Joel Matip and James Milner will return, but Ibrahima Konate could be rested when Liverpool take on Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday.
Liverpool will be hoping to keep pace with Chelsea and Manchester City in the Premier League title race when they lock horns with Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday night in the first Merseyside derby of the season. And Jurgen Klopp does not have any fresh injury concerns to deal with ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Joe Gomez (muscle injury), Naby Keita (hamstring), Curtis Jones (eye), Harvey Elliott (ankle) and Roberto Firmino (hamstring) remain on the sidelines and will play no part against Everton. However, Gomez, Keita and Firmino are inching closer to their returns and could be up for selection in a week or two.
Speaking to the Liverpool media, Klopp provided his team news update, saying, “Joe is in a really good moment. He is doing really well, he is doing a lot of stuff outside, so hopefully next week he can be in training. I hope the same for Naby, pretty much – that he will be in training next week as well, but there’s no news. There’s no real update [on Curtis], so we have to wait. “
“I think once every two weeks they always make another examination. Curtis is completely fine, but we have to be careful with it and so we cannot rush it. I think the next test is tomorrow and then we will know more. Bobby is good but he is still a couple of weeks away from being fully back, but he is doing pretty much everything just with the extent of the injury we have to be careful, but it’s all fine.”
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With Keita, Jones and Elliott still sidelined, Klopp’s midfield options are a bit stretched, although the impressive Tyler Morton does provide him with some reprieve. The same goes for James Milner, whose return to fitness means he could start against Everton on Wednesday, allowing the Liverpool boss to hand Thiago Alcantara some much-needed rest.
Milner will line up alongside Fabinho and Jordan Henderson in the midfield unit, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain being a backup option. As for the attacking trio, Klopp is unlikely to tinker with the in-form trifecta, even though the urge to rotate would be high.
So, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will retain their spots in the final third, with Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino being fallback options. Finally, the backline could see one change, with Joel Matip likely to replace Ibrahima Konate to allow the Frenchman a breather.
Matip will pair up with Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the Liverpool defence, with Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold continuing as the two full-backs. And in goal, there is no looking past Alisson Becker.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Milner; Salah, Jota, Mane
