Liverpool are holding onto the top spot in the Premier League but their real test comes this weekend when they host defending champions Manchester City at Anfield.
City, like always, are picking up pace at the perfect time of the campaign but if Liverpool can beat them on Sunday, Klopp’s men will be able to open up a four-point gap at the top of the table.
The home side beat Sparta Prague in the Europa League in midweek, making it seven wins in a row across all competitions and they also have a stellar home record against Man City, losing just one of their last 25 home matches in all competitions. However, their recent run has not been great against City because Liverpool haven’t been able to beat Pep’s side in their previous three meetings.
In recent seasons, this fixture has been the title decider in the EPL and Sunday’s game will be no different. A loss for Liverpool will be a major dent to their title hopes but if the match were to end in a draw then it could eventually benefit Arsenal.
Liverpool’s team news and injuries:
Thiago Alcantara, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Stefan Bajcetic, Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Joel Matip are all going to miss out due to various injuries while Ibrahima Konate is a slight doubt as well.
The defender was forced off early on Thursday night and he is going to go through a late fitness test on Sunday.
“Ibou[Konate], I don’t know,” Klopp told reporters on Friday(as per the club’s official website).
“Ibou was rather positive last night [Thursday], he thought he made the right decision in the right moment saying it’s better I go [off]. But how we know, that doesn’t mean a lot unfortunately.
“He will get scanned, definitely, [but] so far I don’t have the results of that. All the others are fine.”
Mo Salah came off the bench to play around 15 minutes in the 5-1 win in midweek and the Egyptian is a guaranteed starter against Man City. Salah’s return, however, will push Cody Gakpo to the bench.
Harvey Elliott started in midfield against Sparta Prague and he even provided three assists but the youngster is going to make way for Dominik Szoboszlai.
Liverpool predicted line up vs Man City:
Predicted Starting XI(4-3-3): Kelleher; Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate, Joe Gomez; Endo, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister; Nunez, Mo Salah, Luis Diaz.
