Jurgen Klopp’s men endured a tough night at the Fenway Park, as they lost their second consecutive pre-season friendly, on their trip to the United States this summer.
The Reds fell to a 1-2 loss as a late goal from Alejandro Pozo left them with yet another defeat. However, Sevilla’s aggressive approach grabbed the headlines in that game and Klopp will hope that their next friendly, against Sporting CP, will be entirely different.
The Portuguese giants are yet to win a game in pre-season this summer as Klopp will hope to give more of his youngsters a chance to impress at Yankee Stadium later this week. Here is the predicted lineup he might field for this tie:
Team News
The likes of Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are yet to return from international duty and will be missed. Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keita are still nursing injuries while Nathaniel Clyne, who picked up a knock against Dortmund and Yasser Larouci, who was at the end of a vicious tackle at Fenway Park, are also expected to miss this clash. Adam Lallana was not a part of the squad for the last two games and may struggle to make the squad for this trip to New York.
PREDICTED LIVERPOOL LINEUP vs SPORTING CP (4-3-3)
Defence
Klopp is expected to field two different sides for the two halves of the game but Simon Mignolet remains his best option under the bar. The Belgian will keep his place in the starting XI against Sporting.
Virgil van Dijk played alongside Natt Phillips against Sevilla but could be partnered with Joe Gomez, which will represent Klopp’s first-choice centre-back partnership at Liverpool. The duo will look to lay a foundation for the upcoming campaign.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson should keep their places at right-back and left-back respectively. Neither of them has a natural backup for the second half of the game.
Midfield
Fabinho only came off the bench against Sevilla but deserves to start this game in the holding midfield role. He could be partnered with Georginio Wijnaldum, who will add some mettle to the midfield and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who will be the creative force for The Reds in the middle of the park.
Attack
Rhian Brewster has been impressive in the pre-season for Liverpool and could get his first start of the US tour in this game against Sporting. Harry Wilson and Ryan Kent on either flank was a plan that worked well against English opponents this summer and Klopp might be tempted to use them as a pair once again in this game.
Here is how they might line up
