Arne Slot may opt to use his preferred formation when Liverpool plays Arsenal in Philadelphia on Wednesday, given he may now use Diogo Jota as his striker.
In the first friendly of the Reds’ US tour, Slot deployed two false nines to arrange his team in an unusual 4-4-2 configuration.
But the head coach stated, “during the season you will see us play with a real striker, but at this moment we have no one available,” following the 1-0 victory against Real Betis.
Given that Jota has not yet returned for that friendly, Jayden Danns is injured, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo are still on vacation following their international duty, and Slot acknowledged “that [was] maybe out of necessity.”
On Wednesday night, Liverpool will play Arsenal, therefore the Dutchman may opt to deploy the 4-3-3 formation that he is known to prefer.
Along with the back four of Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, Sepp van den Berg, and Kostas Tsimikas, Caoimhin Kelleher is probably going to hold onto his spot.
The most sought-after Wataru Endo has been practicing as the starting number six, and following his performance up front against Betis, Dominik Szoboszlai is anticipated to move into midfield.
Curtis Jones’s health will determine who plays in midfield with those two players, but Harvey Elliott is a more likely starter.
And with Mo Salah and Fabio Carvalho on either wing during training, Slot should use Jota as his focal point in attack if the medical team approves.
Against Betis, Slot rested most of his starters for just over an hour; he’ll probably do the same this time around.
Thus, players like Tyler Morton, Ben Doak, Trey Nyoni, Stefan Bajcetic, and Jones ought to be brought off the bench.
Despite the likelihood, Morton took Endo’s position after a challenging first half at the weekend. Slot may decide to start the young player instead.
Ryan Gravenberch and Ibrahima Konate both made a full recovery on Tuesday, so it’s possible that they’ll play for the team, though their playing time will be restricted.
Liverpool’s anticipated starting lineup against Arsenal is as follows: Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Van den Berg, Tsimikas; Endo, Elliott, Szoboszlai; Salah, Carvalho, Jota
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Liverpool is getting ready to spend €65 million for a long term Mohamed Salah replacement
Liverpool will not lose Mohamed Salah this summer, but the team is still preparing for life without him.
The Egyptian’s future at the team is still unknown as he approaches the penultimate year of his contract at Anfield and has been linked to moves away from the team during that time.
Under previous boss Jurgen Klopp, the right-winger has contributed to the Reds’ victories in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
Given the uncertainty surrounding his long-term future at Liverpool, the Reds are planning to sign a replacement.
The Japanese newspaper Sports Nippon claims that Liverpool may be considering Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo, a right winger.
Kubo has been connected to a move to Liverpool since January.
Despite rumours that he would be Jurgen Klopp’s last addition to the Reds, the Japanese international continued to play well for the La Liga outfit.
Since joining Real Sociedad in 2022 from Real Madrid, Kubo has demonstrated enormous potential.
At the age of 23, he has already made a name for himself as one of La Liga’s best players.
Liverpool is pursuing the Japanese international and intends to pay a transfer fee of approximately €65 million for him.
They are also willing to give the 23-year-old £240,000 a week in salary. It is evident that the Reds are getting ready to play without Salah, who may depart the team in the summer of 2019.
Mo Salah will be hard for Liverpool to replace
Similar to Salah, Kubo is a left-footed right-winger who enjoys cutting inside to create chances and score goals.
Kubo has shown promise in La Liga, but he will need to increase his goal total to take Salah’s place.
Salah’s twenty-four goals for the Reds dwarf the seven goals the Sociedad winger scored in the previous campaign.
