Liverpool are back in Europa League action on Thursday as they face Serie A side Atalanta.
Coming off the back of Sunday’s disappointing draw against Manchester United, the Reds will be looking to bounce back in Europe.
With the first leg taking place at Anfield, Liverpool need to make sure they get a good handle on the tie right from the off. Nothing but a win to take to Italy will do.
Jurgen Klopp does have some selection considerations to make, mind you. Owing to injuries, the Reds aren’t quite at full strength just yet. Sunday’s clash with Crystal Palace should also be in the manager’s mind.
And according to the Liverpool ECHO, Klopp has already made a call on one of his player’s involvement against Atalanta.
What’s the latest Liverpool team news?
The Reds had good news on Sunday, as Curtis Jones made his second appearance since coming back from injury. The 23-year-old is slowly getting back in shape.
Despite the Jones positive though, Liverpool are still waiting for a trio of absolutely key men to return.
Unfortunately, it seems as though none of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker or Diogo Jota are quite ready to be back involved just yet.
Alexander-Arnold and Jota seem the nearest. They are both reported to potentially be back working with their colleagues in training this week.
However, in the case of Jota in particular, it’s claimed that he ‘won’t be considered’ against Atalanta. Even if the 27-year-old does return to training in time, it seems he’s certain to sit this one out.
Liverpool undoubtedly missed Jota against United on Sunday. His clinical nature in front of goal has been labelled as ‘unbelievable’ by Micah Richards. They could do with a bit of that right now.
How could Liverpool line up against Atalanta?
Although Klopp does have a couple of things to juggle, it shouldn’t be too difficult to predict his starting XI on Thursday.
At this stage of the season, you want momentum. There is barely even time for players to sit out anymore. Every game matters and things are steaming towards a conclusion.
Still, Klopp will have to make some decisions. We’d expect to see some changes in defence especially, as Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas come in.
We’d also predict that there’ll be a couple of switches in midfield, with Jones perhaps due a start and Cody Gakpo swapping out one of the front three. Atalanta will be up for this though, so strength is needed. Hopefully not too long on Diogo now, but we won’t see him just yet.