Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas will return to the Liverpool starting lineup against Atalanta in the UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg.
Liverpool will be desperate to inch closer to booking their place in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals when they welcome Atalanta to Anfield on Thursday night. A positive result would give them a much-needed boost ahead of the second leg next week.
The return of some of their key players from injury will come as a major boost for the club. Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Trent Alexander-Arnold have all resumed full training, and they will be in contention to feature here. Stefan Bajcetic has also returned, but he is unlikely to be given a run out any time soon.
Klopp said in his pre-match press conference, “So, obviously we didn’t rush it with the boys. You can but we didn’t, that means they did a lot of training by themselves, especially Diogo and Trent, [they] worked as a group for two or three weeks really properly training. So, [they] looked very good yesterday, to be honest.”
“Stefan is different a little bit because he was out for much longer, but he is now training with us for longer as well. But I think after the long spell he had without playing football it makes sense that we might give him a game at U21s and then let’s see how he deals with that.”
“That’s not the plan with the other three guys. Alisson is on the way back as well. So, we have to see that. They are now back in training and now we have to see how we involve them and how we use them. That we need them is clear. But we need them in the best possible shape, and we want to give them kind of rhythm.”
On the injury, front, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara are ruled out for the season. Other than that, the Reds have a fully-fit squad to choose from. Caoimhin Kelleher is likely to continue in goal here, with Alisson unlikely to be risked right away.
Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas will be deployed as the full-backs. The two players will look to help out at both ends of the pitch. Virgil van Dijk will start alongside Ibrahima Konate here in central defence.
In the midfield, Wataru Endo will start alongside Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones. Endo will look to break up opposition attacks, with Jones and Mac Allister adding creativity and control to the side. Darwin Nunez will lead the line for Liverpool against Atalanta, with Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz on either side of him.
Predicted Barcelona XI: Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Endo, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Diaz
