Liverpool will go head to head against top four rivals Arsenal in a blockbuster contest in the Premier League on Saturday.
Liverpool will embark on a trip to North London this weekend, for their meeting with Arsenal in matchweek 11 of the 2018-19 Premier League at the Emirates Stadium.
Liverpool sit second on the Premier League table, with 26 points from ten matches, following their resounding 4-1 victory over Cardiff City last time out. Still unbeaten in the English top flight, the Reds’ manager Jurgen Klopp will be hoping to keep his team’s run intact with a victory against Unai Emery’s men on Saturday.
The German tactician made quite a few changes to his regular starting XI for the game against Cardiff last weekend, but will field his strongest team at the Emirates. Liverpool are expected to continue in the 4-2-3-1 formation once again, instead of the 4-3-3 setup that Klopp usually favours.
Alisson Becker has kept six clean sheets in his debut campaign in the Premier League, conceding just four times in ten appearances. He is a guaranteed starter under the crossbar on Saturday.
Joe Gomez has been in fine form this campaign and should come back into the starting XI at right-back ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold, to combat the threat of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Andrew Robertson is another player who will return to the side, after not featuring last week, with Alberto Moreno expected to make way. The central defensive partnership of Dejan Lovren and Virgil van Dijk will remain intact at the Emirates.
Liverpool continue to be without club captain Jordan Henderson in the midfield department, while Guinean powerhouse Naby Keita is also ruled out of the tie due to hamstring issues, Klopp confirmed.
Speaking of the duo in his pre-match press conference, the German said,“Hendo feels really good but it will be probably the start of the week when he will be back in training. Naby [will be the] end of this week. It doesn’t make a big difference match-wise, but that’s how it looks.”
With Henderson still sidelined, summer signing Fabinho is expected to start in the midfield once again after back to back commanding displays in his last two matches. He is likely to be paired up with Netherlands international Georginio Wijnaldum, with James Milner on the bench.
Xherdan Shaqiri was a surprise omission from the starting lineup against Cardiff, but is set for a return on the right flank on Saturday, after his goalscoring exploits against the Welsh outfit. Sadio Mane was in fine form last week, bagging a double and will be retained on the left side, with Roberto Firmino expected to continue as the No.10.
Mohamed Salah was seen wearing a protective support on his right wrist during training this week, but Klopp dismissed it as nothing serious, confirming that his star attacker is fully fit for the game.
“Mo, it is nothing really serious; it’s a kind of inflammation of the tendon. That’s pretty much all, it [the support] was only for protection – the pictures you saw were only protection and it has no influence,” the manager said. The Egyptian, having scored last weekend, will continue to lead the line for Liverpool.
