Liverpool seriously reconsiders after Mohamed Salah’s injury issue, considering six changes and a wildcard

An examination of Liverpool’s possible lineup for their Thursday matchup against Sparta Prague in the Europa League round of sixteen

Jurgen Klopp is anticipated to make a number of significant adjustments when Liverpool hosts Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, having a 5-1 lead from the first leg.

The Czechs have already suffered enough, and a miracle would be required for the visitors to even have a chance of overcoming that first-leg deficit at the Letna Stadion. Perhaps stranger things have happened. Just not too frequently.

Given the current list of absentees, Klopp will be keen to make sure as many of his main players are rested for Thursday night’s match at Anfield against Manchester United, which is scheduled later that week in the FA Cup quarterfinals.

It is a dangerous balancing act that Klopp must master because he cannot afford to lose any more of his walking wounded. Klopp must avoid endangering too many of them in what is an efficient dead-rubber. With a spot in the Europa League quarterfinals all but guaranteed, that presents the manager with the biggest obstacle.

Caoimhin Kelleher may be replaced by third-choice goalkeeper Adrian for his debut game of the season, while Jarell Quansah is anticipated to start at centre back. In order to complete the back five, Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley, and Kostas Tsimikas might be asked to play in the middle with him.

James McConnell, the hero of the Carabao Cup final, can play defensive midfielder in the engine room, with Bobby Clark and Harvey Elliott positioned further forward. The latter has been overused lately, but it’s necessary and he can be replaced by Dominik Szoboszlai, who might use the minutes himself, after 45 minutes.

Perhaps the most important issue Klopp will have to deal with up top is how to handle Mohamed Salah. With how much time he’s missed due to that muscle injury, Liverpool’s leading scorer could use the extra minutes. He’s only started one game this year, back on January 1.

However, the Reds, who have had Egypt’s request to have him removed from international duty later this month, must be terrified of making matters worse. It’s a significant concern for Klopp to consider as he seeks to rapidly bring his top scorer back up to speed.

In other spots, it might be a nice chance to get Cody Gakpo going through the middle, but Jayden Danns should also be considered after missing the last few games due to a concussion. With just two goals in his senior campaign, the youthful striker will be itching to add more to his total. Likewise, Lewis Koumas scored his first goal in senior football in the FA Cup fifth round against Southampton.

You suspect that Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz will probably miss this one because of what’s going to happen later that week. This is a great opportunity for both players to rest some tired limbs as they have been needed in recent weeks, especially following their efforts against Manchester City on Sunday.

Maybe an opportunity for Mateusz Musialowski? The youthful Pole might be able to relieve some of the workload for his more experienced colleagues as he was part of the team that travelled to Prague last week. That may be a bit of a wild card pick, but at least Klopp has it when he plans out another challenging starting lineup.

Kaide Gordon, who participated in the group match against Union Saint-Gilloise, might be more likely to think he could get started. After that lengthy injury that kept him out for nearly eighteen months, Gordon had a difficult journey back to the bench of the first team, and he will be looking forward to a possible call-up once more.

Basically, Liverpool’s main concern is to ensure that no more injuries are sustained. There are more important things to worry about than a contest that won’t go down as one of the club’s all-time European classics.