A wounded Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge to take on managerless Chelsea this Tuesday, in a game that is set to have major ramifications for the Reds.
Having been demolished 4-1 by Manchester City on Saturday, Jurgen Klopp’s side are currently in danger of missing out on European football altogether next season, having dropped to 8th place in the Premier League.
Eight points outside the top 4 with 11 games to play, dropping points against the Blues would likely be the final nail in their hopes of Champions League football next season, while it would also put a dent in their Europa League aspirations.
Meanwhile, Chelsea will be hoping that removing Potter will also remove some of the goalscoring issues that they face, with the Blues currently almost certain to miss out on European football next season barring a major turnaround in the final stint of the season.
Here’s how we expect Liverpool to line up in the hunt for all three points, and the latest team news coming out of Anfield.
Predicted XI
Team News
Liverpool’s squad remains largely the same as that which fell to a heavy defeat to Manchester City on Saturday, which limits Klopp’s options to change personnel if he wants to, despite the German promising changes ahead of the tie.
One change that we expect to see would be Darwin Nunez returning to the attack, with the Uruguayan having recovered from a shoulder injury that saw him miss the international break.
Luis Diaz continues to improve but was left out of the squad for the trip to the Etihad and will miss this clash too, having spent the last six months sidelined with a knee injury.
Midfield duo Naby Keita and Thiago will miss the trip to Stamford Bridge, however, with Keita’s Liverpool career potentially over following his latest injury setback with his contract up in the summer.
Thiago is back in training and could come into contention against Arsenal at the weekend, but there are long term injury concerns for Stefan Bajcetic and Calvin Ramsay, neither of whom will play again this season.
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