Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum will start, but Curtis Jones should return to the bench when Liverpool take on Burnley on Wednesday.
Liverpool will hope to leapfrog Leicester City to claim fourth spot on the Premier League table when they lock horns with Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday night. And, heading into his side’s latest fixture, Jurgen Klopp has been handed a boost on the team news front.
James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are available at the disposal of the Liverpool manager, who is still missing the services of Virgil van Dijk (knee), Joel Matip (ankle), Joe Gomez (knee), Ozan Kabak (muscle injury), Ben Davies (muscle injury), Naby Keita (knock), Jordan Henderson (groin) and Diogo Jota (ankle).
During his pre-match press conference, Klopp provided a positive update on Milner and Oxlade-Chamberlain, saying, “Millie will train today but is that then enough for being involved tomorrow? I will see. Ox was ill, [so] yes, Ox is back. Naby wasn’t part of team training yet so that will not be enough until tomorrow for sure. Ox was in team training so he is back.”
Burnley vs Liverpool Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats
With van Dijk, Matip, Gomez, Davies and Kabak all unavailable, Klopp has no option but to field Rhys Williams alongside Nathaniel Phillips once again at the heart of the Liverpool defence, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson being certainties as the two full-backs. In goal, Alisson, who was the surprise match-winner last time out against West Bromwich Albion, picks himself.
Up ahead in midfield, Georginio Wijnaldum is likely to return after being relegated to the bench this past weekend. Curtis Jones will be the man to make way for Wijnaldum, who will don the captain’s armband for Liverpool, with Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara being his partners in the middle of the park.
As for attack, while Jota is absent, Klopp has been greeted with some positive news on him, with the Portuguese forward in contention to be available at the weekend, following initial fears that his season had been brought to a premature end. The Liverpool boss said, “Diogo, when the swelling went down, we did another picture and it looked better than in the first place with the first scan.”
“With the CT [scan] you could see it better. So, there is a tiny, tiny little chance for him for the weekend, but it depends how it improves now. We have to see that. It is obviously good news for Portugal and for Diogo himself, with the Euros not in danger at all. That’s good, but if it’s good enough for us, we will see.”
Jota, though, is out for the trip to Burnley, meaning Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah become automatic picks in the attacking trifecta. Firmino will reprise his usual false nine role while Salah and Mane will be the two wide men for Liverpool.
Liverpool Predicted XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Rhys Williams, Robertson; Thiago, Fabinho, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane
