Klopp’s Three Selection Headaches Ahead Of The Derby Next Week

The absences of certain key players from the 6-0 friendly win over Blackburn Rovers on Thursday means there are now some question marks over who manager Jurgen Klopp will pick for the Merseyside derby.

With no competitive action for three months, the Liverpool boss would have been keen to give all of his first-team regulars ample opportunity to recapture their match sharpness.

Klopp was, however, forced to give more game time to fringe players and youngsters than he may have wanted against Blackburn and that may raise some issues when it comes to deciding on the starting eleven for the game against Everton.

Press the next page as we go through the three selection dilemmas that the German is now facing ahead of the Premier League’s return.

Left-Back

Andy Robertson did not feature against Blackburn, with the Scotland captain having reportedly missed a few training sessions recently with a minor injury.

With the derby now just nine days away, Klopp will have to decide whether to risk starting him, despite having not played much football for three months, or select James Milner in his place.

Central Midfield

Naby Keita has been seriously impressive during the Reds’ friendlies ahead of the season restart, but Klopp will still be mindful that he will be selecting a team for a Merseyside derby.

Fabinho, Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson will still be the three favourites to start in midfield. However, after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up a minor knock against Blackburn, Keita should temporarily move up the pecking order.

Right Forward

Like Robertson, Mo Salah was nowhere to be seen on Thursday with it being reported that he also has a minor problem, which has prevented him from training. With Xherdan Shaqiri also reportedly being ruled with a muscular injury, Klopp will almost certainly have to reshuffle his front three if the Egyptian is not fit enough to start.

Divock Origi may have to be brought into the starting eleven with Sadio Mane switching flanks to the right-hand side. Takumi Minamino may also be a candidate, after his goal and assist against Blackburn, but he is currently seen by Klopp as more of a replacement for Roberto Firmino.

You may also be interested in reading:

Liverpool’s Five Best Bargain Signings Of The Premier League Era
The Four Worst Managerial Appointments In Liverpool’s History
Who Is Nicolo Zaniolo? Four Interesting Facts About The Italian Who Has Been Watched By Liverpool
Five Things You Need To Know About Liverpool Target Talles Magno
4 Liverpool Players Who Could Be Offloaded This Summer As Shakeup Commences
Liverpool’s Top Four Managers Of The Premier League Era
The Five Worst Liverpool Transfers Of The Premier League Era
Four Facts About Ferran Torres As Liverpool Are Linked With A Potential Sancho Alternative
The Top 5 Goalscorers For Liverpool In The Premier League Era
5 Things To Know About Eduardo Camavinga As Liverpool Enter The Race For The Rennes Starlet
Five Of The Best Signings Liverpool Have Made Under Jurgen Klopp
Five Solutions For Liverpool’s Alarming Drop In Form
Four Reasons Why Naby Keita Deserves More Time To Prove Himself At Liverpool
Two Injury Setbacks, Klopp’s Reason For Subbing Mane And Wijnaldum’s Future: What We Learned From Klopp’s Press Conference</a>
Liverpool’s Four Major PFA Player Of The Year Contenders: Who Is Most Deserving Of The Accolade?
The Three Liverpool Academy Stars Next In Line To Make Their First Team Breakthrough
Three Of The Best (And Two Of The Worst) Deadline Day Deals Liverpool Have Made
Five Things We Learned From Liverpool’s Narrow Win Over Wolves
A Combined Liverpool V Manchester United XI: How Many Of Klopp’s Men Make The Line Up?
Liverpool’s Top 10 Signings Of The Past Decade: Find Out Who We Rated No.1
Five La Liga Stars Liverpool Could Be Scouting As They Look To Strengthen Their Squad
Five Bundesliga Stars Liverpool Scouts May Be Targeting Ahead Of January

Or

You can visit our blog home page to read more news about Liverpool here