What is Liverpool possible starting lineup vs Man City for Community Shield today?
It’s the annual curtain raiser for the English Premier League and arguably the two best teams in the world go head-to-head for early silverware.
The kick-off for the 2022/23 Premier League is now less than a week away and to get us really in the mood we have the annual curtain raiser of the Community Shield where the league champions of the last campaign face the FA Cup winners. As it turns out, that means we have the tantalising match-up of Manchester City and Liverpool, two of the world’s elite teams. Due to the Euro 22 final between England and Germany taking place at Wembley on Sunday, this year we’re at Leicester City’s King Power Stadium. Find out how you can watch it.
Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp are expected to be competing on all fronts until the very end once again and although this game is often referred to as a glorified friendly, both managers will be looking for their side to put in a strong showing, ideally picking up a confidence boosting trophy while they’re at it. And so to the teams...
Liverpool predicted starting XI:
Klopp has already dropped a few hints at who is likely to be involved in Saturday’s clash, and more importantly who is definitely out. There will be no Alisson Becker in goal as he continues his recovery from injury, while Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Joto are both also expected to be out, along with new young signing Calvin Ramsey. From the rest, and with thoughts on this very much being treated as a further pre-season preparatory match, here’s how I think the German will set up from the start.
Assuming their usual, but dynamic, 4-3-3 formation:
Adrian; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson; Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago; Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Luis Diaz.
What that means for the game...
Anyone familiar with Klopp’s selections can see a very strong starting line-up there and one that will be expected to match City in all areas. One personal match-up that everyone will be keen to see is the first coming together of Van Dijk and new Citizen, Erling Haaland. Mouthwatering!
Salah ended months of speculation by signing a contract extension a few weeks back and can now focus on delivering on that investment by the club, while Luis Díaz can build on his excellent half-season following joining in January. Expect to see new-boy Darwin Nuñez at some point too.