25 Oct 2015

Confirmed Liverpool Team: Klopp ignores £61m-duo; 'amazing' attacker out; £15m midfield dropped

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has made just one change from the team that laboured to a bore-draw with Rubin Kazan on Thursday, and rather surprisingly, both Christian Benteke and Roberto Firmino are on the bench.

FULL TEAM: Mignolet, Clyne, Skrtel, Sakho, Moreno, Lucas, Can, Milner, Coutinho, Lallana, Origi

SUBS: Bogdan, Toure, Benteke, Firmino, Allen, Ibe, Randall

SOUTHAMPTON: Stekelenburg, Cédric, Fonte (c), van Dijk, Bertrand, Wanyama, Clasie, S. Davis, Mané, Tadić, Pellè.

* So much for the false pre-game 'reports' that Klopp planned to drop Milner. It was obvious that was made-up nonsense, especially since Klopp believes Milner is a 'complete player'.

* Lallana keeps his place despite providing only one pitiful assist in 38 hours of football, and scoring only one league goal in the last 22 hours.

* Rather predictably, 'amazing' LFC striker Sturridge is not in the match-day squad, which clearly means his injury is worse that initially feared. As I argued yesterday, it wouldn't surprise me if Sturridge has a knee ligament injury, with the worst case scenario being an ACL. If that's the case, it'll probably be announced after the game (or tomorrow).

* Lovren is still not in the squad, so he's probably not match-fit yet. It wouldn't make any difference anyway, as there's no way he's going to dislodge Sakho or Skrtel right now.

* After playing on Thursday, it's a shame to see Benteke and Firmino [combined cost: £61m] on the bench. I expected to see at least on of the two in the starting line-up, but it appears that Klopp is playing it safe, which is probably a good idea given the current injury situation.

Probable formation:

--------------- Mignolet
Clyne --- Skrtel --- Sakho --- Moreno
------ Milner - Lucas ---Can
-------- Coutinho - Lallana
-------------- Origi

I just don't see why Liverpool need THREE central midfielders in the team at home. Having Milner, Can, and Lucas in the starting XI means an attacking player is sacrificed. I'd rather see the following:

--------------- Mignolet
Clyne --- Skrtel --- Sakho --- Moreno
---------- Milner - Lucas
---- Lallana - Firmino - Coutinho
-------------- Origi

My prediction: 2-1 to Southampton (Changed from 2-2)

NOTE: All predictions must be posted in the pre-match article, and not here. Thanks.

Author: Jaimie K


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