19 Aug 2016

Liverpool XI vs. Burnley: £30m star returns; Klopp confirms 'exceptional' attacker 'could' start; reveals 'Mane' latest

After securing three vital away points at Arsenal, Liverpool now have a fantastic opportunity to turn a good start to the season into a great one, and victory over newly-promoted Burnley will lay a solid foundation for next week's crunch clash with Spurs.

Klopp's pre-match updates:

* On returning players: “Daniel Sturridge is back. Divock Origi...could be in the line-up, the same for Joel Matip. Millie is back, so he is an option, like a few other players too".

* On Lucas, and Sakho: "Lucas is in a good way and made the warm up with us. Maybe today he is in team training, we will see. Mama is not too far away from it, so that’s good.”

* On Mane: "I have no idea if he could be available for the weekend or not, but I don’t think it will take a long time".

Other pre-match news:

* Burnley boss Sean Dyche's pre-match view: "Liverpool's cheapest player will be more expensive than our record signing. Klopp has got a depth of quality, so it will be a big task".

* Jan Molby's assessment: "Burnley’s big threat is Andre Gray who did very well for them last season. They will need him on form because Burnley’s big problem this season is going to be scoring enough goals".

* Lawro's view: "Burnley will not want to have lost [two home games] at this stage, but I can see it happening. Playing away suits Liverpool. Yes, teams will be able to get at them, but will they cause them problems too".

Possible lineup:

----------------- Mignolet
Clyne ------- Lovren -- Klavan -- Milner
--------------- Can --- Hendo
Lallana -------- Firmino ------ Coutinho
--------------- Sturridge

Clearly, there's a very real possibility of having six points after two games, and that sometimes leads to Liverpool having a good season. Examples:

* 2008-09: Won the first two league games, and finished 2nd.

* 2013-14: Won the first two league games, and finished 2nd.

Then again, Liverpool won the first two league games last season, too, and ended up finishing 8th (!)

Ultimately, Burnley are a newly promoted team, and as Dyche suggests above, there is a gigantic financial disparity between the two clubs. As such, anything other than a victory is (arguably) unacceptable for a team with serious ambitions of challenging for a top four place.

^ Sturridge: £30m-rated.
^ Apr 2016: Origi described as 'exceptional' by Owen Hargreaves.


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