Liverpool play RB Salzburg tomorrow night as their pre-season schedule continues in Austria.
The game will take place six days on from their thrashing of RB Leipzig last week. Since then, Liverpool have been hard at work in their annual training camp.
Fitness levels should be getting somewhere close to ready for the new season. With no new injuries to report, Jurgen Klopp should be looking to shape his first-choice eleven.
With that in mind, here’s who we think is in-line to start against Salzburg tomorrow.
Defence
Alisson Becker has been pictured training alone whilst in Austria. He’s obviously nearing full fitness, but shouldn’t be risked here. Adrian did well against RB Leipzig and should be retained for most of the game.
In-front of him, we think Klopp will go full-strength from the start. That will mean Trent Alexander-Arnold keeps his place in the line-up, with Ibrahima Konate and Virgil Van Dijk next to him.
On the opposite flank is likely to be Andy Robertson, who is certain to head into the season as first-choice at left-back.
Midfield
Midfield is where Klopp still has one pretty big question mark over who will be his preferred option.
For two out of the three positions, it couldn’t be easier. Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho haven’t played anywhere near enough over the last two years. When they play, Liverpool tend to win. They should both play here.
That’s when it still continues to be tricky for Klopp. Naby Keita got the nod against Leipzig, but Liverpool looked a little better when Jordan Henderson replaced him at half-time.
For that reason alone, we think Henderson might be slightly edging this debate. Klopp loves his captain, calling him ‘outstanding’ via The Daily Mail in 2020. He’ll get another chance to prove that tomorrow
Attack
We think Klopp is going full-strength from the start here, so that means giving Liverpool fans a glimpse of their new front-three.
Luis Diaz should continue from the left, as he looks to go up another gear before the season starts. Mohamed Salah has been cruising along nicely with two goals in two games and will get the opportunity to add some more goals in Salzburg.
Finally, Klopp went with the experience of Roberto Firmino last time out in Leipzig. New-boy Darwin Nunez had been struggling a little in the early friendlies and the manager was perhaps taking him out of the firing line.
That’s gone out of the window in the best possible way now, though. After Nunez’s four-goal haul in Germany, he simply has to start this one.
Liverpool predicted XI vs RB Salzburg: Adrian; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago; Salah, Nunez, Diaz