Image Credits: Imago Images
Wednesday night football returns to the Premier League, with the highlight fixture featuring Liverpool against Sunderland.
Regis Le Bris’s newly promoted side arrives at Anfield in a higher league position than the Premier League giants, who currently sit eighth with six losses after 13 matches played so far.
The Black Cats have surprised many with their remarkable campaign, including an impressive victory at Stamford Bridge and being the only team to score two or more goals against Arsenal this season.
Liverpool’s season, by contrast, has been disappointing.
Despite a record summer spending spree, Arne Slot has struggled to build on last season’s title-winning squad.
Pressure has mounted as the Reds have lost nine of their last 13 games in all competitions.
The weekend brought promising results for both sides.
Sunderland came from two goals down to beat Bournemouth 3-2, while Liverpool ended a run of poor form with a comfortable 2-0 win away at West Ham.
Liverpool will be without Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong, who are both sidelined due to injury.
Giovanni Leoni also remains a long-term absentee.
During his pre-match press conference, Slot was asked about the possibility of rotating his squad, and he said: “I haven’t thought so much about that because yesterday we had recovery and after this press conference we’re going to train, so let’s see how players feel.
“Florian, for example, has missed out one-and-a-half or two weeks of training.
“So, for him to already play so many minutes was a good thing and we played again Joe Gomez, so let’s see.
“It was encouraging to see Florian playing that well, but it’s not the first time he played well for us.
“Maybe it was the first time other people noticed, but I’ve seen him playing well for us many times already.
“For Alex [Isak] to score his first goal was also very positive.
“Also, a player who couldn’t play I think five to 10 more minutes than he played, because he told me yesterday he felt a little bit of cramp coming up already.
“So, another player where we should see how he does when he trains today.”
Below is Liverpool’s predicted team to face Sunderland:
Alisson; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Isak.
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