Liverpool travel to Old Trafford as they look to extend their 100% start to the Premier League with a win over their historic rivals, Manchester United, in a clash of two Dutch coaches.
Though Arne Slot has most of his squad to choose from, he is likely to utilise a tried and tested formula from the Ipswich Town and Brentford matches. Here’s how his team might line-up:
GOALKEEPER: Liverpool’s new signing Giorgi Mamardashvili will not arrive at the club until next year, so Alisson Becker is very much the first-choice goalkeeper for another season. He will start at Old Trafford for the Reds.
DEFENDERS: Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been the go-to full-backs for Liverpool for the last five or six years. They will not be dropped for the Man United clash.
Virgil van Dijk is also an indispensable option in Liverpool’s defence. He will captain the team and partner Ibrahima Konate in the middle of the back four.
Chiesa will not be available
MIDFIELDERS: Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch’s double pivot has given Liverpool a lot of defensive stability and they are yet to concede a goal in the Premier League as a result. They will keep their places against Man Utd.
Meanwhile, Dominic Szoboszlai will be the attacking midfielder. The Hungarian will have Mohamed Salah on his right and Luis Diaz on his left. Salah has an impeccable record versus Man United and has struck in both league games this season, while Diaz scored and assisted against Brenford last weekend so he too is in good form.
New signing Federico Chiesa’s debut must wait until later in September with Arne Slot revealing that the United match would be too early for him to feature.
FORWARD: Diogo Jota will start ahead of Darwin Nunez as the sole striker. The Portuguese’s off-the-ball movement is superb and allows Salah as well as Diaz to get into the box, which is why he has been preferred over Nunez by Arne Slot. Cody Gakpo will also have to make do with a place on the bench.
This is how Liverpool could line-up:
