Thankfully, injuries aren’t a huge issue for Liverpool at present, with just two current absentees. Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley are both missing but Slot seemed to imply in his pre-match press conference that the pair could be back in contention to face Manchester United next week.
In the midst of a busy run of fixtures, rotation could be on Slot’s mind, but with a rare midweek off for the Reds before the United clash, the Dutchman might be tempted to name his strongest XI and hope to get through the West Ham fixture without any fresh issues.
That will certainly mean Alisson continuing between the sticks, although it was Caoimhin Kelleher who last started when Liverpool faced West Ham in September. Joe Gomez could be the only surviving member of the back four from that 5-1 Carabao Cup victory to again start at the London Stadium.
That means Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson joining him in the starting line-up. If any defender is to be rested, it’s likely to be the latter – but having started the last seven league games, Robertson will probably retain his spot.
In midfield, Slot is one man down following Dominik Szoboszlai’s suspension. He picked up a fifth yellow card of the season against Leicester and will be forced to sit out the West Ham trip. Slot will most likely stick with the three from the last game of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones, although Harvey Elliott is an option if required.
As for the attacking areas, a first league start of the season for Federico Chiesa looks unlikely, while Diogo Jota will probably be among the substitutes again after Slot revealed he is being eased back in after his recent injury.
That leaves one of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz to miss out. It was the latter who dropped to the bench on Boxing Day and had a rare game off, so he should return, while it seems impossible to overlook Salah or Gakpo with both in sterling form and earning the player-of-the-match award in the last two matches.
So it’s Nunez to begin on the bench, which perhaps wouldn’t a surprise given he has started just seven of Liverpool’s 17 league matches this term.
Liverpool predicted XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, MacAllister, Jones; Salah, Diaz, Gakpo.
