The Athletic journalist James Pearce says he expects new signing Ozan Kabak to be handed his debut by Jurgen Klopp when Liverpool face Leicester on Saturday.

Since arriving from Schalke on deadline day earlier this month, the Turkish international has yet to feature for the first team, but Pearce feels that, after more time in first-team training, the 20-year-old should now be ready to play for the Reds:

“With a full week to prepare now [at] Kirby, I’d be surprised if Kabak didn’t make his debut at Leicester, I just think, having signed him, you’ve got to now use him. I think whilst [Manchester] City was understandable, being a bit cautious because of the calibre of the opposition and the lack of training time, he needs to play at Leicester and then that releases [Jordan] Henderson to play in his normal position.”

It will be interesting to see what Klopp does in terms of his selection at the King Power Stadium. It is an important game in the battle for the top four but both Kabak and fellow new signing Ben Davies need to be bedded in at some stage.

With RB Leipzig in the Champions League and the Merseyside derby coming up shortly after the match against the Foxes, there won’t be an ideal time to give Kabak his first start so, as Pearce says, he might as well be thrown in this weekend.