Liverpool travel to face Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday at 8pm (UK time).
The Reds’ mixed season has also affected their European form, with Arne Slot’s side winning four and losing two of their opening six matches.
Liverpool predicted lineup vs Marseille
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike.
Slot’s side will be presented with a good opportunity to land three points in midweek against a similarly inconsistent Marseille. The French side have won three and lost three of their six Champions League games so far, making Liverpool narrow favourites.
Liverpool team news vs Marseille
The big news for Liverpool is the return of Mo Salah. The winger had been at the Africa Cup of Nations but saw his Egypt lose to Senegal in the semi-finals. He also played the full 90 minutes in the third place play-off on Saturday.
Of course, Salah actually missed his side’s last Champions League game in December, having been involved in a very public fallout with Slot.
But things have been patched up since, and Salah is likely to feature in some capacity at Stade Velodrome. Giovanni Leoni, Alexander Isak and Conor Bradley are the only Liverpool players guaranteed to miss out.
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Although Saturday’s draw with Burnley represented a poor result, Liverpool created plenty of chances. So Slot may be unwilling to change his lineup too much for this Champions League fixture.
Andrew Robertson, Alexis Mac Allister and Joe Gomez are among the names who could be used to freshen things up.
Liverpool’s mid-season blow
A 4-1 thrashing of Barnsley in the FA Cup third round meant Liverpool made the perfect start to the week. But things quickly soured due to bad news on Friday and a disappointing result on Saturday. So Liverpool’s topsy-turvy season continued.
It is no secret that the Reds are looking for Virgil van Dijk’s next partner and long-term successor at centre-back. And it was even less of a secret that Marc Guehi was top of their shortlist.
Liverpool nearly signed the Crystal Palace captain in the summer and believed they would get their man in January. But news broke on Friday that Manchester City had struck a deal for the England defender.
The Reds’ defence has come under scrutiny all season and Guehi would have fixed plenty of problems as he represents a significant upgrade on Ibrahima Konate.
However, the draw with relegation-threatened Burnley means it is now just two clean sheets in seven games for Liverpool, who face a real task in stopping Roberto De Zerbi’s talented Marseille attack on Wednesday.
It would be no surprise to see the goals flow at Stade Velodrome, where OM have routed Ajax 4-0 and beaten Newcastle United 2-1 in the Champions League this season.