Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara are available, but Naby Keita will miss out when Liverpool face Atletico Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday.
Liverpool will hope to seal safe passage through to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 when they play hosts to Atletico Madrid in a Group B tie at Anfield on Wednesday night. And Jurgen Klopp has been handed a major boost on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
While Naby Keita is the latest player to be sidelined due to a hamstring injury sustained in the game against Brighton & Hove Albion this past weekend, the Liverpool boss has greeted the return of Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho, who have overcome their respective injury issues to become available to take on Atletico Madrid.
Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats
The availability of Thiago and Fabinho means James Milner (hamstring) and Harvey Elliott (ankle) remain the only other players on the sidelines apart from Keita. During his pre-match press conference, Klopp provided an update on Thiago, Fabinho and Keita.
The Liverpool boss said, “Naby has a hamstring injury so will be out for a while. Apart from that, Millie it’s clear [he won’t be involved] and the others who are out long term will be out as well. Fabinho and Thiago trained completely normally and are in contention, which is good obviously. It’s very helpful and so we will see.”
With Thiago and Fabinho only just back after recovering from their respective injuries, it is likely that Klopp will ease them back into the thick of the action. Therefore, the duo is expected to feature off the bench, if at all, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain set to be handed a rare start in midfield, where he will accompany Jordan Henderson and Curtis Jones.
Another key change will see Joel Matip return at the heart of the Liverpool defence, where he will line up alongside Virgil van Dijk, with Ibrahima Konate making way. Out wide, there is no looking past Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson as the two full-backs, while Alisson Becker is a certainty in goal.
Finally, the major selection dilemma upon Klopp will be to decide who among the four regular attackers misses out against Atletico Madrid. Diogo Jota could get the nod to start alongside Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, with Roberto Firmino dropping to the bench following a sub-par display against Brighton on the weekend.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Jones; Salah, Jota, Mane
