The FA cup competition games this past week have given Liverpool fans some football “FOMO,” but soon Anfield will be buzzing again as the Reds host Leicester City FC on Wednesday, 30 January. The Reds have the daunting task of facing a team who is hungry to bounce back after a string of bad results and with a fully strength squad, with talisman Harry Maguire being the only concern. The Reds have at least had a bit of a rest before this fixture, but so has the competition at hand as Liverpool and Leicester have both been eliminated from FA cup in the third round.
In the first leg of the league matches, the Reds beat Leicester City by a close margin of 2 – 1 at the King Power Stadium last year. This fixture comes with its own pressure as Liverpool will drastically try and hold on to that top spot lead in the league. However, even though the 2015/2016 Premier League champions are currently 9th in the 2018/2019 Premier League, they have already made headlines this season by beating champions Manchester City as well as Chelsea FC this season.
Claude Puel, Leicester City boss, has stated “what a challenge it will be for them to create an upset” at Anfield on Wednesday, and how they are aware of what they need to do. [1] They have come from 3 recent losses to Newport County, Southampton and Wolves – so they will be as equally determined as the Reds to get that winning three points. Players like Jamie Vardy, Harry Maguire, Rachid Ghezzal, Demarai Gray, Harvey Barnes, Hamza Choudhury and Kasper Schmeichel, amongst others, are sure to not make this a light game for the Reds.
Not only are there still a few Liverpool injuries at this very crucial time but the powerful midfielder James Milner will be ruled out for this game due to a red card. This has led to many speculations of possible surprise buys before the January transfer market closes on Thursday 31 January 2019 – but nothing concrete that has been officially announced yet.
Our key defender Virgil van Dijk also might not feature in this game due to illness, allegedly. Therefore, it is important to take into consideration how Klopp could alter his approach to the game. Virgil Van Dijk leaves a gaping hole in the defense in terms of the aerial presence of the Dutchmen. Players such as Jamie Vardy will look to exploit the opportunity and get in and behind the defense during set pieces. It is likely that we will see a Fabinho/Matip partnership with Wijnaldum providing much needed protection for the back four. One could assume that the boss will motivate his players to be cautious in attack as any form of counter attack from players such as Demarai Gray, Harvey Barnes, Jamie Vardy could cause some trouble.
The actual Liverpool fanbase frenzy continues but some, including myself, are not too bothered considering we do have a great general starting XI and bench. Not only that, but we do have some awesome youngsters, such as defender Ki-Jana Hoever, medfielder Rafael Comacho and forward Ben Woodburn, amongst others. We do know how the boss loves to give young players opportunities, and occasionally throw in some surprise players in actual league games. On that note, substitution list could be: Keita, Lallana, Sturridge, Mignolet, Origi, Comacho, with possible starting XI as follows:
References:
- BBC Sport. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/ (Accessed on 28/01/2019)
- Available at: https://www.buildlineup.com/ (Accessed on 29/01/2019)
The Liverbird 