Liverpool have been boosted by the return of vice-captain James Milner ahead of their away game against West Ham United on Monday.
Liverpool will be gunning for all three points when they lock horns with Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham United at the London Stadium on Monday night.
Having failed to pick up a victory against Leicester City last time out, Jurgen Klopp’s men will be aiming to return to winning ways and further extend their lead at the top of the table over reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.
Liverpool have been handed a boost in their pursuit of a victory against the Hammers, as veteran midfielder James Milner is back in contention for selection, after serving out his one-match suspension.
However, Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold continue to be on the sidelines for the Reds. Klopp also provided an update on the injured duo in his pre-match press conference.
“Trent is getting better and better and better. He is really close and I hope he is in full training next week, but not for Monday. He [Gomez] needs more time. We will see exactly how we do it.There were different moments when we thought we could do this or that. It will take time. We cannot say more.”
With both Gomez and Alexander-Arnold unavailable, Milner will slot in at right-back once again, while the rest of the defence is expected to remain the same with Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson all set to start in front of goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
There are likely to be a few tweaks in the middle of the park as well for Liverpool heading into the game against West Ham, with Klopp set to switch to a 4-3-3 formation for Monday’s encounter. That would pave the way for Brazilian midfielder Fabinho to start, having missed out of the lineup against Leicester.
Jordan Henderson, who played as a right-back against the Foxes, will return to his natural habitat in the middle of the park, in what will be his 300th Premier League appearance. The third midfield slot is set to be taken up by Georginio Wijnaldum, meaning Naby Keita misses out after yet another underwhelming display against the Foxes.
The switch to 4-3-3 means summer signing Xherdan Shaqiri is set to drop out to the bench, with the terrific trio of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and last match’s goalscorer Sadio Mane the obvious picks to start in the attack for Liverpool.
