Jurgen Klopp is set to make a change to his midfield for Liverpool’s game against Manchester United on Sunday.
Klopp has rotated the middle three of his team around a fair bit this season. And with Alexis Mac Allister still missing through injury, the manager is going to have to pivot again for this weekend’s game.
Disregarding the experimental three against Union Saint-Gilloise last night, Liverpool’s midfield against Crystal Palace last Saturday was: Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai.
But according to pundit Paul Merson, there’ll be a new face in there against United. Writing for Sportskeeda yesterday, Merson has predicted that Curtis Jones will be the man asked to step in.
“I expect Liverpool to rip them to shreds, so I’m going for a 3-0 home win,” says the former England midfielder.
“Alexis Mac Allister is a massive injury doubt, but Jurgen Klopp has a few options to choose from in midfield. Wataru Endo has played a few games recently and Harvey Elliott’s cameos have been impressive, but I think Curtis Jones is someone who knows how big this game is, so I expect him to start at Anfield.”
Merson predicts Jones return
Jones was one of those who started – and actually played the full 90 minutest – in Belgium last night.
That doesn’t necessarily rule him out of Sunday’s game, but we’d be surprised to see him go again.
The 22-year-old looked rusty against Union Saint-Gilloise. He may have claimed an assist for Jarell Quansah’s goal, but he was at fault for USG’s opener and generally didn’t take his chance to impress.
Again, that doesn’t mean Klopp won’t fancy Jones against United. The boss does seem to like using the Scouser is big games and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him favour Curtis again.
However, the England U21 international isn’t actually in great form at the minute. Stats-wise, he’s now registered assists in back-to-back games. But he hasn’t looked like the player we saw at the back end of last season.
One thing that probably does work in Jones’ favour is that Klopp doesn’t have great options at the moment.
Szoboszlai is a nailed-on starter, while we’d probably expect to see Gravenberch again, too. But without Mac Allister, Jurgen has a decision to make in defensive midfield.
Given the form of Endo over the past two games, it isn’t an easy call to make. Maybe Merson will end up being right after all.
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