Naby Keita is fit and available, while Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will start when Liverpool face Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield on Saturday.
Liverpool will be aiming to continue their unbeaten start to the 2021/22 season when they play hosts to Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield on Saturday afternoon. And Jurgen Klopp has been handed a boost on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Naby Keita is fit and available less than a week after picking up a knock from the heavy challenge by Paul Pogba last Sunday. However, Fabinho (knee), James Milner (hamstring), Thiago Alcantara (calf) and Harvey Elliott (ankle) remain on the sidelines due to their respective injuries.
During his pre-match press conference, Klopp provided an update on Keita, Fabinho and Thiago, saying, “Naby Keita looks good; we were all surprised, but he was obviously lucky so I think he will be ready. With Fabinho it doesn’t look that good, it’s a bit more complicated.”
“Not too complicated, but complicated enough to keep him out now again, probably. I still wait for last news, but he was not in team training yet and that is never a good sign. Thiago was in team training for the first time yesterday.”
“We did a session where he could be part of pretty much the whole session, [but] that doesn’t mean he is ready to play a football game, unfortunately. We will see what we do with him, but he is closer than he was last week, much closer. Now we have to see what we do with that.”
With Fabinho, Thiago, Milner and Elliott still unavailable, Klopp remains short of options in the midfield department. So, Keita ought to return to the starting lineup straight away, taking his place in the middle of the park alongside Curtis Jones and captain Jordan Henderson.
Up ahead in attack, the key decision will again pertain to the regular who is omitted from the starting lineup. Sadio Mane ought to get the nod ahead of Diogo Jota, with Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah taking up the other two spots in the final third.
As for the defensive unit, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson pick themselves. Ibrahima Konate should pip Joel Matip to be van Dijk’s central defensive partner, with the Cameroonian being eased back in after his latest injury. Finally, in goal, there is no looking past Alisson Becker.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Keita, Henderson, Jones; Salah, Firmino, Mane
