Here’s our predicted lineup as Liverpool head to Burnley on Saturday. Jurgen Klopp has spoken openly of a need for ‘rhythm’ ahead of the meeting.
“There is no reason for resting players in the moment,” he said, per the official club site. “It is about finding rhythm, finding the mood again, that we do the right things in the right moment. It is not the moment for a lot of changes.”
Those words make one thing clear – we’re probably going to see a repeat of the team that beat Arsenal.
Adrian is a certainty in goal, of course, while Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk will play. Joe Gomez is the only question in defence really – will he take the place of either Joel Matip or Trent Alexander-Arnold?
We’d suspect he won’t. Matip played brilliantly against Arsenal and deserves to keep his place, while Alexander-Arnold’s attacking instincts will surely be more valuable at Turf Moor.
As for the midfield, who really know? It’s the most difficult area of Klopp’s team to predict, the one he rotates the most. With good reason, too, given the amount of running they do.
Going from Klopp’s comments, we think he’ll just stick with what he had. That means Fabinho holding, Jordan Henderson on the right, and Gini Wijnaldum on the left. There’s a chance we’ll see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in there instead of one of the latter two, but we’ll take Klopp at his word.
The front three are brilliantly predictable, of course. Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were fantastic against Arsenal, while Sadio Mane has been consistently effective since his late return.
Predicted lineup for Burnley v Liverpool:
Adrian
Alexander-Arnold – Matip – Van Dijk – Robertson
Henderson – Fabinho – Wijnaldum
Salah – Firmino – Mane
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