For Liverpool’s Europa League match against Toulouse at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp may make a number of adjustments to the team that defeated Everton.
Liverpool’s victory in the Merseyside Derby helped the Reds regain form following a waiting period during the international break.
The next club up is Toulouse, and Klopp’s team will be looking to regain the early-season momentum.
However, the manager faces a few difficult selection decisions—some excellent, some bad—and there will probably be a lot of adjustments.
This is one possible lineup for Liverpool.
Team news
In his news conference, Klopp revealed the following:
- Cody Gakpo “is available for the squad” and “has been in full training since Sunday.”
- Darwin Nunez, who had a cramp during the international break, “is fine for this game.”
- Although Thiago and Stefan Bajcetic “are not in team training”
- Andy Robertson “had surgery and everything went well,” Klopp said that “we don’t know how long [return] will take.”
Liverpool’s XI vs. Toulouse
With eight games and an international break scheduled over the next five weeks, Liverpool has a packed schedule. The manager has stated that “we will make a few changes” for the Toulouse match.
Rotation will be necessary, but fans shouldn’t be alarmed because the Reds have won two of their last three Europa League games.
Other, less experienced players might be able to play, and Ben Doak would preferably be one of them.
Doak’s name was not mentioned when Klopp was questioned about the team’s fitness, although the young player did not participate in the whole Wednesday afternoon training session.
This is what Klopp is probably going to do:
- Wataru Endo and Jones will play in midfield as Alexis Mac Allister takes a break.
- Caoimhin Kelleher will make a comeback after being injured and missing the Union SG game.
- Gakpo is expected to start the first game after hurting his knee against Tottenham.
Liverpool would lineup like this:
Kelleher; Gomez, Matip, Quansah, Chambers; Endo, Elliott, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo
Jones, who is serving a domestic suspension, is one of the more obvious possibilities to start, but Klopp must strike a balance in order to rest players and still win.
Luke Chambers was in the lineup that was previously posted. The youthful left-back made his debut against Leicester and participated in half of the under-21s’ encounter against Benfica over the weekend, potentially in preparation for Thursday’s game.
While Robertson is out with an injury, he will be up against Joe Gomez, Calum Scanlon, and of course Kostas Tsimikas.
In this alternative XI we’ve gone for Tsimikas as, with the first-choice out until 2024, Klopp may try to play him into form.
This alternative team would appear as follows:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Konate, Tsimikas; Endo, Elliott, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Jota
As usual with these Europa League matches, there are a lot of possible changes, thus it is quite hard to forecast the team with absolute accuracy.
Toulouse, who placed 13th in Ligue 1 last year, is playing Liverpool at home, so Klopp may decide to rest a few important players.