Liverpool will play hosts to Leeds United at Anfield on Saturday afternoon hoping to pick a victory in the opening weekend of the new Premier League campaign. The Reds will be confident about beginning their title defence with a win at home, but the side from West Yorkshire could prove to be a tricky test for them later this week.
Jurgen Klopp will probably stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation and might welcome both Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold back into this starting XI when Marcelo Bielsa’s men visit Merseyside this weekend.
4-3-3 Liverpool Predicted Lineup To Face Leeds United
Defence
Alisson Becker will feature in goal for the Reds after shipping in two poor goals against Blackpool in a pre-season friendly match earlier this month. Virgil Van Dijk will resume his partnership with Joe Gomez at the heart of Klopp’s defence as they try to stop Leeds United’s Patrick Bamford from scoring on Saturday.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to make a comeback and slot in at right-back while Andrew Roberton will fill in on the other side as the left-back. Both Liverpool full-backs will be instructed to join in on the attack at every chance they get so that they can provide some decent service to the front players up top.
New signing, Konstantinos Tsimikas is a major doubt for this game, but James Milner and Joel Matip will be available for selection on the bench.
Midfield
Georginio Wijnaldum, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson are expected to make up the Merseyside club’s midfield as they look to cover a lot of ground and dominate the battle at the centre of the park. The talented trio will have to find a way to engineer some meaningful openings for their teammates in the final third.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is unlikely to be ready in time for this game, but both Naby Keita and Curtis Jones will make up the numbers on Klopp’s bench as they await their chance to come on as a second-half substitute if required.
Attack
Liverpool’s front three picks itself, so we can expect Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah to offer some width out the flanks while Roberto Firmino leads the charge for the Reds down the middle. Both Mane and Firmino found the back of the net versus Blackpool last weekend. Hence, they will be quietly confident ahead of this opening day clash versus the Yorkshire giants.
Takumi Minamino, Divock Origi and Rhian Brewster will have to settle for a spot on the bench with the hope that they can make an impact in the latter stages of the contest if Klopp decides to call upon their services.
