Predicted Liverpool lineup against Arsenal: Minamino in for Oxlade-Chamberlain; Firmino up front

Takumi Minamino will replace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain when Liverpool and Arsenal face off in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on Thursday.

Liverpool will hope to seal safe passage through to the Carabao Cup final when they lock horns with Arsenal in the semi-final second leg at the Emirates on Thursday night. And Jurgen Klopp has a fresh injury concern hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is unavailable for Liverpool’s midweek fixture after sustaining a knock in the Premier League outing against Brentford last weekend. The former Arsenal man has joined Nathaniel Phillips (head), Thiago Alcantara (hip), Harvey Elliott (ankle) and Divock Origi (knee) on the sidelines, although Elliott has recently resumed training.

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In addition, Naby Keita, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are representing their respective nations at the Africa Cup of Nations. During his pre-match press conference, Pepijn Lijnders provided an update on Oxlade-Chamberlain’s condition, ruling him out of the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Arsenal. The Liverpool assistant manager also talked about Elliot’s progress.

“I spoke [on Tuesday] with him and he thinks it’s not that bad. We have to assess it day by day. I would not rule out the weekend but for sure not tomorrow. It would be a crime if you would not play him [Elliott] if he trains like this, but we know it’s just the start of his start with the team training. He needs time and we go step by step, of course.”

Lijnders was also quizzed about Thiago and Origi’s recovery, with the Liverpool assistant manager revealing that the duo will return after the international break. Lijnders said, “Thiago, hopefully he will be in full team training after the international break to prepare for the Cardiff game. Divock will not be ready until after Cardiff.”

With Oxlade-Chamberlain unavailable, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota and cup specialist Takumi Minamino pick themselves in the attacking unit. Kaide Gordon will be a backup option on the bench. Fellow youngster Tyler Morton will likely miss out again and should be named as a substitute.

Instead, Curtis Jones will line up alongside Fabinho and Jordan Henderson in the midfield unit. At the back, Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk will continue their central defensive partnership, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson will be the two full-backs. Finally, Alisson Becker could start in goal once again, even though Caoimhin Kelleher is usually the cup goalkeeper.

Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Jones; Minamino, Firmino, Jota