Fabio Carvalho and Trent Alexander-Arnold will return when Liverpool take on West Ham United on Wednesday.
Liverpool picked up 7-1 and 1-0 wins respectively in their last two outings across all competitions, and they will be in high spirits heading into the game against West Ham United. Despite the number of injury issues, Jurgen Klopp has enough quality to oversee a win here.
Liverpool will be without a number of key players for this game. Joel Matip is sidelined with a calf injury, while Ibrahima Konate will return to training later this month. In the midfield, Naby Keita, Curtis Jones, and Arthur Melo are expected to miss out. But Jones and Keita have returned to light training.
Luis Diaz is sidelined until after the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Portuguese international Diogo Jota will be ruled out for several months after picking up an injury against Manchester City at the weekend. Klopp provided an update on the injury crisis ahead of the game against West Ham.
“It’s really not good news about Diogo. Yes, he will miss the World Cup. [It’s a] pretty serious injury in the calf muscle and now the recovery process starts. That’s it pretty much. Curtis was on the bench – it was clear we will not bring him on, we just had space.”
Liverpool vs West Ham United Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats
He’s in training, and looks really good in training but needs further training until he’s really available. He could be a step closer now after two days but didn’t train yesterday, so maybe half a step closer.”
“Naby is now in parts of team training. Ibou is not in team training yet but we knew before it will not be that long – he will be, in the end, out maybe for 10 days until he can start training again. Joel is still a little bit away and, of course, Luis as well not even close to team training. Calvin is completely back in team training.”
Liverpool are set to persist with their 4-4-2 formation that troubled Manchester City on Sunday. Trent Alexander-Arnold will return to the starting lineup in place of James Milner as the right-back. Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk will form the central defensive unit again, while Andrew Robertson retains his spot as the left-back.
In the midfield, Harvey Elliott will start as the right-sided winger. He will move into the half spaces and add creativity in the central areas as well. Elliott linked up well with the central midfielders and Salah on Sunday, and he will look to build on that performance here.
Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho will start as the central midfielders. While the Brazilian will look to disrupt West Ham’s playmaking, Thiago will look to set the tempo and control the possession. Fabio Carvalho will come in as the left-winger in the absence of Jota and Diaz.
Darwin Nunez could be handed a start here. His physicality and directness could be an asset against the Hammers. Mohamed Salah is likely to continue in a central role as well after impressing against Rangers and Manchester City.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Elliott, Thiago, Fabinho, Carvalho; Salah, Nunez
