Liverpool will take on Manchester City at Anfield in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday and the Reds will be hoping to stop the Pep Guardiola juggernaut just like they did in the Premier League a few months back.
Jurgen Klopp knows that he has the firepower to hurt Manchester City’s defensive line and with Mo Salah in such a fine form, not many people are going to challenge this statement. But the million dollar question right now is that if Liverpool are defensively strong enough to withstand the City’s attacking onslaughts.
We take a look at how Jurgen Klopp might line up his team during the Liverpool vs Manchester City clash.
Liverpool vs Manchester City: Liverpool team news
Mignolet have now officially turned into a bench warmer and it will be Karius who is going to start in goal for Liverpool in the UCL quarter-finals. The centre-back pairing of Virgil Van Dijk and Joel Matip played in the 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace on Saturday and Klopp will most definitely stick with the same pairing.
Trent Alexander Arnold will also retain his position at right-back but hopefully, James Milner – who started in midfield against Palace will move to the left-back position in order to replace Andrew Robertson. Joe Gomez is currently suffering from an ankle injury and will not be available for the Liverpool vs Manchester City clash.
Adam Lallana is suffering from a hamstring trouble and the extent of his injury is still not known but we can be pretty sure that the midfielder will not feature in the Champions League clash.
On the bright side though, Emre Can is fit and available for selection for the Liverpool vs Manchester City game. The German was reportedly given the green signal to play in the Palace match but Jurgen Klopp did not want to risk him before such a crucial encounter.
Emre Can will be assisted by the pair of Jordan Henderson and Wijnaldum in midfield.
Jurgen Klopp will surely not fiddle around with his attacking line meaning Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah are all set to start against Manchester City.
Liverpool vs Manchester City: Liverpool’s predicted line up
Goalkeeper: Karius
Defence: Milner, Van Dijk, Matip, Alexander-Arnold
Midfield: Can, Wiljnaldum, Henderson
Attack: Mane, Firmino, Salah
Liverpool will try their best to stop Manchester City from taking back an away goal for the second leg at the Etihad and at the same time the German manager will be hoping that his attacking trio can conjure up some magic and score a couple of goals.
