Every week before a Liverpool match, a panel of Read Liverpool writers will come together and choose who they would throw out on the pitch and how they’d arrange the team.
Think yours is better than any of ours? Tweet me (@tombogert) your XI in the days leading up to the next game and you might be picked to have your say in this article as the “Your Liverpool XI” writer for that match.
Tom Bogert: (4-2-3-1) Bogdan; Clyne, Sakho, Toure, Moreno; Lucas, Rossiter; Origi, Coutinho, Ibe; Ings
Brendan Rodgers would’ve preferred to have started this year’s Europa campaign with an easier fixture than travelling to France to play Bordeaux, but, he’s kept a small squad for the Premier League, so he has no choice but to rotate here.
Danny Ings, Divock Origi, Alberto Moreno, Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho are must-starts based on current minutes received. I prefer to toss Bogdan a bone and see how he does: maybe he becomes the cup ‘keeper.
Gomez finally heads home to the centre of defence and the Europa League is a convenient excuse to give Jordan Rossiter some minutes.
Christian Benteke and James Milner should be rested whilst Philippe Coutinho plays after missing out on the weekend due to suspension.
Sam Davies: (4-1-2-1-2) Mignolet; Clyne, Sakho, Lovren, Moreno; Lucas, Milner, Rossiter; Firmino; Ings, Benteke
The Europa League is Liverpool’s taste of European football for another season and as ever you need the squad for it.
To say we’ve been poor in our last two league games is an understatement and now is the time for rotation.
Sakho has been a spectator when our defence has been ripped apart and now is the time for the Frenchman to play alongside Lovren. I’m hoping that the more game time Lovren gets the better he’ll become.
With injuries, we’re short of players in the heart of midfield and I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Rossiter start or come off the bench at least.
We simply haven’t scored enough goals with Benteke up front alone so we must go two up top and Ings did a job for us against United albeit out wide.
Steve Skiles: (4-2-3-1) Bogdan; Clyne, Skrtel, Sakho, Moreno; Milner, Can; Ibe, Firmino, Coutinho; Benteke
A win against West Ham and at least a draw away at Manchester United probably would have led to more changes for Liverpool’s Europa League opener against Bordeaux.
Instead, with Brendan Rodgers now hearing talk of yet another ‘crisis’, he’s under pressure to field the strongest side possible.
I think Rodgers will go with two changes at the back. After, reportedly, offering Sakho a new contract, he has to play sometime, right? After appearing in every game so far this season, Joe Gomez simply needs a break. In comes Alberto Moreno at left-back.
Rodgers may have liked to give some rest to some of the other Premier League starters, but injuries have forced his hand. With Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana and Joe Allen all unavailable, I expect to see a lot of familiar faces in the Liverpool midfield.
The only changes I foresee are starts for Ibe and, of course, Coutinho. Benteke will, once again, be up top.
The best case scenario would see Liverpool get out to an early and safe lead in France, giving Rodgers a chance to pull Coutinho, Milner and Benteke out of the game to rest up ahead of this weekend’s match at home to Norwich City.
Then, we could see the likes of Jordan Rossiter, Divock Origi and Danny Ings get some more valuable playing time.
Bobby Vincent: (4-2-3-1) Mignolet; Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno; Milner, Lucas, Ibe; Lallana, Origi, Ings
There aren’t many choices for the right-back slot and Clyne has been hugely impressive in the games he’s played in thus far.
The under-performing partnership of Lovren (especially) and Skrtel have to go in my opinion. Sakho is the best centre-back we have currently and hopefully he can show Rodgers just how good he is in this game. Toure deserves a chance to impress, also.
Lucas doesn’t have long left in the first team with the imminent return of Jordan Henderson, so it would be good for him to get some more game time. Milner can pretty much play every game; this helps with Allen and Henderson both out. Lallana should be given another opportunity to impress after failing to do so in the opening games before his injury.
Ibe has fallen out of favour a bit, but his talent his undeniable. Origi and Ings are the definite ones. They haven’t played at all, really, following their summer arrivals. Ings has looked good in the small bits he has played in. Too hard to say for Origi because he’s literally played twenty minutes.
Will be good and interesting to see if the side is anything like this on Thursday night.
