Predicted Liverpool lineup against Wolves: Jota in for Gakpo; Konate to start

 Diogo Jota and Ibrahima Konate will return when Liverpool welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to Anfield on Wednesday.

Liverpool were beaten 3-0 by Wolves last month and they will be looking to avenge that defeat at Anfield on Wednesday night. The Reds are already trailing their top-four rivals and cannot afford to keep dropping points if they want to secure UEFA Champions League qualification. This is a must-win game for the Reds.

Jurgen Klopp has confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Darwin Nunez and Ibrahima Konate trained normally ahead of the game. And they are expected to feature here. Their return will come as a major boost to the side that was held to a draw by Crystal Palace in the last outing. Liverpool missed Nunez’s pace, directness, and physicality in that game.

Meanwhile, Thiago Alcantara will miss out with a hip injury and Luis Diaz is not fit enough to feature here, despite returning to training. In addition, Calvin Ramsay is ruled out for the season. Joe Gomez is ruled out as well with a muscle problem.

“Let’s start with the not so positive: Thiago not [available], he is in rehab,” Klopp said, during his presser. He then added, “Luis I saw now, I watched half an hour of the rehab session. [He was] out on the pitch individually, shooting, moving, all looks really good.”

Liverpool vs Wolves Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats

“But he was not in team training yet so that’s probably the decisive information. Joe Gomez is out with a muscle problem. Ibou trained yesterday completely normal and Darwin as well and now we have to see.”

“Ibou had no issues since he was injured, we just wanted to give him more training time before we include him again, and that should be now fine. Darwin, we have to see. It’s a shoulder, it looked absolutely OK yesterday but I don’t know before some people will tell me how he reacted to yesterday.”

Jurgen Klopp is likely to start in a 4-3-3 formation here, with Alisson Becker in goal. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson will reprise their roles as the full-backs. They will look to create chances for Liverpool on the overlap and take advantage of Wolves’ defensive vulnerabilities.

Virgil van Dijk will start alongside Ibrahima Konate at the back. Gomez and Matip have struggled in recent weeks, and the return of Konate could not have been better timed.

In the midfield, Fabinho and Stefan Bajcetic will look to add defensive discipline and protection for the defenders. Harvey Elliott will add craft and vision to the side from the central areas.

Darwin Nunez is back in action this week, and he will slot into the left flank. Mohamed Salah will continue in his natural role on the right. Finally, Diogo Jota could be handed a start here against his former club, replacing Cody Gakpo. The Portuguese international has recovered from his injury and is training normally.

Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Elliott, Fabinho, Bajcetic; Nunez, Jota, Salah

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