Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Diogo Jota are set to return when Liverpool welcome Southampton to Anfield on Saturday.
Liverpool will be aiming to heap the pressure on Chelsea and Manchester City when they play hosts to Southampton at Anfield on Saturday afternoon. And Jurgen Klopp has no fresh fitness issues to contend with ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
The Liverpool boss saw Andrew Robertson, James Milner, and Divock Origi return from short injury layoffs against FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League earlier this week. That leaves Joe Gomez (calf), Naby Keita (hamstring), Curtis Jones (eye), Harvey Elliott (ankle) and Roberto Firmino (hamstring) on the sidelines.
During his pre-match press conference, Klopp was quizzed about any fresh concerns in his squad, and he had only positives to report. However, he did speak about the short recovery period for his players following the game on Wednesday.
The Liverpool manager said, “Again, Wednesday-Saturday is always a time where we have to really think about how can we change. Saturday-Wednesday is completely different, it’s a day more, that’s what you need. But Wednesday-Saturday, after all the games we played, we have to really think about.”
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“Nothing [new] happened, or at least my phone didn’t ring this morning about any kind of issues. The players who were in the squad against Porto should be available again.” Klopp also spoke about Kostas Tsimikas’s performances this season and why Andrew Robertson is likely to return to the starting lineup.
He added, “You saw Robbo coming on, when he came on last game, he didn’t play that game because if he plays the game after his little injury, there was no chance to play the next one. So we shared a bit the intensity between the two of them. I’m really happy about the development of Kostas, really happy, but Robbo is Robbo and is an outstanding player.”
Judging by Klopp’s comments, it is clear that Andrew Robertson will be back in the starting lineup after shrugging off his knock. On the opposite flank, Trent Alexander-Arnold is a certainty after being rested in the midweek European fixture. Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip should pair up at the heart of the Liverpool defence while Alisson Becker picks himself between the sticks.
Up ahead in midfield, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson are in line to return to the starting lineup, with Tyler Morton and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain dropping to the bench. However, there is no looking past the in-form Thiago Alcantara, who was on song against FC Porto.
Finally, the last change in the starting lineup will see Diogo Jota returning to the attacking unit after recovering from a minor knock. Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are automatic picks, leaving Origi and Takumi Minamino as backup options on the bench.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Jota, Mane
