The Premier League season kicks off in Liverpool on Saturday afternoon with a trip to Craven Cottage to take on newly promoted Fulham.
Playing a newly promoted team on the opening day of the season is nothing new for the Reds. In the last three campaigns, they have faced Norwich twice in addition to Leeds on these occasions, winning each time.
The Reds come to this match as favourites, but in matches like this sometimes performance is more important than the result.
There is a lot of speculation about how Liverpool will line up for this event. Will Darwin Nunez start the first game of the season? Will Joe Gomez return to the team after signing his new contract? What kind of roles will Fabio Carvalho and Harvey Elliott play this season?
These are all pressing questions, and with that in mind, we’ve tried to anticipate Liverpool’s starting line-up for this question.
We believe Jurgen Klopp will make three changes from the team that beat Manchester City to the Community Shield.
As expected, Alisson Becker is back with bats after recovering from his short-term injury, while the four full-backs remain the same we saw at King Power Stadium.
There is a change in the midfield.
Thiago Alcantara’s fitness management will be key this season, and while he would probably love to start the opening game, it’s fair to say that Liverpool could get past Fulham without introducing their strongest player ever.
Therefore, we would like Harvey Elliott to start alongside Jordan Henderson and Fabinho. Let’s not forget, Elliott was starting on an almost weekly basis last season before his injury and we expect him to come back here.
At the top, we asked Darwin Nunez to start ahead of Roberto Firmino this season, while Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah make up what are sure to be the three up front we’ve become familiar with.
In other news, Newcastle and West Ham leave Fulham free to sign killer £10m talent