Luis Suarez faces off against his former club as Liverpool gear up to face Liga BBVA champions Barcelona at the iconic Wembley Stadium.
Liverpool go head-to-head against Barcelona at the Wembley Stadium in London as Jurgen Klopp and Luis Enrique aim to build the fitness of their players with some much-needed game time.
The Reds have named a starting lineup without a pure striker with Roberto Firmino leading the line as Klopp has gone for a rather unconventional setup. The German manager has decided not to use any of the strikers with Origi and Ings making the bench while Daniel Sturridge has been left out as a precaution due to a slight hip problem.
Klopp has chosen the midfield duo of Wijnaldum and Emre Can with the explosive front four of Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino and Sadio Mane. By the looks of it, Liverpool will again be deploying James Milner at right-back position owing to their continuing defensive crisis. Klopp has named as many as 13 substitutes and would be looking to give majority of the players some time on the pitch.
The #LFC starting line-up and substitutes against @FCBarcelona at Wembley Stadium in full pic.twitter.com/ZwGy5UsAkk
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 6, 2016
#LFC subs: Manninger, Henderson, Grujic, Moreno, Brannagan, Origi, Ings, Matip, Stewart, Wisdom, Markovic, Randall, Alexander-Arnold.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 6, 2016
Barcelona, on the other hand, have named their superstar Lionel Messi, who has been recently rumoured to be considering a return to international football. The Blaugranes have also handed Marc Andre-Ter Stegen a start between the sticks as the keeper continues to be linked with a move to Manchester City.
Elsewhere, the likes of Arda Turan, Aleix Vidal and Jeremy Mathieu would be hoping to do enough to make their claims for a part in Luis Enrique’s first-team plans. Another great pre-season performance by Munir El Haddadi could force the Spaniard’s hand and give the youngster an extended role in the first-team setup, which would also fill Barcelona’s need for a backup to Luis Suarez.
The headline, though, remains the former Liverpool superstar Luis Suarez facing off against his previous club, a club he has admitted to love and still hold in great regard. It would be interesting to see how Liverpool contains their former striker and break his chemistry with Lionel Messi.
Barça XI:
1.Ter Stegen
5.Sergio
6.Denis
7.Arda
9.Suárez
10.Messi
12.Cámara
14.Mascherano
17.Munir
22.Aleix Vidal
24.Mathieu— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 6, 2016
Substitutes: Bravo, Masip, Douglas, Piqué, Rakitic, Iniesta, Mujica, Samper, Digne, S. Roberto, Alfaro, Vermaelen #fcblive #ICC2016
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 6, 2016
