With the luxury of a full-strength squad to choose from, Jurgen Klopp will name his strongest possible lineup as Liverpool take on West Ham.
Having enjoyed a 10-day recharge after thrashing Porto, the Reds aim to pick up from where they left off on return to Anfield.
A third straight win in all competitions is the target for Klopp’s side, who will look to use impressive recent away form to spark an upturn at Anfield in the first of two must-win home games.
Discussing squad plans for the domestic and European run-in during the break, Klopp stated that “Now we are 100 per-cent fit the best players will play all the time.”
So with no further rotation expected or injury concerns to deal with Liverpool’s best team will face the Hammers – and Klopp has some strong selections available.
Team News
- Fully fit squad and strong potential lineups at Klopp’s disposal
- Nathaniel Clyne in full training but not yet ready for match action
- Emre Can available after serving one-game European ban
- Strong options at Klopp’s disposal to alter defence and midfield
- Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, Adam Lallana & Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all eyeing starts
- Alberto Moreno, Ragnar Klavan, Danny Ings & Dominic Solanke also available
Liverpool’s XI vs. The Hammers
There’s a valid argument to be made that none of the Reds who started the spectacular demolition of Porto should lose their place on Saturday.
But while Klopp will rightly stick closely to that selection it’s unlikely the exact same team will be fielded against David Moyes’ side.
One change seems most likely to arrive is in midfield as a result of Can’s availability and extra freshness, with the German likely to enter at James Milner’s expense.
The rest of the team should stay untouched though, thus giving Virgil van Dijk and Dejan Lovren another chance to continue building a promising partnership.
This is how the Reds would start at Anfield:
Klopp may be tempted to deploy a more attack-minded side for what is a must-win game, with the chance to make ground and create distance on top-six rivals.
An injection of natural attacking threat in midfield could be useful to provide extra support and ammunition to the lethal front three.
Oxlade-Chamberlain should be the man chosen to supply it, completing an aggressive central unit with Jordan Henderson and Can.
Meanwhile, Klopp could also continue his rotation at centre-back by restoring Matip to partner main man van Dijk.
And a second defensive switch could see Gomez enter for Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back to provide a little extra physicality against a powerful and direct Hammers side.
This is the first of two extremely winnable home games for the Reds and Klopp’s side must take full advantage of both – beginning with three important points against Moyes’ men.
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