Liverpool will look to punch their ticket to the Champions League round of 16 on Tuesday when they host French side LOSC Lille at Anfield.
The Reds are at the summit of the Champions League’s league phase and their 1-0 away win against Spanish side Girona in December ensured that they maintained their perfect record of six victories from as many games. They are the only team in the competition to win all their matches and also boast of the joint-best defence having conceded just once.
Arne Slot’s side need just a point to advance to the knockout rounds and their confidence will have boosted following a late 2-0 victory away at Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday.
Liverpool Team News
Diogo Jota is seemingly yet to recover from the niggle that kept him out of the victory over Brentford as he was not spotted in training on Monday ahead of the meeting with Lille in the Champions League. Joe Gomez continues his recovery from the hamstring injury he sustained in Liverpool’s win against West Ham at the end of December.
Predicted Liverpool lineup vs Lille (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper
Alisson Becker is Liverpool’s undisputed No.1 and should start against Lille. He will be hoping to keep back-to-back clean sheets in all competitions.
Defence
In front of Alisson, Arne Slot may decide to ring a couple of changes to his backline. Having just returned from injury, Ibrahima Konate could be rested with Wataru Endo starting beside skipper Virgil van Dijk at the heart of Liverpool’s defence. The duo have to be at their best to keep Lille’s main man Jonathan David quiet.
Andy Robertson is expected to start at left-back here, having come off the bench to replace Kostas Tsimikas against Brentford. Trent Alexander-Arnold played the full game on Saturday, so a rotation could be on the cards. Conor Bradley may get a chance to impress at right-back.
Midfield
Harvey Elliot is pushing for a start after his excellent cameo against Brentford, and he may be joined by Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch in the middle of the park. With Gravenberch and Jones holding the fort, Elliot will get the license to cause damage from the No.10 role.
Dominik Szoboszlai should provide cover from the bench.
Attack
Fresh from his winning brace against the Bees, Darwin Nunez should be chomping at the bits to lead the Liverpool attack and add to his tally when Lille visit Anfield. The Uruguayan could be flanked by Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz, with the speedy wide operators trying to cause problems for the Lille defence with their trickery, flair and creativity.
Federico Chiesa and Cody Gakpo should be fantastic attacking options to bring off the bench.
