Virgil van Dijk will likely miss out on a spot in the Liverpool starting lineup against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday.
Liverpool were firmly in the title race a few weeks ago but have lost significant ground on Manchester City and Arsenal after a series of disappointing results. The Reds practically have nothing left to play for, and they will now look to finish the season as strongly as possible by winning the remaining games, starting with the clash with Tottenham on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur are fifth in the standings, and they are pushing for Champions League qualification. With Aston Villa racing ahead, the North London outfit will have to win their remaining games to stand a chance of securing a top-four finish this season.
Liverpool do not have any major injury issues heading into this game. Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip are ruled out for the remainder of the season. Diogo Jota is yet to resume training and is set to miss out. However, Conor Bradley has resumed first-team training, and he could be a part of the squad to face Tottenham Hotspur.
However, club captain Virgil van Dijk missed training during the midweek, and it remains to be seen whether he is a part of the squad to face the North London club on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp discussed the Dutchman’s fitness ahead of the Tottenham game.
“Virgil wasn’t [in team training] the whole week yet,” Klopp said in his pre-match press conference on Friday before continuing, “[He will] probably [be in] part of parts of team training today. So we have to see what we can do there.”
Liverpool are likely to shape up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Alisson Becker in goal. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson will start as the full-backs. They will look to help out defensively and assist during attacking situations. Ibrahima Konate will start at the heart of the defence alongside Joe Gomez.
As for the midfield unit, Wataru Endo will start as the defensive midfielder, with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai adding creativity and control to the side alongside him. Finally, Darwin Nunez is expected to lead the line for Liverpool against Tottenham, with Mohamed Salah on his right and Luis Diaz on the left.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Gomez, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Endo, Mac Allister; Salah, Nunez, Diaz
