Liverpool welcome Southampton at Anfield on Saturday in their final Premier League game before the World Cup break.
A heavily rotated Reds’ side saw off Derby County in a penalty shootout on Wednesday evening to book a place in the fourth round of the EFL Cup. They ended their two-game losing run in the Premier League last weekend by beating Tottenham 2-1 in north London, although Jurgen Klopp’s men currently lie eighth in the table and seven points adrift of the top four.
On a three-game winning run in all formats, the Merseysiders will be confident of signing off for the World Cup hiatus with a win over Southampton at home.
Joel Matip is seemingly back in contention having returned to first-team training but might not be risked by Jurgen Klopp tomorrow. James Milner is back after serving a period out due to concussion protocols.
Naby Keita and Luis Diaz are running again but will not feature anytime soon.
Meanwhile Diogo Jota and Arthur Melo are out until after the World Cup along with the duo mentioned above.
Goalkeeper
Alisson Becker will return in goal on Saturday after backup goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher turned Liverpool’s saviour from the spot in the Carabao Cup penalty shootout win over Derby County.
Defence
Jurgen Klopp will pick the back four that starred in the win over Tottenham last weekend, i.e. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson.
Alexander-Arnold and Robertson will operate from the right-back and left-back positions, respectively, while Van Dijk and Konate will feature in central defence in the Liverpool lineup.
James Milner, Joe Gomez, Calvin Ramsay and Kostas Tsimikas will offer cover from the bench in defensive positions.
Midfield
The Liverpool boss is expected to stick to a 4-4-2 diamond formation that he used against Tottenham, which will see Fabinho play the role of an anchor in midfield in the Liverpool lineup. With Fabinho at the base, Thiago Alcantara and Harvey Elliot must bring creativity, energy and flair from their advanced midfield role.
Roberto Firmino must start at the tip of the diamond in the Liverpool lineup, looking to drop deeper at times, link play and create opportunities for the forwards in the box.
Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Curtis Jones will be options on the bench against the Saints.
Attack
Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah have shown signs of building a partnership up front for Liverpool. Against a Southampton side that is leaking goals at an alarming rate, Nunez and Salah both will be looking to combine well and get themselves on the scoresheet.
Young Fabio Carvalho could come on in the second half, along with Curtis Jones, to influence the game.
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