the Liverpool defence. On the opposite flank, Neco Williams ought to come in for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
While Tsimikas and Williams will be given the role of providing width from the back, Virgil van Dijk and his compatriot Sepp van den Berg will start at the heart of the Liverpool defence. Dutchman van Dijk will also be given the captain’s armband for the game.
Thiago Alcantara joined Liverpool after months of back and forth with Bayern Munich and is expected to start his first competitive game for Liverpool against Lincoln, as part of a double pivot. James Milner will accompany Thiago in the centre of the park. Curtis Jones is expected to make a cameo from the bench, but will not start as part of the midfield duo.
The attack will see multiple rotations as well, with Takumi Minamino taking the no. 10 role in what is expected to be a 4-2-3-1. Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi will be aiding him as the right winger and striker, respectively. Finally, new boy Diogo Jota will be handed his debut on the left flank after completing a £40 million move from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
We might also see the introduction of teenage prodigy Harvey Elliott and academy talent Rhian Brewster at some point in the game. However, a start may not be too far-fetched either this early in the competition.
Liverpool Predicted XI: Adrian, Williams, van den Berg, van Dijk, Tsimikas; Milner, Thiago; Shaqiri, Minamino, Jota; Origi
