Liverpool have the opportunity to jump to the top of the league standings when they face Fulham on the road on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp’s side are trailing Manchester City by the single point on the table, but they can take advantage of the gameweek where the Citizens are on FA Cup duty.
On paper, the Reds should secure a comfortable win over Fulham, who have conceded more than two goals per game, but they still need to get the job done without any complacency. The Merseyside outfit have recently struggled to find the cutting edge on the road with three successive league draws.
Formation: 4-3-3
Predicted Lineup:
Jurgen Klopp has no reason to tinker with the goalkeeping and backline options for the game despite facing an opposition whom they are expected to beat. Alisson is expected to feature between the sticks and the defence ahead of him should remain unchanged with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson featuring from the start. Dejan Lovren remains a probable candidate to replace Matip at centre-back but Klopp may be wary of making a change, given the importance of three points.
In the midfield, Jordan Henderson is certainly out of the game after twisting his ankle in the midweek Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich on the road. In his place, Fabinho should return to the mix while he could be partnered by Georginio Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana in a three-man partnership. Lallana has barely started for the Reds this term but he should warrant another start after producing a positive attacking performance against Burnley last weekend which earned him plaudits from Klopp.
In the attack front, Klopp has no reasons to make the change from the regular combination. Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane should slot into the right and left wing positions respectively with Roberto Firmino once more leading the line. Mane has been the in-form forward for the Reds in the past 10 matches where he has contributed the same number of goals.