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: (4-3-2-1) Mignolet; Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Moreno; Can, Henderson, Milner; Coutinho, Markovic; Benteke
I’d love to see Roberto Firmino from the jump against Bournemouth, but, with reports claiming Firmino’s fitness isn’t where it needs to be after the Copa America and prolonged summer break following, I’ve gone for Markovic here. If the Serb doesn’t start here, when’s he going to play? Not anytime soon. It’s a new season, give the man the club invested £20m in a chance. I’d love to see Ings or Origi get a game against a lesser opponent at Anfield, but, you can’t take too many risks with the team with away fixtures to Arsenal and United looming in the foreground. Moreno in for Gomez as width will primarily be provided by the full-backs on the day, set up on purpose with the narrow midfield. Milner and Henderson slightly ahead of Can with freedom to roam forward or pull the strings from deep. Markovic and Coutinho get free roles to move where they please in possession and so long that they press out of possession. Benteke to open his Liverpool competitive match goal account on the day. This is the August version of a must win.
Sam Davies: (4-2-3-1) Mignolet; Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Gomez; Milner, Henderson; Ibe, Markovic, Countinho; Benteke
Our opening game against Stoke won’t live long in the memory but a win is a win nevertheless. The eagle eyed amongst us will notice the back four is unchanged from Sunday. I believe that defensively we need to improve massively and I think having that consistency of the same back four will help us improve and we may start to see Lovren repay the hefty transfer fee. Milner and Henderson will always be the central midfield two. No disrespect to Bournemouth but we should win and we need to go all out especially at home and we may see the best of Markovic when he’s played in the middle rather than out wide. Ibe deserves a starting place again although we did see that at 19-years-old against Mark Hughes’ side that there’s a lot of work to do for the youngster.
Joe Knappett: (4-4-2 Diamond) Mignolet; Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Gomez; Emre Can; Henderson, Milner; Coutinho; Firmino, Benteke
The main thing for me going into the Bournemouth game is that we really need to show off how much of a strong side we have. Almost send a message to the other teams in the league that we mean business this season. Offensively, our strongest line-up needs to be fielded. Benteke I feel will show his worth in his Anfield debut, as will Firmino. We saw glimpses of his ability during his small cameo at Stoke, so I would like to see at least 70 minutes of game time for the ex-Hoffenheim man. With Coutinho behind them we could be in for a lot of chances, hopefully a lot of which will be converted.
The midfield will put in 110% for the entire game, and Can sitting deep will allow Hendo and Jimmy Milner to get forward a bit too. Defensively, nothing needs changing. Our defensive against Stoke looked solid, and I’d love to see Lovren and Gomez capitalize on their positive performances. Hopefully we will see a very strong outing from our side and rack up another three points.
Luke Chandley: (4-3-3) Mignolet; Clyne, Skrtel, Lovren, Gomez; Can, Henderson, Milner; Coutinho, Firmino, Benteke
So, I’ve chosen a slightly different team to the one that started against Stoke, with Can and Firmino coming in for Lallana and Ibe. I’ve chosen Can because of the difference he made against Stoke and how much better we played when he allowed Milner and Henderson to push forward. Firmino starts with a view to playing him v Arsenal too, if all goes well. Benteke should start again and I back him to get on the scoresheet in the first home game of the season with the defence of Bournemouth finding his presence too much to handle when coupled with having to keep tabs on a very tricky Coutinho and Firmino too. Expect a good game, with maybe one to two goals in it, but I mainly hope for another great Lovren display.
Your Liverpool XI, Tristan Fitzpatrick: (4-3-3) Mignolet; Clyne, Lovren, Sakho, Moreno; Can, Milner, Henderson; Coutinho, Firmino; Benteke
Defense was solid enough at Stoke. While Lovren impressed, I still consider Sakho the best option of the three and should get his chance. Moreno is a natural left-back; Joe Gomez was solid but clearly a centre-back and there is no long term goal to him playing there. Can was the game-changing sub in the Stoke game, by moving Coutinho to the wing and playing Milner and Hendo in the advanced mid roles it capitalises on their key strengths, and creates a solid mid three. Flip side to that is Coutinho and Firmino on the wings, I’d basically tell them to make some magic at home to a weaker team. They lack pace and width that Ibe could provide but he lacked a spark at Stoke. Benteke gets to bed in some more and two much better playmakers beside him this time.
