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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Ian Doyle

Jurgen Klopp faces Ben Doak decision as Liverpool consider radical overhaul

Liverpool backed up their Champions League win over Napoli with a fine Premier League victory at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Mohamed Salah scored twice as the Reds started clawing back some of the distance to the top four with a 2-1 triumph. Liverpool will now begin their defence of the Carabao Cup when they entertain League One side Derby County in the third round on Wednesday.

And here we look ahead to the changes Jurgen Klopp could make when his team are next in action.

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Kelleher chance

If ever there was a game ripe for rotation, it's Liverpool's next fixture. And there's every chance Klopp could employ a completely different starting XI.

The Reds boss has previously referred to the League Cup as Caoimhin Kelleher's competition. The goalkeeper hasn't featured for the first team since his final heroics in February and will be expected to start, with Adrian on the bench. Alisson Becker will likely be given a night off.

At left-back Kostas Tsimikas is poised to step in for Andy Robertson although Luke Chambers could be another option, yet it will perhaps be on the bench at best for him. Calvin Ramsay is now fully fit and should come in for Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back.

Nat Phillips played 45 minutes for the under-21s at the weekend to suggest he will start at centre-back, with Joe Gomez also due minutes having been benched in place of Ibrahima Konate in the last two games. Virgil van Dijk is due a rest and Joel Matip has now been out for almost a month.

Youngsters primed

A number of midfielders have been waiting patiently for their opportunity in the engine room. And the limited changes Klopp has been able to make there for much of the season suggests he will lean on the next generation.

Certainly, it would be a surprise if any of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Thiago Alcantara and Harvey Elliott start, while any involvement for James Milner will depend on whether he is deemed fit enough by the concussion protocols that ruled him out at Tottenham.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is almost certain to start, although he may be needed in attack given a lack of options up top. It means Stefan Bajcetic is in line for a first senior start, while 17-year-old Bobby Clark, who made his debut as a late substitute against Bournemouth in August, is another possibility.

Curtis Jones will also be expected to feature, either in central midfield or on the left of the attack. Naby Keita and Arthur Melo are out.

Doak decision

With Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz sidelined, there isn't a lot of scope for alternations in attack. Oxlade-Chamberlain could play on the right or as the number nine, while Fabio Carvalho seems primed to play, whether on the left or in a central attacking midfield role.

It is highly unlikely Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah or Darwin Nunez feature, with Nunez perhaps the more probable of the three to be involved.

And could 16-year-old wing sensation Ben Doak, who has been impressing at the Academy, come into the thinking of Klopp? It will be interesting to see if there's a show of faith in the player similar to that in Kaide Gordon and Harvey Blair in the Carabao Cup last season.

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