Key trio in fine form ahead of Leicester showdown
A Liverpool trio are in fine form.
Jurgen Klopp will be looking for big performances from his star names as Brendan Rodgers comes to Anfield on Sunday night.
With an injury-hit defence and Mohamed Salah testing positive for COVID-19, Klopp will have to summon his favourite backs-against-the-wall mentality from the squad if they want to take three points out of the fixture.
Luckily, there are three key players in fine form after the international break and that can only help things for Liverpool.
Gini Wijnaldum is a key player for the Reds and for the Netherlands, even if he’s given license to perform a completely different role for his country.
Under Klopp, Wijnaldum isn’t granted the opportunity to get forward and put himself in areas to score goals. It happens sometimes, and those strong runs into the box can be useful, but Gini isn’t as offensively minded as he is with the Dutch.
Which explains why his two goals in orange are rarer than hen’s teeth in red. Gini scored twice as the Netherlands beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Nations League; that’s now 11 international strikes in 18 games.
Sadio Mane and Naby Keita jetted off and were involved in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying. Both hit the back of the net as Senegal beat Guinea-Bissau, while Guinea played out a 1-1 draw with Chad.
Keita has been a rare fixture on the Liverpool team sheet since he played the first four games of the season – but he’s missed the next four and will be hoping to get back in the XI now he’s proven his fitness.
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The absence of Salah will mean Mane will need to step up and be the main man against Leicester. This isn’t something the former Southampton player struggles with, but he hasn’t scored in three games and will be eager to set that right.