As injuries continue to play a major villainous role in Liverpool FC’s 2020-21 season, Jurgen Klopp’s side, a severely injury-depleted one, to say the least, get set to host table-toppers Leicester City come Sunday at Anfield.
Brendan Rodger’s side have emerged as a reckoning force this season on the back of superb 2019-20 performance level, and with new acquisitions replacing the summer exits, the Foxes lead the Premier League standings, for now, a point adrift of Klopp’s Liverpool FC.
The international break which concluded on Wednesday night brought significant troubles to Liverpool FC in the form of a long-term and quite possibly a season-ending injury for Joe Gomez, coupled with minor niggles for the first-team duo of Andy Robertson and Jordan Henderson.
Jurgen Klopp will undoubtedly be sweating over his key players being fully fit for the Leicester fixture over the upcoming weekend as the Reds seek to continue an encouraging run of victories in their domestic campaign that come their way before being held to a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium going up against Manchester City prior to the international fixture list.
As the recovery table line at Anfield continues to grow over the weeks, Klopp will be forced to turn to fringe first-teamers in his ranks to shoulder the responsibilities, and youngsters Neco Williams and Rhys Williams will be the ones to step up to the task of coming out with confident displays on the pitch in the absence of the Van Dijk-Arnold-Gomez combine.
WHEN & WHERE?
Date: Sunday 21 November
Time: 3 PM GMT
Venue: Anfield
TEAM NEWS
Changes are bound to take place in the Liverpool XI that will take the field at Anfield on Sunday, and the most notable absence from the Reds lineup would be star forward Mohammad Salah.
The Egyptian international has tested positive twice for COVID-19 within a span of a few days and is certain to be ruled out of the weekend clash. Diogo Jota, Liverpool FC’s most speculative purchase of this summer, is expected to lead the attacking line alongside the familiar faces of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
What the Reds fanbase would be hoping for is that both Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara are names that feature in Sunday’s matchday squad, with the pair having missed a month’s action till now in the Liverpool FC shirt owing to injuries.
Having been withdrawn from international duty with England mid-week, skipper Jordan Henderson is a major doubt to line up against the Foxes over the weekend due to a tight hamstring. Despite making the trip back to the club after featuring against Belgium last Sunday, Henderson’s presence for the Reds squaring off against Brendan Rodger’s men is not a guarantee at this point.
KEY BATTLES
Joel Matip vs Jamie Vardy
The sole fit senior centre-back at Jurgen Klopp’s disposal, the ever-reliable Joel Matip will be tasked the tedious responsibility of keeping the in-form Jamie Vardy at bay from finding the back of the net at Anfield.
The Leicester City striker has scored very so often when coming up against the Merseysiders in recent times, and with no Van Dijk to stop the energetic forward this time around, Matip will form the brick wall in Liverpool FC’s backline to stop Vardy in his tracks from adding more to his impressive goalscoring returns of late.
Sadio Mane vs Timothy Castagne
Mane will be the Reds focal point in attack on Sunday in the absence of Mohammad Salah, with the Senegalese looking forward to capitalising on his run of good form in the recent international break when squaring up against the Foxes.
Castagne was Leicester City’s answer this summer to Ben Chilwell’s big-money departure for Chelsea, and the Belgium man has put in a solid set of showings on the right side of the pitch, giving Sadio Mane much to think about ahead of the duo facing each other in the forthcoming fixture.
Match Prediction
Taking into account the injury-hit storm affecting the recent fortunes of the Merseyside giants, both sides should line up pretty evenly come Sunday at Anfield.
Liverpool FC have made their home turf a fortress going into each and every fixture and Leicester City’s visit will prove to be no different for Jurgen Klopp and Co.
Despite missing Mohammad Salah, the Reds will be no short on attacking options and should be in a comfortable position to edge out another narrow victory in their favour, we are predicting a 2-1 win for Liverpool FC.
