He’s so far only been handed cameo appearances from the bench since his £8million switch this summer, but there’s every chance that Fabio Carvalho makes his first Liverpool start this weekend against Bournemouth.
It’s obvious Jurgen Klopp has a number of selection decisions to make ahead of the meeting against Scott Parker’s side with the Reds now three games into the new campaign and without their first victory.
There’s been a combination of factors that have all played a part in their sluggish start to the season. Injuries, suspensions, bad luck and also a troublesome trend of conceding first have often meant Klopp’s men have found themselves on the back foot.
Recent comments from the Liverpool boss do hint that he’s considered adjusting his tactical approach in order to breathe some new life into his side, however, missing key personnel has hindered his ability to do so.
"We have, in the moment, five senior midfielders, and we have to start with three,” he said after the defeat at United.
“We could start with two if we had more attackers but we only have three attackers, so it means we have to start with three and change during the game. How we want to start and how we want to change, we have to think before the game. That’s the only reason for it.”
A shake-up could still take place, even with Klopp’s options limited. And a possible solution could well be switching from his favoured 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 instead. Although it’d be a move away from the tried and trusted approach for the German, the same would theoretically remove a midfielder, where options are already limited, and instead allow for another attacker to join the ranks.
If this was to be the case, then it’s fair to say the best candidate to play would be Carvalho. At Fulham, the bulk of his senior minutes came as a number ten in that same system and hugely played to his strengths. He’d do a great job of dropping in between the lines, receiving passes on the turn and finished the campaign with a standout 18 goal contributions.
The move could also address some of the issues that were prevalent in Monday night’s 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford. For example, Firmino was too often guilty of vacating the front line in order to come deep and pick up possession. If we saw similar on Saturday, he and Carvalho could at least rotate so the Reds still pose some threat to the Bournemouth backline.
Those two would be flanked by a dangerous duo of Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz, while behind them, you’d anticipate Fabinho’s return after being a surprise omission from the starting XI on Monday night.
Partnered by possibly one of James Milner or Jordan Henderson, he would add more robustness to the side without the ball, while Carvalho’s ability to both thread dangerous balls into the box whilst also being to dribble through opposing players means he would certainly have the potential to unlock the Bournemouth defence.
