Toulouse visits Anfield on Thursday, marking Liverpool’s return to Europa League action.
With two victories from their first two games, the Reds have had an ideal start to their European campaign. They’ll be expected to make it three from three at home against the Ligue 1 team. The starting lineup that we anticipate Jurgen Klopp to use, with a lot of rotation, is this.
defence
Caoimhin Kelleher, who appeared to have recovered from his injury, will take over in goal after Alisson Becker filled in last time out.
The Irishman will likely face an unfamiliar back four, with the Reds needing a combination of youth and experience.
Joe Gomez is likely to return to the lineup at right back, and Jarell Quansah and Joel Matip, both academy graduates, will pair up at centre back.
Andy Robertson’s injury has left Liverpool’s left back position very uncertain. Luke Chambers, 19, is expected to make his Liverpool debut because Klopp needs Kostas Tsimikas for Premier League duty. Luke, best of luck!
Midfield
Should the defence appear somewhat disjointed, Liverpool’s midfield appears destined to be similarly disjointed.
Curtis Jones, meanwhile, has one game remaining on his domestic sentence and should at least offer the Reds some intelligence.
Harvey Elliott, who is supposedly almost guaranteed a spot in the lineup for tomorrow, will also do so. After taking a small break recently, Wataru Endo is probably going to step in to anchor.
Attack
Even though all five of his well-known forwards are healthy and eligible to play, we believe Klopp may bench a few regular offensive starters when they play Toulouse.
We anticipate that Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz, who have started more games than anybody else this season, will miss Thursday’s game.
Ben Doak, a young player in the academy, should enter on the right, and Diogo Jota, the lone player to remain on the pitch after Saturday’s victory against Everton, should enter on the left.
As Cody Gakpo is not quite ready to start, we think Darwin Nunez will lead the line for Liverpool.
Liverpool’s predicted XI vs Toulouse: Kelleher; Gomez, Matip, Quansah, Chambers; Endo, Elliott, Jones; Doak, Nunez, Jota