Liverpool will entertain West Ham United at Anfield on Sunday looking to start their new campaign with a victory. The Reds had a terrific pre-season and would now look to carry their good form into the Premier League with a number of their first-team stars set to make their comeback.
However, the Merseyside giants will come up against a new look West Ham team led by Manuel Pellegrini. The Hammers have made some shrewd acquisitions over the summer and have the potential to cause an upset in the opening match of the season.
Klopp is expected to stick with his favoured 4-3-3 formation and would be sweating on the fitness of both Joe Gomez and Joel Matip. Otherwise, the German manager doesn’t have any fresh injury concerns to cope with right now.
4-3-3 Liverpool Predicted Lineup To Face West Ham United
Defence
Alisson Becker will undoubtedly be the Reds’ No. 1 keeper for this new campaign. The Brazilian has arrived at Anfield from AS Roma on a world-record transfer fee and would be expected to keep some clean sheets at home this season.
Virgil Van Dijk and Fabinho are the men to watch out for in central defence. Andrew Robertson would operate as the left back, and Trent Alexander-Arnold could start on the right side of the defence.
Klopp has a number of concerns in defence with Dejan Lovren still lacking match witness. Both Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are major doubts for the game, so Fabinho could be used as a makeshift centre-half. He played in that position in the second half against Torino and looked comfortable on the ball.
Midfield
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson will return at the heart of the Reds midfield alongside the new recruit, Naby Keita while Georginio Wijnaldum would look to continue his excellent form at the middle of the park. The trio will fill the Liverpool supporters with a lot of optimism as they have the potential to strike up one of the most promising midfield partnerships in English football.
Henderson would operate as the ‘quarterback’ for his side with his long-range passing and vision while Wijnaldum looks to make runs from deep and provide support to the Liverpool attackers. The Dutchman has been on fire for the Merseyside club during pre-season after finding the back of the net against Torino earlier this week.
Keita would be making his debut in the Premier League and all eyes will be on him.
Attack
Jurgen Klopp’s front three picks themselves. The deadly trio of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Mohamed Salah lit up the Premier League last season. They will once again look to do the same by scoring a bunch of goals against the Hammers on Sunday.
Both Daniel Sturridge and the new signing, Xherdan Shaqiri might come off the bench to make an impact during the latter stages of the contest.
