The big news since last we spoke is that the Premier League teams met on Monday and chose NOT to postpone any of the festive fixtures. Even more dramatically, the league set the standards for when matches will be postponed: if each team has at least 13 of their 25 registered PL players available, and at least one of those 13 is a goalkeeper, it’s “Game On!” Money talks.
This means that pretty much every team, with the possible exception of Man City, will face significant selection dilemmas over the next two weeks. For Liverpool, those dilemmas began on Sunday, and they continue tomorrow.
But, once again, before we even get to the threshold of discussing tactics and personnel for this match, we have to ask: will this match go forward as scheduled? Leicester City have had both of their last two matches over the past week postponed due to COVID infections. And, this is NOT a Premier League match, so presumably the “if you have 13 players, you gotta play” rule is not in effect. So far, neither Rodgers nor any of Leicester’s other coaches have given a press conference ahead of this match, so we don’t know whether Leicester has asked to postpone the match, which Leicester players would be unavailable, etc. I’m a bit skeptical that this one is going to happen tomorrow, given the delay in the press conference, which ordinarily would have occurred hours ago. But, who knows? Pep Ljinders did give a presser for LFC.
Although I’m ALWAYS up for watching LFC play, it would certainly be better for our team if this one got postponed. But, assuming the game DOES happen, who will play for Liverpool?
We know that Thiago, Fabinho, Van Dijk, and Curtis Jones are all out with COVID-19. Origi and Phillips are out with injuries, and Andy Robertson is suspended for this match plus the next two Premier League matches. To construct a lineup, we can start with those we can be confident will start: a) Kelleher in goal; b) Joe Gomez as one of the CBs; c) Neco Williams at RB; d) Oxlade-Chamberlain (midfield or forward); e) Minamino (almost certainly as a forward).
That leaves the following slots available: one CB, the LB, two central mids, and two forwards.
When planning this lineup for tomorrow, we have to think about the lineups for the next two matches: a) Leeds at Anfield on Boxing Day, and b) away to Leicester City in the Premier League, two days later, on 12/28. Yes, we are scheduled to play Leicester twice over the next six days. Because only two days separates the next two matches, there will have to be a ton of rotation for both of those matches. But a few players will probably start both of them, and one of those players is Kostas Tsimikas. Andy Robertson is out for the next three matches, including tomorrow. Tsimikas is the only senior left back available, so it’s likely that Tsimikas will start both of the PL games on 12/26 and 12/28. Given that Tsimikas is likely starting those two matches, it’s highly unlikely that he will start the match tomorrow. This means that it’s likely an Academy player will start for LFC at left back tomorrow. I don’t know who that will be, but I think it’s likely to be Owen Beck.
At center back, Matip or Konaté are the only available senior options to play alongside Joe Gomez. I suspect that Gomez will get both of the next two matches (against Leicester tomorrow and against Leeds on Boxing Day), and that he will have a different partner each time. Then, I would expect that Matip and VVD will play together against Leicester on 12/28, although I’m uncertain if the “COVID Four” will be available for that match. They should be out of quarantine by then, but the sports science staff will be reluctant to play them just a day or two after they have returned to training. If VVD doesn’t start on 12/28, I would expect Matip and Konaté to start that match together. Based on all of that, tomorrow we could see an Academy player start, but I expect to see Konaté or Matip play with Gomez. We get five subs in the EFL Cup, so maybe one of those guys will come on at halftime to replace the other.
In midfield, I expect Tyler Morton to start again. He had a tough time against Spurs, but I thought he still did well under the circumstances. Henderson is apparently now available, after suffering through a non-COVID illness of some type that kept him out against Spurs. It’s a tough call, but I expect that Henderson is more likely to start tomorrow than either Keïta or Milner. All three of them are injury-prone. All three will be needed on 12/26 and/or 12/28. But Milner and Keïta both played big minutes on Sunday, and Hendo played none.
I suspect that Kaide Gordon will start in one of the forward spots, and Roberto Firmino will be the other starter alongside Minamino.
Tactically, if I were Klopp I would ask our players to play with intensity in the first half, and then hope we’ve got a lead by halftime and can take our foot off in the second half. In his heart of hearts, I suspect Klopp would rather we lost this one, although he probably wouldn’t admit that even to himself.
Lineup guess (with Owen Beck at LB, Tyler Morton at DM, and Kaide Gordon at RW, all of whom are missing from the CreateFormation.com database):
I know nothing about what kind of team LCFC can field under these circumstances. I know that they would love to win another trophy (they won the FA Cup last year), especially since they’ve had a bad season in the Premier League so far. But I also think they’ve got to be concerned with maintaining or improving their league position. Thus, if there’s a match tomorrow, I really don’t know what to expect, except that both teams will be somewhat makeshift, and both teams will be leery of pushing the pedal too far to the metal. It’s likely to be a sloppy match, and individual mistakes are likely to have a big impact.
My guess:
LFC 2 – Leicester City 1
