Without Joel I think Klopp would go with Hendo at the back but I have no clue who he would then put next to Gini and Thiago in midfield - Milner? Ox? Jones? Shaq?
Pretty sure we will get back to our best soon - so a bad result here wouldn’t be the end of the world.
Mmmmm, when we loose we will probably 6 point behind and the title race will be over for us. With the way we are playing right now, I see no reason for optimism and I don’t know for sure who the ref and VAR will be.
If Matip doesn’t make it , then Phillips has to start in defence for me. I’d be utterly gobsmacked if Klopp was to repeat the mistake of sticking Hendo in there again.
I expect us to put on a show and win this game. Utd will arrive top of the table and will be experiencing an entirely new kind of pressure. Apart from a couple of them , I don’t think their players have the character to deal with it.
If he can’t make it, then I very much expect Hendo back at CB and then we have to pick another option in midfield.
I don’t see Klopp trusting Rhys Williams and even less Nat Phillips to cope with United transitions, though our game is based on stopping them from even getting there.
Jones had a few iffy performances after a solid run, Ox is back but even in the best current scenario he gives you around an hour maximum, Keita might be back in training but it could come too soon. Have a strange feeling that Millie would have a decent chance if Matip can’t make it.
What I’m happy about is that we basically have 6-7 full days for training. In our situation, it’s like a mini camp for us. Klopp said he plans quite a few 11v11 sessions. Let’s focus on going back to some of our basics and improve what we’re struggling to do lately.
I’d say the majority of our performances were still good, though sometimes we stopped playing too early. But we got in a repetitive circle of forcing things too much, playing the wrong pass, taking too many touches. Too desperate. Need to be more focused at the back and more relaxed in attack.
Can’t wait for this one, this could be exactly the game when the world thinks United have them… and then we pull out a top performance and routine win out of the bag.
Shaqu does well in short periods when the edge has gone off the game but calling for him to start on the back of half an hour against a team of tired kids is a bit OTT in my opinion. He can change games late on but I would not start him.
Please please please Joel be fit or we are in trouble, utd tactic will be the ball in behind Trent / CB and if it’s Rhys or Nat we are struggling. The rest of the team picks itself but if mo is not at his best Shaqiri needs to be on.
For me it was Salah who changed the game it really was a factor of not being who you play but how you play. Salah played very differently in the 2nd half to what he was doing in the 1st half imo.
Still Thiago should start he needs to learn how to cope with the intensity of the EPL. (I can not see how playing against kids helps there.
