22 Apr 2016

Liverpool XI vs. Newcastle: Klopp confirms 'serious' problem; Surprise start for 'brilliant' teen?

Rafa Benitez returns to Anfield on Saturday, and with his Newcastle team desperately struggling to avoid relegation, a positive result against Jurgen Klopp's in-form Liverpool team is absolutely essential. Liverpool are on a four game winning streak at the moment, though, and with confidence flowing through the team, another home win is assured...right?

Klopp's pre-match updates:

On Sturridge: "Daniel is able to create his own moments. He doesn't always need an assist. We need to think about who will start."

On Benteke: "Good news is that Christian feels good. He wants to train. We will give him a few more days. No team training yet."

On Origi: "It's an injury. It's serious. The season is not over (for him) without taking a risk with the player."

On Rafa Benitez: "If anyone wants to celebrate Istanbul when seeing Rafa Benitez, you're more than welcome. That's how I'd welcome an old friend."

On Newcastle: "We know about the physical strength of Newcastle. We need a team who are really fit for this game. They have a strong team. They don't look like a relegation team".

Sturridge is in good goalscoring form this month, and after playing only part Everton game on Wednesday, there's surely no reason to keep him on the bench for Newcastle? That said, it's probably that Klopp will start Firmino up-front against Newcastle. Probable lineup:

------------- Mignolet
Flanagan -- Sakho - Lovren ---- Moreno
---------- Allen --- Lucas
--- Milner -- Coutinho ---- Lallana
------------- Firmino

Klopp made massive changes against Bournemouth last week, and it's possible that he may do the same against Newcastle. That said, in his pre-match press conference today, Klopp claimed:

"We have 5 days between Saturday and Villarreal so we don't need to think about that game."

This notwithstanding, I'm sure most Liverpool fans want to see 'brilliante' attacker Sheyi Ojo given another chance.

P. LEAGUE

You have until Saturday 3PM (GMT) to participate.

* 20 Points: First goalscorer (either team)

* 30 Points: Liverpool player with the most touches of the ball.

* 40 Points: Collective corners (LFC and Newcastle combined)

* 100 Point Triple-Whammy: Goalscorer + touches + corners

* The Jesus Quintana Mega-Bonus: 150 points. Perfect score + goalscorer + touches + corners


Sorry for the delay in updating the league tables. The newest table will be posted before tomorrow's game.

Author: Jaimie K


0 Comments:

Post a Comment