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Liverpool predicted starting XI vs Watford

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Liverpool are back in action this weekend after securing a 2-0 victory over Arsenal in their previous Premier League outing.

In his latest press conference, manager Jurgen Klopp revealed that Trent Alexander-Arnold could come back into contention after recently returning to training so with that in mind, here’s how we feel the 54-year-old could line up against the Hornets.

In goal, Alisson will likely keep his place alongside the same back four that faced the Gunners, with Andy Robertson returning to the starting XI after missing the FA Cup Quarter-Final win over Nottingham Forest thanks to a COVID-19 enforced absence.

Should Alexander-Arnold be declared fully fit, we also expect him to come back into the side ahead of Joe Gomez who played right-back cover at the City Ground.

It means the likes of Ibrahima Konate, Konstantinos Tsimikas and Gomez are likely to be dropped.

There would be no reason to change any of the midfield three of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, or Thiago who played very well together at Arsenal, with the Spaniard providing an assist against Mikel Arteta’s side two weeks ago.

So there’s no place for the £27m-rated Naby Keita or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who are both axed.

Finally, in terms of the attacking trio, we have predicted that Roberto Firmino will make just his ninth start of the season, having been completely unused by Brazil whilst away on international duty and so will be raring to go.

We feel that both Diaz and Mane will retain their places on the wing, with the Mohamed Salah dropping to the bench as a result of playing every single minute for Egypt over the break. He was also responsible for missing the deciding penalty for his country which meant that Egypt failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Harvey Elliott, who started against Nottingham Forest, should drop to the bench, too.

Klopp has reiterated that he thinks that Salah will “deal with it in the right way” and so might give the £90m-rated talisman a break, but there’s no doubting that the striker will make a positive impact on the game, should he later be introduced as a substitute.

In total, there could be as many as seven changes from the side that defeated Forest in the FA Cup last time out.

In other news, Liverpool are set to be facing competition to sign a Premier League winger. Read more here.

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