Liverpool: A homecoming is on cards for Leicester City coach Brendan Rogers as he will be travelling to his former club Liverpool in the English Premier League 2021-22 on Friday. A win for Leicester City will take them to 10th in the table replacing Southampton.
Liverpool will be bolstered by the return of African Cup of Nations 2021 champion Sadio Mane and runners-up Mohamed Salah as manager Jurgen Klopp will be looking to keep the winning momentum.
Both teams had a very different weekend as Liverpool demolished Cardiff City to advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup while Leicester’s Cup journey was halted by Nottingham Forest. The young Liverpool guns Harvery Elliot, Takumi Minamino and Diogo Jota all had struck in the weekend with Luis Diaz making his debut for the Reds.
Alisson will be starting in the goal with the dependable back line of Trent Alexander Arnold, Joel Matip and Andrew Robertson led by Virgil Van Dijk. Klopp might go with a Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara midfield with Jota on the attacking front accompanying Roberto Firmino and Diaz.
As they are 12 points behind Manchester City with one match in hand, Klopp can’t allow any slip-ups. He will make the most of their current squad and go with tested players.
For Leicester, Kasper Schemeichel will be on the goalpost with Ricardo Pereira, Jannik Vestergaard, Caglar Sonyuncu and Luke Thomas securing the defense. The midfield might be Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, Marc Albrighton, James Maddison. Patson Daka with Kelechi Inheanacho will be up front.
On the other hand, Arsenal will be travelling to the Wolverhampton. Wolves are well into the Europa League race while the Gunners are eyeing the fourth spot that comes with a UEFA Champions League qualification.
This will be a challenge for Mikel Arteta as Wolves are known for their notoriously disciplined defense and midfield. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gone to Barcelona and no new signings, the gaffer will have to come up with a way to undone the defense.
Given the weight of the match, Arteta will possibly stick to his regular players. Aron Ramsdale will start in the goal with a four man back consisting Cedric Soares, Ben White, Gabriel and Kieran Tieney. Granit Xaka and Thomas Partey will hold the central midfield with Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka helping their number nine Alexandre Lacazette on attack.
Wolves manager Bruno Lage will probably stick to his 3-4-3 formation with Romain Saiss, Conor Coady and Max Kilman defending in front of Jose Sa. The midfield will probably have Nelson Semedo, Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho and Fernando Marcel. Their attack will be poised with Francisco Trincao, Raul Jiminez and Daniel Podence.
