When Liverpool plays Brentford, does the midfield select itself with eight changes?
There are less and fewer options for midfield for Jurgen Klopp, and Brentford won’t be taken lightly at Anfield on Sunday.
Prior to the international break, Liverpool needs to get stronger. After two poor road results, the players will be hopeful Anfield can help them turn things around.
This weekend, Liverpool’s team mostly plays itself because of injuries and bans that start to pile up in specific spots.
This is one possible lineup for Liverpool.
group news
The most current update from Klopp on Wednesday:
Despite having a “niggle” in his knee, Ryan Gravenberch “there is a chance” he will play.
Curtis Jones has a “low, low grade” hamstring strain, which prevents him from playing.
Alexis Mac Allister is suspended, so he cannot participate.
To begin, Virgil van Dijk should recover from his illness.
Brentford vs. Liverpool starting lineup
Due to Mac Allister’s suspension, Klopp has been forced to play through the middle after Klopp picked up his fifth booking of the season against Luton.
Wataru Endo need to start, even though his performance against Toulouse was not particularly good. Harvey Elliott, who is expected to be backed by Dominik Szoboslai, performed well in the second half on Thursday.
Who will play left wing and left back is the key question for Klopp on the left side of the pitch.
Joe Gomez starts at left back in this scenario to cope with Bryan Mbeumo.
Darwin Nunez plays central, with Diogo Jota playing in attack.
Elliott makes his Premier League debut in just his second game of the year.
Liverpool would lineup like this:
Alisson; Endo, Elliott, Szoboszlai; Salah, Nunez, Jota; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez
Klopp might stay with Kostas Tsimikas since, theoretically, he offers more going forward than Gomez, especially with the Reds expected to be attacking from the start at Anfield.
The Dutchman can be used in midfield, like we saw in the season’s first match against Chelsea, if Klopp decides he wants to play Cody Gakpo as well.
Gakpo replaces Elliott, allowing Szoboszlai to play on the right side of midfield.
Tsimikas is given one more opportunity to establish his value at left back.
Endo makes his Premier League debut following the victory over Newcastle in August.
This is how this other squad might appear:
Alisson, Szoboszlai, Gakpo, Endo, Nunez, Jota, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, and Salah
Liverpool still has a wealth of attacking quality at their disposal even with the absence of players in the centre of the park.
Liverpool should have enough to win even if they don’t keep a clean sheet if they can get Nunez and Jota to work well together, Salah on either side.
