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Liverpool are currently competing for silverware across all four fronts but face a daunting obstacle in the first step of their FA Cup campaign, travelling to the Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal.
Having won their Europa League group and advanced to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup – where Fulham await for a double-legged tie – Liverpool are flying and top the Premier League table after 20 matches to boot.
Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo are both unavailable after heading off to the African Cup of Nations and Asia Cup respectively, while Dominik Szoboszlai is to miss a few weeks with a hamstring strain.
Liverpool will take a winter break next week and thus could field a strong line-up in London tomorrow, with Klopp making four changes from the team that defeated Newcastle United on New Year’s Day.
1
GK – Alisson
Klopp admitted that the trip to Arsenal is perhaps not the best game in the calender to rotate, and while Caoimhin Kelleher has been a decent backup, Alisson should start between the sticks, with his expertise needed against Bukayo Saka and co.
PL Goalkeepers: Save Percentage 23/24 |
|||
---|---|---|---|
# |
Player |
Club |
Save % |
1 |
Alisson |
Liverpool |
77.4% |
2 |
Alphonse Areola |
West Ham United |
76.9% |
3 |
Andre Onana |
Manchester United |
73.7% |
4 |
Guglielmo Vicario |
Tottenham Hotspur |
73.6% |
5 |
Nick Pope |
Newcastle United |
73.6% |
*Sourced via FBref |
2
RB – Trent Alexander-Arnold
Long has Trent Alexander-Arnold been regarded as one of Europe’s most creative and influential footballers, but this season, the 25-year-old is starting to demonstrate his worth as one of the game’s very best.
With two goals and eight assists to his name, the Reds vice-captain will be confident of a standout performance, making amends for that miss.
3
CB – Ibrahima Konate
With Joel Matip out for the campaign after rupturing his ACL in December, it was crucial that Ibrahima Konate stepped up, and boy has he succeeded.
The 6 foot 4 Frenchman is a monstrous presence in the rearguard and works so well alongside his captain.
4
CB – Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk will start against Arsenal, with the imperious Dutchman utterly magnificent this season as he puts last year’s malaise behind him.
In the Premier League, as per Sofascore, the 32-year-old has completed 91% of his passes, averaged 5.0 ball recoveries and 4.5 clearances per game and won a whopping 78% of his duels.
5
LB – Joe Gomez
Owen Beck was recalled from his loan with Dundee but will not be eligible to play in London due to a suspension, so the versatile Joe Gomez will receive the nod and look to continue his impressive season at left-back.
The 26-year-old had been in dismal form for large portions of last season but deserves so much credit for weathering the storm and returning to play a key part in a year that tantalises silver-laden success.
6
DM – Alexis Mac Allister
Alexis Mac Allister missed the last four matches of December with a knee injury but made a cameo as Liverpool beat Newcastle, earning applause for his delightful threaded pass to set up Liverpool’s late penalty.
With Endo absent, the Argentinian orchestrator will return to the starting line-up and will be expected to use his technical prowess to assert control in the midfield battle.
7
CM – Curtis Jones
Curtis Jones was a key component in Liverpool’s late-season purple patch before the summer, salvaging Europa League football and proving his worth as a multi-functional star in his Merseyside outfit.
Having scored three goals across the past few weeks, the multi-functional star has been so important in the centre of the park and is increasingly confident in his recycling of possession and metronomic swagger, with analyst Raj Chohan lauding his “phenomenal” ball retention skills.
8
CM – Ryan Gravenberch
Signing from Bayern Munich for £34m on transfer deadline day, Ryan Gravenberch put a tough spell of his career behind him and looked ahead to life on English soil with optimism, and while he made a fast start with Liverpool, he has regressed somewhat of late.
The 21-year-old has scored two goals and supplied two assists but has only started seven times in the league; that said, his latent quality is clear to see.
As per FBref, the £150k-per-week midfielder ranks among the top 6% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for shot-creating actions, the top 10% for progressive passes and successful take-ons, the top 13% for progressive carries and the top 11% for blocks per 90.
9
RW – Harvey Elliott
With Salah now out of club action for around a month, give or take, Harvey Elliott, aged 20, might find a starting berth provided on the right wing, with the “special” talent, as he has been called by pundit Jamie Carragher, no doubt deserving of a more prominent role.
10
LW – Luis Diaz
Luis Diaz has been under fire recently, having only scored three goals from 19 appearances in the Premier League, struggling to implement his electric game as he might desire.
Nonetheless, he is a fine player and showed some notable improvements in a talismanic first-half display against the Magpies, with The Athletic’s James Pearce noting the “influential” effort.
Diogo Jota is fit and firing after injury but might be best utilised from the bench, where he can be ever so deadly.
11
CF – Cody Gakpo
After scoring off the bench against Newcastle at the start of the week, Cody Gakpo will be eager to lead the line against Arsenal, with his dynamism and link-up play crucial in establishing control.
Of course, his introduction would mean that Darwin Nunez drops to the bench, just like he did when the respective sides met in the league at Anfield before Christmas.
Liverpool predicted line-up in full vs Arsenal: (GK) Alisson; (RB) Trent Alexander-Arnold, (CB) Ibrahima Konate, (CB) Virgil van Dijk, (LB) Joe Gomez; (DM) Alexis Mac Allister, (CM) Curtis Jones, (CM) Ryan Gravenberch; (RW) Harvey Elliott, (LW) Luis Diaz, (CF) Cody Gakpo.
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