Liverpool can secure their place in the knockout stages of the 2020/21 Champions League with a victory against Atalanta on Wednesday night.
The Reds have a 100% record in the competition thus far and after triumphing 5-0 when playing the Serie A side away from home earlier in the competition, Jurgen Klopp will surely be tempted to experiment with his side on Wednesday evening.
The Merseyside club face Brighton away from home in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off, so this seems like a good opportunity for Klopp to rest some of his key players.
Mohamed Salah is in contention for a return after recovering from the current viral outbreak but the German manager still has a long list of injuries to contend with, as Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson and Thiago remain sidelined (per BBC Sport).
Here’s how Football FanCast thinks Klopp could line his side up against Atalanta…
Klopp will no doubt be tempted to make plenty of changes to his defence, with James Milner and Andy Robertson both potentially rested despite their impressive displays in the recent win against Leicester City.
Konstantinos Tsimikas could be in line for his first Champions League start with Liverpool after he returned from injury earlier this month, whilst Neco Williams should get the nod at right-back after coming on as a substitute in the 3-0 win against the Foxes.
Although Fabinho was superb against Leicester City, he has only just come back from injury and Liverpool may be wise to rest him for the fixture against Atalanta to make sure he doesn’t pick up another injury so soon after his last.
Young Rhys Williams could be the man to take his place at centre-back, as the 19-year-old was praised for his performance in the 5-0 away win against Atalanta, with Klopp suggesting after the game that he was “exceptional” (per Goal).
With Naby Keita having gone off injured in Sunday’s win, we feel that Klopp will keep faith in Curtis Jones and Georginio Wijnaldum in midfield, with Takumi Minamino replacing the Guinean.
Salah gets the start on the right-wing, whilst Diogo Jota understandably keeps his place after notching a hat-trick in the reverse fixture.
Finally, Roberto Firmino should keep his place as after his goal on Sunday it is important to try and boost his confidence further, as he will surely have opportunities to increase his goal tally against the Italian opposition.
The post Jurgen Klopp should ring the changes for Liverpool’s game against Atalanta first appeared on FootballFanCast.com.
