Mohamed Salah is available for selection once more following the conclusion of his involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations, and Liverpool could do with him finding his goalscoring touch
Mohamed Salah could return to the team against Marseille
Mohamed Salah could return to the team against Marseille(Image: 2026 Molly Darlington)
Liverpool can take a huge step towards qualification for the Champions League last 16 with a victory over Marseille tonight.
A win would see the Reds move into the top eight of the standings, ahead of their eighth and final league-phase game at home to Qarabag next week.
A top-eight finish would be enough to avoid a two-legged play-off to make it into the competition's knockout phase – but Liverpool has plenty of work to do to ensure that it achieves that target.
Marseille, managed by the highly rated former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, should provide a stern test, and the southern French team goes into the game in a rich vein of goalscoring form.
Marseille has scored 14 goals in its last two games – although nine of those came against a sixth-tier side in a cup game – and striker Mason Greenwood, formerly of Manchester United, is the top scorer in Ligue 1.
Liverpool, though, has plenty of firepower of its own, and it welcomes Mohamed Salah back into the squad at a time when the team is struggling for goals.
The last four Premier League games have yielded just three goals (two from Florian Wirtz and one from Cody Gakpo), and Salah could go straight back into the line-up after missing the last seven games owing to his involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Alisson will start in goal, while Virgil van Dijk looks like the only absolute certainty to line up across the back four.
Ibrahima Konate's involvement is uncertain, while Andy Robertson has tended to start over Milos Kerkez at left-back in Europe, and it's anybody's guess who will line up at right-back.
Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones underpinned Liverpool's win away to Inter Milan in December, while Florian Wirtz has been among the goals of late and can expect to continue to start – perhaps in an inside left position.
Hugo Ekitike should round out the line-up after tallying six goals in his last eight appearances – although only one of those was scored across the last four games, and that came in the FA Cup game against Barnsley.
Predicted Liverpool team Vs. Marseille: Alisson; Frimpong, Van Dijk, Gomez, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz; Ekitike