Alexis Mac Allister will return to the Liverpool starting lineup when they take on Marseille at Orange Velodrome in a UEFA Champions League clash on Wednesday.
Liverpool will be eager to return to winning ways and return to the top eight of the UEFA Champions League standings when they lock horns with Marseille at Orange Velodrome on Wednesday night. Arne Slot has received a positive update on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.
Mohamed Salah is back after a month, having been with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations, where his team finished fourth. The veteran attacker is in the travelling squad to take on Marseille in the UEFA Champions League this week. Interestingly, Ibrahima Konate is not in the group for the midweek European clash.
However, Giovanni Leoni (knee), Conor Bradley (knee), and Alexander Isak (leg) remain in the treatment room. Meanwhile, during his pre-match press conference, Slot discussed Salah’s impact as the Reds aim to end their winless run. The Dutch tactician also revealed why Konate was not with the travelling squad.
The Liverpool boss said, “With Mo, I’m really happy and pleased that he’s back. In his absence I think we’ve done quite OK in terms of hardly conceding any chance. We start to create more and more – and if you start to create more and more, it’s really helpful to have a player like Mo Salah.”
“Because if there’s ever been a player – I think there was one who scored more for this club – that can score goals and I can still play, I don’t think I can play Ian Rush still, then it’s really helpful to have him back. We would never know but the amount of chances, the amount of ball possession against Burnley, with Mo on the pitch it would usually mean that we would have scored more.”
“That’s why I’m really happy that he’s back, because creating chances is nice but we are only judged on results and that wasn’t nice. So, hopefully we can combine two things. Create the same chances, able to score more and keep not conceding chances on the other end. Ibou didn’t travel with us because of family matters and I would leave it with that. I will speak to him tomorrow again.”
Alisson Becker is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Liverpool lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him against Marseille on Wednesday. The backline will feature Jeremie Frimpong, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, and Milos Kerkez.
As for the midfield unit, Dominik Szoboszlai will line up alongside Ryan Gravenberch in the double pivot, with Alexis Mac Allister reprising the no. 10 role. Finally, Hugo Ekitike will lead the line for the away side against Marseille, with Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz completing the numbers in the offensive unit. So, Salah will be a backup option on the bench for the Reds.
Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Frimpong, Gomez, van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai; Wirtz, Mac Allister, Gakpo; Ekitike