Jurgen Klopp will not be taking any risks as Liverpool prepare to face Napoli in the UEFA Champions League.
The Reds welcome their Italian counterparts to Anfield on Tuesday, both having already qualified for the knockout stages but top spot in Group A still undecided.
Liverpool face a tall order to finish top of the table and secure another place in the knockout stages as they must beat Serie A leaders Napoli by four goals.
The likes of Harvey Elliot and Curtis Jones could make way for James Milner – who did the pre-match press conference with Klopp – and Fabinho.
“We don’t want to take any chances, but you know Napoli are in incredible form and playing incredible football, maybe the most in-form team in Europe at the moment,” Klopp said.
“It’s not a massive rotation game … We want to win the game. I’ve got to put the lineup together today or maybe tomorrow morning. Then we’ll go from there. We’ve got to put in a good shift, so I need players who can do that. I don’t know who that is right now.”
Klopp has confirmed that defender Joel Matip remains sidelined with a calf injury, but Ibrahima Konate could make the squad, while Calvin Ramsay is finally in line to make his debut.
Klopp said of Konate: “It’s very good to have him back. Now he’s ready for the team. Yesterday he trained completely normally. He had eight or nine days. That’s very good of course. It’s one of the options.”
Predicted Liverpool XI:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Milner, Henderson, Fabinho; Salah, Firmino, Carvalho
Napoli
Napoli will be without the services of Amir Rrahmani and Salvatore Sirigu. The Italian outfit dismantled Liverpool with a 4-3-3 set-up in the previous meeting, and they will look to do the same here.
Alex Meret will start in goal for the away side. Giovanni Di Lorenzo is expected to be deployed as the right-back, with Leo Ostigard and Kim Min-jae featuring as the centre-backs. The duo will have to be at the top of their game to deny Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez.
Mathias Olivera will be deployed as the left-back. The full-backs will look to create an overload on Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson going forward. Napoli will be aware that the Liverpool full-backs can be vulnerable defensively, and they will look to make the most of that.
In the midfield, Piotr Zielinski will partner Stanislav Lobotka and Tanguy Ndombele. The Polish international will look to add creativity, while Lobotka and Ndombele will chip in defensively and recycle the ball.
As for the offensive unit, Matteo Politano and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a target for Liverpool, are expected to be deployed in wide positions. The Georgian attacker was excellent against Liverpool in the previous meeting and can hurt their defence once again here. Victor Osimhen is expected to lead the line for Napoli.
Predicted Lineup XI :
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Ostigard, Kim, Olivera; Ndombele, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia
