Morning all.
It’s Liverpool today in the Premier League, and there was some encouragement pre-game when Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber were pictured with the squad as they arrived at the team hotel last night. Of course we don’t know if they’re going to be fit enough to start, but if they’re there at all, that’s a good thing.
Let’s begin at the back, and if Timber can play from the start, there’s a decision to be made about exactly where. I think he and Ben White are interchangeable at centre-half and right-back, but generally you ask a bit less physically of the man in the middle, so perhaps that’s where you start the Dutch international.
If he can’t start, then the headaches really begin. Thomas Partey could play right-back with Ben White in the middle; there’s the possibility of using Jakub Kiwior on the right of the central defensive duo, a position he has played in more than once for us before; and another potential option is shifting Declan Rice into the back four and using the numbers we have in midfield.
The left-back decision/issue could play a part too. It didn’t look as if Riccardo Calafiori was present, which is no surprise. If Timber isn’t fit and it’s Partey at right-back, I suspect we’ll see a back four of Partey – White – Gabriel – Kiwior. If Kiwior is chosen alongside Gabriel, then Mikel Arteta has to decide between Oleksandr Zinchenko and Myles Lewis-Skelly. The former was overlooked for a 20 minute cameo on Tuesday night against his compatriots, and on that basis it seems like a big risk to start him for the first time since August when he’ll be facing Mo Salah on Liverpool’s right.
It’s also a lot to ask of an 18 year old too, not forgetting that Trent Alexander-Arnold operates down that side for Liverpool as well, but perhaps what MLS lacks in experience he can make up for in terms of physical readiness for a game of this intensity. My gut feeling says what whatever back four the manager picks, Kiwior is…
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Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2024-10-27 07:28:52
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