Liverpool will host Leicester City at Anfield this evening in the third round of the Carabao Cup and Jurgen Klopp could be set to rotate his squad once again after a quick turnaround in fixtures.
The Reds were at home on Sunday when they took all three points from their visitors, West Ham United, to continue their unbeaten run in the Premier League, and now just three days later they will look to continue their journey in the Carabao Cup.
Klopp will be thrilled with the resilience his squad has shown over the last few months since the new campaign began, especially considering the amount of changes that the team has seen over the summer and the number of fixtures that have come their way in recent weeks.
The positive momentum will be much-needed in tonight’s fixture, as recently relegated Leicester will be looking to cause an upset and retain their chances of excelling in the domestic cup competition.
In terms of injuries, assistant manager Pep Lijnders gave an update on the current fitness status of both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thiago Alcantara during his pre-match press conference:
“Trent trained yesterday with us but it was just in the rondo and the ball possession with the counter-pressing, but he was outstanding.”
“He is with the team training, I am not sure if he will be ready, we will see today.”
On Liverpool’s midfielder who has not been available for selection this season:
“He is in a good way, the healing process is going well so that’s the most important [thing] at this moment.”
How could Liverpool line up against Leicester?
We predict that Klopp will make 10 changes to the team that beat West Ham on Sunday, whilst maintaining his classic 4-3-3 formation.
The first changes we expect to see are in the defensive set-up with only Joe Gomez retaining his spot in the right-back role, whilst Ibrahima Konate, Jarell Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas and Caoimhin Kelleher replace Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Alisson Becker.
In midfield, we predict there will be a complete reshuffle with Ryan Gravenberch, Stefan Bajcetic and Harvey Elliott taking centre stage, replacing Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones.
Last but no least, the attacking threat could be set for a refresh too with Ben Doak, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo being given the opportunity to impress in the final third, which will see Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz on the bench.
The road to Wembley begins this evening so a confident and convincing performance under the lights at Anfield will allow players who may get overlooked for Premier League fixtures to stake their claim to helping the club progress in these domestic cup competitions.
