Perennial Premier League title rivals Liverpool enjoyed a positive restart to the Premier League calendar after a 3-1 win against Aston Villa on Boxing Day, and celebrated that result with badly needed business for January after confirming the signing of 23-year-old PSV Eindhoven star and Dutch international forward Cody Gakpo.
Despite the credible result against Unai Emery’s improving Villains, questions surrounding the Reds’ campaign in 2022-23 remain as Jürgen Klopp’s men sit sixth in the table and a whopping 15-points adrift of table-topping Arsenal.
Cody content 😁 pic.twitter.com/ZfbRY1nc5S
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 29, 2022
Consistency is required now from Liverpool and, thankfully, can boast a three-match winning run in the league to offer a platform for a run of form that could see them wrestle their way back into the Champions League places at the very least, even if a title run is now all but likely off the table. Gakpo will not be available until the new year, but the club can be confident of adding him into a winning formula should they find another result against a struggling Leicester City.
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Predicted Liverpool XI
Liverpool team news
- Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota, Luis Díaz, and Arthur (out)
- Curtis Jones (fitness)
- James Milner, and Ibrahima Konaté (doubt)
Liverpool’s fitness concerns remain as Jürgen Klopp will be made to contend with the continued absences of forward trio Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota, and Luis Díaz, which should see former Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain keep his temporary place in the XI. Loan signing Arthur is also still laid up in drydock, while academy product Curtis Jones is not yet fully fit.
Both James Milner and World Cup finalist Ibrahima Konaté are doubts about selection and stand to be further assessed ahead of tomorrow’s clash on Merseyside, with Klopp likely to name an unchanged XI, though the possibility of one – or both – of Naby Keïta and Harvey Elliot is possible.
