Liverpool vs Torino: The talking points
By Josh Ricker
Liverpool take on Torino at Anfield in their last preseason fixture before their Premier League opener against West Ham on Sunday.
It’s been a very successful preseason so far for the Reds, who have only lost once in games against Tranmere Rovers, Chester, Bury, Blackburn, Borussia Dortmund, Machester City, Machester United and Napoli.
Recently the men in red took down Napoli 5-0 in Dublin. It was a dominating performance from the squad with Alisson Becker making his debut while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino came back into the team from their World Cup holidays.
Torino finished 9th last year in the Serie A, but should be a very competitive opponent in the last preseason match before the 2018/2019 campaign. It will be a good warm-up for all the lads to tune up for the big opener on Sunday. It will be likely that Klopp will start out with a team similar to the one we will see on the weekend.
It is also predictable that Klopp will make a handful of changes at the halftime break to make sure everybody is in the swing of things. Playing at Anfield for Liverpool will be a new experience for a few of the players as well including Xherdan Shaqiri, Alisson Becker, Naby Keita, and Fabinho.
"In an interview with Liverpool FC, Andy Robertson spoke as to how this will help out the squad: “It’s also good for us to get used to our surroundings again,” said the defender. “Especially the new signings who can get a feel for Anfield before it comes on the Sunday because if it takes you 10 to 15 minutes on the Sunday, then that’s time you don’t really have because we need to be ready to go from the first whistle”."
While the game should be a decent enough challenge, the Reds should be able to win handily especially if the likes of Keita, Salah, Mane and Firmino all play together like they did Saturday against Napoli. The offense looked brilliantly in sync, and this should be the case for tonight’s fixture as well.
As for lineups go this is my predicted Liverpool starting XI: Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, James Milner, Naby Keita, Fabinho, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah.
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My predicted scoreline is 4-0 in favor of the Redmen. I expect to see goals from Bobby Firmino, Mo, Keita, and Sturridge (coming on as a substitute in the second half).