Time for ‘phenomenal’ 16-year-old to get his debut: Predicted Liverpool lineup vs Derby County

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Here’s our predicted Liverpool lineup vs Derby County on Wednesday. The Reds will almost certainly hand out opportunities.

Liverpool will host Derby County on Wednesday evening in the EFL Cup. It’s a tournament in which the Reds will want to go far, having won the trophy last season.

But the lower-league opposition, combined with the upcoming Southampton game, means the Reds likely rotate quite heavily here. Certainly, we’re expecting some full debuts for youngsters as Liverpool take full advantage of their options.

Predicted Liverpool lineup vs Derby County

Defence

Caoimhín Kelleher is a certainty between the sticks. He played the final last year but is yet to appear at all this season after an injury.

Right-back seems pretty obvious, too, with Calvin Ramsay ready for minutes. That would be full debut no.1. Joe Gomez and Nat Phillips feel like the natural centre-back pairing, while Kostas Tsimikas could play at left-back to complete a pretty solid backline.

Midfield

Full debut no.2 goes to Stefan Bajcetic. The Spaniard fully deserves a start after impressing on all four substitute appearances. His efforts for the U21s have been well-reviewed, too, with Barry Lewtas labelling him ‘excellent’. We fully expect him in the holding role.

Either side of him, we’ll go with Bobby Clark as another first start and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Both could use the minutes for different reasons. For the former, Clark simply deserves a start after impressing this season. The latter needs minutes after his return from injury – and here’s the perfect opportunity.

Attack

Now, here’s where things get tricky. Liverpool only have three out-and-out forwards in their squad right now and none will start here.

We’re going for Curtis Jones on the left, Fabio Carvalho as a False 9 and then Harvey Elliott on the right. Next to no pace in there but we’re not sure what the options are.

The first two won’t start against Southampton and can play here. Elliott is the one we’re not sure of – it would mean backing him to play a lot of football before the World Cup, where he’ll finally get a break.

There’s an outside chance of Ben Doak playing from the right and we’d love to see it. We just worry it’s too soon for a start.