OPINION
Liverpool boosted their hopes of winning at least one trophy this season with a 2-0 win over Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Naby Keita scored for his second game in a row, while Roberto Firmino rounded things off in the tie to ensure that the Reds held the advantage going into the second leg.
They continue with their Premier League title challenge at home to Chelsea on Sunday, and Jurgen Klopp will need to have his strongest possible team on the pitch if he wants to damage the Blues’ top four hopes – and in order to do this, he must ring in three changes.
In goal, Alisson must start as normal.
The first two changes must come in the defence after James Milner took over the left-back role for Tuesday’s clash, with Andy Robertson taking the reins in the first change made by Klopp.
The second change must come in the centre of the defence. Dejan Lovren did an admirable job alongside Virgil Van Dijk, but Joel Matip has thrived alongside him lately, so it would be wise to slot him back into his usual position once again. Trent Alexander-Arnold did a decent job on the right-hand side, being a useful outlet when going forward.
The midfield is going to be an ongoing issue for Klopp for the remainder of the season, especially with the amount of players that he has vying for a spot in the team. Keita has been excellent in the two games he has started in recently, and his goal has pretty much cemented his spot for Sunday. Jordan Henderson’s place is not under threat either after a very assured display.
Fabinho, on the other hand, looked a shadow of his usual self on Tuesday. He was woeful in the way he was unable to judge aerial balls properly, so Klopp would have no choice but to axe the £100,000-a-week [Spotrac] player against Chelsea. In his place should come Gini Wijnaldum, who sat out the game against Porto.
As usual, Klopp should stick to his front three of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino after some brilliant displays.
If the manager makes the right calls regarding his starting XI on Sunday, then there is no doubt that his team would be able to crush the Blues.
