Liverpool settled for a draw against Chelsea this past weekend and maintained their unbeaten League record. It was always going to be a tough game and the upcoming games aren’t going to get any easier.
A trip to Italy to face Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli awaits the Reds this midweek and Jürgen Klopp’s side will have to prepare not only for a team that has quite a few exceptional individual talents, but also a stadium where the going can get tough.
Like the cauldron that Anfield is, the Stadio San Paolo is pretty noisy on European nights, so the Reds will have their task cut out.
Klopp’s team did start their UCL campaign on a positive note when they beat Ligue 1 champions PSG in their opening game. Confidence is high right now but keeping in mind that the Reds host Manchester City in the coming weekend, we could see a few rotations.
Liverpool Team News
Klopp will be without the trio of Adam Lallana, Divock Origi, and long-term absentee Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Barring the three, he has a fully fit squad to choose from as Virgil van Dijk allayed the injury concerns and put in a stellar performance against Chelsea.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup
Defence
Though van Dijk is fit, he could get a breather against Napoli keeping in mind Manchester City come visiting during the weekend. You can’t really prioritise between the two fixtures, but if Klopp claims that he has good depth, then this is the perfect opportunity to test that. Joel Matip could start alongside Joe Gomez as the two centre-halves.
We don’t expect any changes in the fullback areas. Nathaniel Clyne looked like he lacked match sharpness against Chelsea in the Cup and it wouldn’t make any sense to draft him against the in-form Lorenzo Insigne. Alisson will keep his place in goal.
Midfield
Naby Keita’s introduction made a difference against Chelsea as Liverpool looked more threatening while going forward. It also allowed Gini Wijnaldum to move to the number 6 role and he has done quite well there owing to his ability to drive forward and switch play.
Keita and Wijnaldum will start in midfield alongside James Milner. Keita is expected to play in the most advanced role of the three because of his ability to take on players and combine with the wingers.
Attack
Daniel Sturridge started the last Champions League game against PSG and could once again get the nod ahead of Firmino as he has left a mark on all the games he has played in so far.
Unlike last season, Sturridge has shown the tendency to drop deep as well and that could help him get more game time this season as Klopp wants his forward to do a bit of the dirty work and not just be the archetypal number 9 who runs off the shoulders of defenders.
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah could complete the attack. The latter was taken off against Chelsea for his lack of finishing touch but lest we forget, Salah started last season pretty slowly as well.
Mane – Sturridge – Salah
Keita – Wijnaldum – Milner
Robertson – Matip – Gomez – TAA
Alisson
