Liverpool head coach Arne Slot must once again work around the absence of Ryan Gravenberch for Friday's Premier League opener with Bournemouth at Anfield.
The Dutch midfielder was absent from Sunday's Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace due to the birth of his child and now serves a suspension following his red card against the same opponents on the final day of the 2024-25 top-flight season.
With Gravenberch missing and Alexis Mac Allister not quite at full fitness, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones started the Community Shield, where the latter set a new English football passing record.
However, Mac Allister should now be given the green light to make his return to the first XI alongside Szoboszlai, who is likely to continue in a deeper role while new record signing Florian Wirtz pulls the creative strings.
Wirtz starting centrally means a spot on the left for Cody Gakpo, while Hugo Ekitike and Mohamed Salah complete a menacing-looking front four.
The latter's display at Wembley left a lot to be desired, but he boasts more Premier League MD1 goal involvements than any other player with 14, nine of his own and five assists.
Further back, Conor Bradley (muscle) and Joe Gomez (Achilles) are not expected to be involved, so Slot should stick with an identical backline of Alisson Becker, Jeremie Frimpong, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Bournemouth old boy Milos Kerkez.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike
> Click here to see how Bournemouth could line up for this game
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