Alisson Becker and Fabinho are in line to return to the starting lineup when Liverpool welcome Chelsea to Anfield on Thursday.
Liverpool will be eager to build on their win over Sheffield United this past weekend when they play hosts to Chelsea at Anfield on Thursday night. And, Jurgen Klopp has been handed a double boost on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Alisson Becker and Fabinho are back at the disposal of the Liverpool boss after missing the game against Sheffield United. And, as Klopp confirmed in his pre-match press conference, the Brazilian duo is set to return to the starting lineup against Chelsea on Thursday.
“Ali trained now the full week and, yes, we should expect that he is able to return. Fab has now five or six sessions in his legs and we have to make a decision how we deal with that but he looks good and is ready for the squad for sure.”
In addition, Klopp also revealed that Diogo Jota is inching closer to his return to action, although he is unlikely to be fit enough to start just yet. As a result, former Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane will once again start in the final third, with Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri being backup options.
Speaking on Jota, Klopp said, “Diogo had this little stomach problem and he trained yesterday only a little bit; he was only out there for the warming-up and the rondos and then had a little run. I got the message this morning that he feels better again, so we will see what we can do with that.”
Meanwhile, the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Jordan Henderson are all on the sidelines and Henderson’s absence, in particular, means the three-man midfield unit of Georginio Wijnaldum, Thiago Alcantara and Curtis Jones should pick themselves. James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be the options on the bench.
As for the defence, Fabinho’s return is well-timed, with the Brazilian taking his place at the heart of the Liverpool backline, where he ought to have Ozan Kabak for company. Out wide, there is no replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson, although both need to start stepping up. Finally, Alisson will replace Adrian in the Liverpool goal after returning to training this week.
Liverpool Predicted XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Kabak, Fabinho, Robertson; Thiago, Wijnaldum, Jones; Salah, Firmino, Mane
