Jota To Lead The Line, Minamino Starts | 4-3-3 Liverpool Predicted Lineup Vs Arsenal

Arsenal will lock horns with Liverpool at Anfield on Thursday night, hoping to pick up a win in the first leg of the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup competition. The Gunners will be heading into the contest on the back of a disappointing 1-0 loss to Championship side Nottingham Forest, whereas the Reds recorded a 4-1 win against Shrewsbury on January 9.

Team News

Jurgen Klopp pulled a rabbit out of the hat when he revealed that all the covid-19 positive cases were false, barring Trent Alexander-Arnold.

“We had last week a proper outbreak and it showed up that we had a lot of false positives but the rules are like they are so all these players who are false positives couldn’t play.

“The only real positive came from Trent Alexander-Arnold and all the rest were false positives.”

Apart from that, the Reds will be without the services of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Naby Keita as they are currently at the African Cup of Nations. Harvey Elliott, Divock Origi, Nathaniel Phillips, and Thiago Alcantara are also injured.

The German tactician will probably opt for the 4-3-3 formation with several tweaks from the last game. In defence, Joel Matip might get the nod over Ibhrahima Konate, whereas Alisson Becker looks likely to make his way back into the starting eleven.

4-3-3 Liverpool Predicted Lineup Vs Arsenal

Defence

Alisson Becker should return to operate between the sticks for the upcoming clash. The Brazilian shot-stopper will hope to put up a strong performance and secure a clean sheet on Thursday.

Joel Matip will form the centre-half partnership with Virgil van Dijk at the heart of Liverpool’s backline.

Andrew Robertson is a guaranteed starter at the left wing-back position, whereas James Milner will fill in on the other flank as the right wing-back. The full-backs will be expected to stretch their side’s attack in the opposition half.

Konstantinos Tsimikas will have to settle for a place on the bench, but he could be brought on in the latter stages of the game if needed.

Midfield

Fabinho might start in the holding midfield position and could be assigned with more of a defensive role to shield the home side’s back-four.

Jordan Henderson and Curtis Jones will slot into the central midfield roles. The duo would be determined to set up some clear-cut goal scoring chances for the front men.

Attack

Takumi Minamino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will take up the wide positions, playing on the left and right-wing, respectively.

Diogo Jota will lead the line for the hosts against Arsenal in midweek. The Portugal international will be hoping to get his name on the scoresheet when he faces off against the Arsenal defence that has kept just one clean sheet in their last five matches across all competitions.

Roberto Firmino could come off the bench in the second forty-five minutes of the match.