Jurgen Klopp is expected to make eight changes to the Liverpool team that will take on Norwich City later tonight
According to the Express, Liverpool boss, Jurgen Klopp is expected to make eight changes to his team for the FA Cup clash against Norwich City tonight following Sunday’s Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea.
Liverpool played a draining 120 minutes against the Blues, eventually winning the match on penalties. Jurgen Klopp will want to rotate his main players to keep them fresh for the important Premier League games against West Ham United next weekend.
David Moyes’s Hammers are one of two teams to get the better of the Reds this season and Klopp has every reason to plan ahead with care. It makes little sense for him to burn his players out rather than make use of what is now a deeper squad.
Klopp will need to find the perfect balance between resting his players and putting out a team that is capable of getting the better of Norwich. The Reds are very much on course for a quadruple and a win tonight will just build momentum further.
Klopp has already confirmed that Caoimhin Kelleher will not start against the Canaries, with Liverpool No. 1, Alisson Becker set to be recalled to the playing XI.
Virgil van Dijk is also expected to be rested for the clash against Norwich with Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate expected to form the centre-back pairing. Joel Matip could also be in with a shoutout if needed.
Despite having played the full 120 minutes against Chelsea on Sunday, Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to start tonight’s game. He could be brought off in the second half depending on the situation of the match, with James Milner or Conor Bradley taking his place.
On the opposite flank, Kostas Tsimikas is expected to replace Andy Robertson for tonight’s clash. The Greece international has excelled whenever given the chance this season, and he will be hoping to follow it up with another good performance.
Skipper Jordan Henderson played just 80 minutes against Chelsea at the weekend and is expected to retain his place in the XI tonight. However, he may be forced to operate in a deeper role as the pivot, with defensive midfielder Fabinho expected to be given a breather
Curtis Jones, who missed out on the Carabao Cup final squad altogether at the weekend, will be fresh and is expected to replace Naby Keita. The final spot in the midfield could go to either one of Harvey Elliott or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Elliott came on during the clash against Chelsea and even slotted home his penalty during the shootout. Despite this, Ox is expected to start tonight and will want to impress Klopp.
Sadio Mane is expected to start, having played just 80 minutes against Chelsea. Mohamed Salah could be kept fresh for the weekend and is likely to be replaced by Diogo Jota tonight. The Portuguese forward is just coming back from an injury and could get some much-required game time to get his sharpness back.
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Divock Origi is expected to round off the forward line but Klopp also has the option of playing Takumi Minamino instead. The Japanese forward has scored an impressive seven goals across all competitions and is an excellent squad player to have.
The German manager has a lot of options to choose from when he picks the playing XI for tonight. Liverpool are expected to get the job done against Norwich, and some of the key players could earn well-deserved rest today. However, Klopp and Liverpool know that this cannot be at the expense of the FA Cup, and some of the big names could be thrown on in the second half if the need arises.
