LIVERPOOL VS BRIGHTON: PREDICTED LINEUP

Liverpool return to action tomorrow as they take on Brighton and Hove Albion after a three week hiatus owing to fixture postponements and the first international break of the season. Here’s how we expect the manager to line his side up.

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Jürgen Klopp’s squad is in a better place now in regards to injuries, with several stars closing in on a return to action. Kelleher, Ramsay and Konaté have all resumed training but this game may come too soon for all three.

Henderson is back fit after a period out with a hamstring injury and is in contention for a start. Arthur Melo is also in contention after his mini pre-season. There were thankfully no injuries to report for the contingent that went away for the internationals.

This leaves Robertson, Jones, Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain as the medium to long term absentees. The manager has more options at his disposal and will pick as strong a side as possible whilst taking into account the intense travel and games some got through.

In goal as usual will be Alisson Becker. He played both games for Brazil over the break, keeping a clean sheet against Ghana. That was just his third shutout of the season thus far. A fourth here would be great.

In defence, Alexander-Arnold will have a point to prove after the ordeal he went through with England. The 23 year old has had his struggles in the early stages of this season but they’ve been blown out of proportion, as per.

A fired up Trent could be no bad thing though as he seeks to remind everyone who the best right back in the world is. At centre back, Matip is in line to continue alongside Van Dijk. The Cameroonian was named Man of the Match last time out after a match winning performance against Ajax.

At left back, Tsimikas will keep filling in for Robertson, with the Greek deserving of his place in the side at the minute. His assist to appearance ratio is pretty impressive and he will hope to keep up the good form.

The midfield options have been boosted a great deal by injury returns. For the first time since the opening day draw at Fulham, Jürgen Klopp has all three of Fabinho, Henderson and Thiago available for selection.

That trio is widely regarded as the Reds’ first choice midfield, with the gaffer picking all three in last season’s League Cup and Champions League finals against Chelsea and Real Madrid respectively.

This would be their first league start together since the Thiago pulled up with a hamstring injury at Craven Cottage The likes of Elliott, Arthur, Carvalho and Milner will provide a healthy set of options off the bench.

In attack, all five options are fit and available. Salah netted a brace for Egypt before being granted some well deserved time off. He will start in his usual right wing role, hopefully with his taste for goalscoring rekindled. It’s now three goals in his last two.

Jota also found the back of the net for Portugal but asked to be taken off in the second game due to fatigue. That could see him start on the bench, with Klopp wary not to overload the 26 year old. He is in good shape at the minute though so the manager may choose to hand him an hour.

Luis Diaz meanwhile landed in the UK on Thursday morning after his travails with Colombia. Darwin and Bobby are both available as well, with the Uruguayan sure to gain confidence from his goal against Canada (his first goal since his Premier League debut).

He may be limited to another cameo appearance here as he continues to acclimatise to the demands of a Jürgen Klopp team and the unique demands of the Premier League.

Predicted team:

Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago, Salah, Jota, Diaz.

Subs: Adrian, Gomez, Phillips, Milner, Arthur, Elliott, Carvalho, Darwin, Firmino.