Liverpool will be looking to tighten their grip on a spot in the Premier League’s top five when they host Chelsea on Saturday at 12:30pm.
The Reds are fourth with three games left to play, and sit six points clear of sixth-placed Bournemouth.
Liverpool predicted lineup vs Chelsea
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Woodman; Jones, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Frimpong, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Gakpo; Szoboszlai, Wirtz.
Arne Slot’s men recently went on a three-game winning streak in the league. But that came to an end at Old Trafford last weekend, in a controversial 3-2 defeat to Manchester United.
The Reds have a good recent record at home against Chelsea, losing just one of their past 10 league games at Anfield vs the Blues.
Liverpool team news vs Chelsea
The injury issues aren’t going away for Slot and Liverpool. There are still doubts surrounding Alisson, who has missed Liverpool’s past five league games with a hamstring injury. He could make it back in time for the visit of Chelsea, but he remains absent from training.
Giorgi Mamardashvili is also a doubt with a knee injury. So Freddie Woodman is likely to continue between the sticks, and he has performed admirably having been thrown into the starting XI.
Alexander Isak is another expected to miss the weekend’s game, having picking up a small injury prior to the defeat to Man Utd. Mo Salah is also missing through injury, though he is still expected to return before the season is up.
That will likely bring a similar lineup to the one that started against Man Utd. Dominik Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz are expected to lead a makeshift strike partnership, with Hugo Ekitike out long-term.
Jeremie Frimpong and Cody Gakpo will provide the width, with Rio Ngumoha a canditate to come on and cause havoc late on. With Szoboszlai pushed further forward, Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Graveberch will continue as the central midfield pairing.
Curtis Jones is also expected to continue at right-back, with the likes of Conor Bradley and Wataru Endo out injured. Andrew Robertson should start over Milos Kerkez on the left, with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrajima Konate the centre-back pairing.
Liverpool’s hidden attacking threat
Slot appeared to be making a bold choice in playing Szoboszlai as a makeshift striker last weekend. After all, the Hungarian has had stints as a right-back this season. But he is actually Liverpool’s best attacking player.
Szoboszlai has been directly involved in 23 goals across all competitions this season, more than any other Liverpool player. That is broken down to 13 goals and 10 assists. He’s the first Liverpool midfielder to reach double digits for goals and assist in a single season since Steven Gerrard in 2013-14.
In the Premier League alone, Szoboszlai has been directly involved in 11 goals, scoring six with five assists. He ranks fourth among Liverpool players for goals, and second for assists.
Szoboszlai is a frequent shot-taker. He ranks second among Liverpool players for both shots (65) and efforts on target (20), only trailing Gakpo in both metrics. But he’s even more creative, with his 65 chances created more than any other Liverpool player.