Liverpool play their first game at Anfield after the World Cup break on Friday evening when they entertain Leicester City.
The Reds resumed their Premier League campaign with a trip to Aston Villa on Boxing Day. They made it three league wins on the bounce with a 3-1 win over Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, thus, keeping pace with the top four.
Jurgen Klopp will be aiming to make it four straight league wins against Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City, who head to Anfield on the back of a 3-0 home defeat to Newcastle United.
Liverpool Team News
Roberto Firmino missed the Boxing Day clash with Aston Villa as well as the Carabao Cup defeat at Manchester City last week because of a calf injury he picked up during the World Cup break. He is close to returning from injury but will be unavailable for Leicester City’s visit to Anfield.
Ibrahima Konate, however, has now returned to training with Liverpool following the World Cup final and is available for selection, but Diogo Jota, Arthur Melo and Luis Diaz remain sidelined for a lengthy period of time.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup vs Leicester City (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
Alisson Becker will operate in goal for Liverpool as he goes in search of a clean sheet on Friday evening, having conceded in the 3-1 win over Aston Villa last time out.
Defence
In front of Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip look set to be the centre-half partnership against the Foxes at Anfield. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson are two of the best full-backs across Europe and are expected to keep their spots in the Reds’ defence.
The Liverpool defence must stay vigilant and defend well, especially against swift Leicester City counter-attacks.
Midfield
With fixtures coming thick and fast during this festive period, Jurgen Klopp could make alterations to his midfield unit. Fabinho should reprise his No.6 role and hope to help his team dictate the tempo of the game.
Thiago Alcantara came off relatively early against Aston Villa on Monday and should, therefore, be fine to keep his spot in midfield, but Jordan Henderson could make way for the young and energetic Harvey Elliot.
Attack
Despite missing a glut of chances against Aston Villa, Darwin Nunez is under no threat of losing his spot in attack. He will lead the Liverpool attack again, flanked by Mohamed Salah and Fabio Carvalho, who could get the nod ahead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
As a result, Oxlade-Chamberlain will drop to the bench and offer cover for midfield positions. Stefan Bajcetic came off the bench and scored at Villa Park on Boxing Day, so the youngster could be brought off the bench again as an impact substitute against Leicester City.
