Liverpool will host Southampton at Anfield in their FA Cup fifth-round clash this evening, and Jurgen Klopp will be scrambling to put together a starting eleven to compete under the lights tonight.
The mood on the red side of Merseyside will still be massively positive following the victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, however, the Reds will be back to business tonight.
Jurgen Klopp will welcome Russell Martin and his Championship side to Anfield tonight for a battle to earn a spot in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and the German coach will be hoping the winning momentum from the weekend can add confidence to his side.
Confidence will be desperately needed to replace the lack of quality and experience Klopp will have available to him this evening as Liverpool’s injury issues continue.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez are just a few of the first-team stars who will be unavailable for selection, and more recently, both Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch have joined that long list after sustaining injuries on Sunday.
As a result, it will be extremely difficult for Klopp to line-up a highly competitive side and it will be interesting to see how the manager juggles his team selection with the Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest on Saturday also on his mind.
How could Liverpool line-up against Southampton?
We predict that Klopp will make four changes to the starting eleven that he led out at Wembley Stadium at the weekend, but will maintain his usual 4-3-3 formation.
The first changes we expect to see are in the defensive set-up, with Jarrell Quansah replacing Ibrahima Konate and Kostas Tsimikas replacing Andy Robertson in the back-line, while club captain Virgil van Dijk, rising star Conor Bradley, and goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher will retain their spots.
In midfield, we predict that Klopp will have to completely rethink the centre of the pitch after losing both Endo and Gravenberch after the cup final, so Alexis Mac Allister is likely to be the only midfielder to remain, with Bobby Clark and James McConnell coming in to make up the trio.
In the attacking threat, we expect to see Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz retain their roles, however, with uncertainty surrounding Salah and Nunez’s fitness, Klopp may play it safe and keep them out of the starting line-up, instead leaning on Harvey Elliott to fill the boots of the Egyptian superstar on the right wing.
With that being said, there should be just enough quality and experience in the team to get the job done in front of the home support this evening, however, it would come as no surprise if there is a lot of in-game changes to ensure fatigue is avoided ahead of the weekend.
