Starting this week and going forward, Jürgen Klopp must strike a balance between Liverpool’s dual competition in the Europa League. Another start could be given to Harvey Elliott.
Liverpool lost by two points in the Premier League title fight against Manchester United, even though they should have defeated them by four or five. The Europa League is now the center of attention.
Liverpool will play Atalanta in that competition’s quarterfinals. The Serie A team, which is presently sixth in the Italian standings, suffered a 2-1 loss on the road at Cagliari this past weekend. Liverpool defeated rivals Manchester United 5-0 in the first leg of their Champions League match in 2020, but a few weeks later, they lost the second leg 2-0 at Anfield.
Liverpool is undoubtedly the overwhelming favorite to go to the semi-finals, where it will play Marseille or Benfica. The Reds are, in fact, the clear favorite.
Because of this, and because there is currently the closest Premier League title battle between three teams in a long time, Jürgen Klopp ought to consider making some changes against Atalanta with an eye toward this weekend’s encounter with Crystal Palace. Wins in both games are required.
Although Caoimhín Kelleher will be starting in goal once more, Ibrahima Konaté presents an intriguing choice. Though his condition is being monitored, will the Frenchman play on Thursday or Sunday? Although it is rare to be both, it might be either. Joe Gomez ought to start today because he didn’t start at Old Trafford, but Kostas Tsimikas is capable of playing at left defense.
Harvey Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch will look to start in midfield, although Curtis Jones could certainly use more playing time as he recovers to full fitness. Wataru Endō didn’t play well against Manchester United, but Klopp may take cues from the Premier League game that takes place this weekend to determine his goals here. Although Alexis Mac Allister has been terrific lately, he may require some downtime.
Cody Gakpo ought to be included in the Liverpool attack, albeit he might replace Darwin Núñez or Luis Díaz. And if needed, even Mohamed Salah could take a nap. Elliott may go to the right flank, which would open up a midfield position.
This implies that the Liverpool squad may have made up to six or seven changes from the previous weekend. In the worst case situation, it would resemble this: Gravenberch, Endō, Jones; Elliott, Núñez, Gakpo; Gomez, Konaté, Van Dijk, Tsimikas.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota could make a big double boost this week by rejoining portions of the team training, but it’s unclear how far along they are in their recovery from injuries in terms of being able to play competitively. Given how long each has been absent, one would think that the weekend is a more reasonable return date than Thursday, and both would be more likely to come off the bench than to start.
