Jurgen Klopp has made two changes for Liverpool’s all-important Champions League quarter-final first-leg clash with Man City at Anfield.
The Reds head into their toughest challenge of the campaign stricken by injuries, with Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, Ragnar Klavan, Emre Can, Adam Lallana and Ben Woodburn all sidelined.
But with a packed Anfield behind them, Jurgen Klopp‘s side will be desperate to secure a positive result against City ahead of next week’s trip to Manchester.
Restricted by absences, Klopp has made just two alterations to the side that won 2-1 at Crystal Palace on Saturday, including an interesting, non-enforced change.
Loris Karius starts in goal, having kept the joint-most clean sheets in the Champions League this season, level with Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen on five.
The German will be aided in his pursuit of another shutout by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dejan Lovren, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson.
In midfield, captain Jordan Henderson is in danger of suspension for the second leg if he picks up another yellow card, but is required due to Can’s back injury.
He is joined by James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who replaces Georginio Wijnaldum after his impressive cameo at Selhurst Park.
Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino present Liverpool’s best chance of sealing a win, having scored 75 goals between them already this season.
With his hands tied, Klopp drafted five academy youngsters into his squad for training on Tuesday afternoon.
U23s centre-back Conor Masterson makes the substitutes’ bench, for his second appearance in the Liverpool matchday squad and his first since being unused in the 2-2 draw with Exeter City in the FA Cup third round in 2015/16.
Masterson joins Simon Mignolet, Nathaniel Clyne, Alberto Moreno, Georginio Wijnaldum, Dominic Solanke and Danny Ings as options for Klopp as the clash plays out.
Liverpool: Karius; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Mane, Firmino
Substitutes: Mignolet, Masterson, Clyne, Moreno, Wijnaldum, Solanke, Ings
Man City: Ederson; Walker, Kompany, Otamendi, Laporte; Fernandinho, Gundogan, D Silva; Sane, De Bruyne, Jesus
Substitutes: Bravo, Stones, Danilo, Delph, Zinchenko, Bernardo, Sterling
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