Jürgen Klopp’s men so far have tasted a great scent of success, but now, this is where the real test starts. A win over Tranmere Rovers, Fleetwood Town, Wigan Athletic and Huddersfield Town are surely a motivation, but that doesn’t show the real side of Liverpool. After some comparatively easy games, the team will be flying to the United States to play the rest of their games.
The first stop for the team will be the fellow English side Chelsea, who will be looking to mark the second win under their new manager Antonio Conte and soon after that fixture; they will be facing AC Milan, AS Roma, Barcelona and Mainz respectively. The competition is tough, but as stated earlier, this is where the squad will get busy.
Chelsea have welcomed some star names into the squad recently, and will also include the players, who recently came back from holidays, hence, the fight will be a tough one. The game will be played at the Rose Bowl arena, Pasadena, which holds the capacity of 92,542. So, here is the predicted lineup for the Reds, which could give Chelsea a tough fight.
Goalkeeper: Manninger-
The German manager has four players fighting for the spot, yet, we think that he might go with the new arrival Alex Manninger. The 39-year-old former Juventus and Arsenal shot-stopper will only be preferred after Karius and Mignolet in the Premier League, hence the manager will be looking forward to give him a chance in the pre-season. The Austrian has a lot of experience under his belt, yet he is only a third choice man for the manager.
Defence: Randall; Klavan; Matip; Moreno-
The 20-year-old Connor Randall, who played decent against Huddersfield town may get his chance again against Chelsea. Randall got his breakthrough for the senior last season and came into the sights of the spectators after the arrival of Klopp. The manager might change the centre back pairing this time around as both the new signings will be available for the game. Last time out, due to the absence of Matip due to his injury, the manager chose Lucas as a centre back, but this time, he might use Matip alongside the Estonian centre-half Ragnar Klavan, who will be looking forward to his first start for the Reds. With not many options available, the manager might go with Moreno this time as well.
Midfield Trio: Stewart; Grujic; Wijnaldum-
The 22-year-old Englishman gave a fine display of his skills last time against Huddersfield and it is expected that he might be used yet again. A composed and skilful defensive midfielder, Stewart was praised for his good positional awareness. Marko Grujic might get his chance again against the Blues, and the Serbian will be looking to score his third goal in his third appearance for the team. For the other midfield spot, the manager might go with the versatile Dutch midfielder Wijnaldum.
Attacking Trio: Mane; Firmino; Coutinho-
Unarguably the best-attacking trio for Liverpool, these three men will be looking forward to go against Chelsea’s defence with their pace and agility. With Mane on the right and Coutinho on the left, Chelsea’s full backs will have to work harder than and ever, and as those two will engage most of the defence with them, Firmino will get his chance to create the goals from the centre.
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