Liverpool will look to maintain their winning run in the Premier League when they take on Luton Town at Anfield on Wednesday night (21 February).
The Reds are top of the Premier League table with a two-point lead over Arsenal. They will look to put pressure on Arsenal by taking a five-point lead by the time the Gunners face Newcastle next in the league.
The big concern for Liverpool, however, remains their injury problems. In the 4-1 win against Brentford, Liverpool duo – Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota – got injured while Darwin Nunez was taken off as a precautionary measure.
Klopp has confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Jota is going to be out for a month (or even more) while no timeline has been put over Jones’s return as well.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker and Dominik Szoboszlai are also currently out injured and they are not expected to feature against Luton. While Trent and Szoboszlai are on their way back, they have not joined the training yet.
Klopp could use Joe Gomez, but he is likely to start with Conor Bradley for this game once again. Ibrahima Konate could be given rest, with Jarell Quansah good enough to partner Virgil van Dijk.
Caoimhin Kelleher has proved to be an able deputy for Allison, and he is likely to get another chance to impress his manager. In any case, Kelleher is going to play in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea, and he would relish the chances he’s getting.
In midfield, losing Jones is a huge blow. With Szoboszlai out as well, Klopp is likely to start with Ryan Gravenberch for this game. The 21-year-old has been impressive whenever he has taken the pitch, and he is a natural replacement for Jones.
Harvey Elliott could start on the left-hand side, as Klopp could be tempted to give Mohamed Salah more rest before the next big game against Chelsea.
While it appears that Darwin Nunez is fit enough, this could be a good opportunity to start with Cody Gakpo who scored in the previous game.
Predicted Liverpool starting line-up: Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson; Endo, Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Elliott, Gakpo, Diaz.
In other news, Liverpool are showing keen interest in signing 23-year-old Premier League defender.
