Liverpool will play the curtain-raiser of the 2019-20 Premier League season when they take on Norwich City at Anfield this Friday.
The Reds narrowly missed out on the league title last season but Jurgen Klopp will be hoping to make amends this time around and end their domestic title drought.
After spending massively on new players last year, Liverpool have kept it rather quiet this summer as there have been no major transfer. But the manager has chosen to let some players like Daniel Sturridge and Alberto Moreno leave as free agents.
But despite the lack of transfer activity, experts have predicted that the Anfield outfit will be able to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title.
Liverpool team news vs Norwich City:
The first and most obvious concern for Jurgen Klopp will be with the fitness of Sadio Mane who reported back for training on Monday after playing in the Africa Cup of Nations.
“He is in good shape,” Klopp told the Liverpool’s official website.
“Obviously they had a celebration in Senegal and I’m happy about that because it showed that they respect the competition and saw the second place as a success, which is nice.
“He is now on holiday, not the longest one – he will be back on August 5, after the Manchester City game. That means he had two weeks. There is four or five days to prepare for Norwich, 10 days for Chelsea [in the UEFA Super Cup].”
While the player has around four days to get ready for the Norwich game but we do not think, Klopp will risk playing him from the start which means Divock Origi should be deployed down the left flank while Mo Salah operates on the right.
James Milner is another doubt after he picked up a muscle injury during the weekend but the Liverpool boss has hinted that the midfielder should be ready in time to feature vs Norwich.
“It was a minor muscle injury. I would say he can probably train tomorrow, although I am not 100 per cent sure. For today it did not work out, but I think by at least Tuesday he can train.” Klopp told the reporters.
Nathan Clyne is currently out with a knee injury and Jurgen Klopp has made it clear that he will be out for some time.
Joe Gomez started in central defence alongside Van Dijk during the Community Shield and it looks like the manager will go with the same pair on Friday meaning Joel Matip will start on the bench.
Liverpool predicted XI vs Norwich:
