Jurgen Klopp may have an injury headache going into Liverpool’s opening match of the new Premier League season…but that may just have solved another one with his starting line up.
The Reds boss has never had such a big or more powerful squad to choose from in his time at Anfield, with depth now in every position, giving him a tough choice from one to 11 for the first league game at Fulham.
Yet injuries have made that selection headache just a little less painful, with at least both Ibrahima Konate and Curtis Jones ruled out of the season’s opening weekend, with at least six players looking certain to be sidelined.
That though, won’t stop Klopp from still having some serious decisions to make, it could be that he springs a MAJOR surprise in his first Premier League selection of the campaign.
Up front, Diogo Jota is not expected to recover from a thigh injury which kept him out of most of the Reds’ pre-season, with many expecting £85m signing new signing Darwin Nunez to start as the obvious number 9.
But the manager offered a clue to his initial first XI in the Community Shield, with one of his firm favourites Roberto Firmino given the central striking role, leaving the Uruguayan to come off the bench to make an impact.
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And with Nunez still learning the ropes of the Liverpool system he may again be used to create maximum damage when legs are tired, with Firmino likely to be inspired by the prospect of playing for a new contract.
Elsewhere it is a mixed blessing for Klopp. Keeper Caoimhin Kelleher was pencilled in to start in the Community Shield, but a groin injury kept him out of the game against Manchester City.
The good news though, is that Alisson has been cleared to play at Fulham, after spending a solid week training following an injury problem of his own in pre-season.
At centre back, Klopp has the biggest headache of all, with four top class international centre halves, after Ibrahima Konate forcing his way into the Liverpool starting line up in the Champions League final with some brilliant performances, that also eventually won him his first senior caps for France.
Yet another injury has ruled him out of the first day, and that paves the way for the experienced Joel Matip, who was selected ahead of Konate for the Community Shield, to start again alongside Virgil van Dijk, with Joe Gomez missing out.
There are further injury worries for the German coach. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has a hamstring injury that is likely to keep him out for months, full back Kostas Tsimikas is also ruled out, and Curtis Jones has a knock and is sidelined.
That makes Klopp’s line up slightly more predictable, especially as Naby Keita has only just returned from a bout of illness. We expect Liverpool’s opening Premier League line up at Fulham to look something like this:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Firmino, Diaz
