Venue: Sincil Bank (LNER Stadium)
Last 5 Results
Liverpool: Form – DLWWW
- RB Salzburg (Friendly): Tied 2-2
- Arsenal (Wembley): Lost 1-1 (Pen)
- Blackpool (H/Friendly): Won 7-2
- Leeds United (H): Won 4-3
- Chelsea (A): Won 2-0
Lincoln: Form – WWWWW
- Crewe (A): Won 2-1
- Scunthorpe (H): Won 1-1 (Pens)
- Oxford Utd (H): Won 2-0
- Bradford (A): Won 5-0
- MK Dons (A): Won 2-1
Possible Absences:
Liverpool:
- Jordan Henderson (Injury)
- Joel Matip (Injury)
- Joe Gomez (Injury)
- Billy Koumetio (Injury)
Lincoln:
- N/A
Predicted Starting XI:
Lincoln (4-3-3)
- Alex Palmer
- Timothy Eyoma, Lewis Montsma, Adam Jackson, Max Melbourne
- Liam Bridcutt, Conor McGrandles, James Jones
- Harry Anderson, Tom Hopper, Jorge Grant
Liverpool (4-2-3-1)
- Adrian
- Neco Williams, Sepp Van den Berg, Rhys Williams, Kostas Tsimikas
- Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara, James Milner
- Harvey Elliot, Takumi Minamino, Diogo Jota
Coming off of their 2-0 win against Chelsea, Liverpool have a kind of quick turnaround as they face League One side Lincoln City at LNER Stadium. If you have watched this Liverpool team under Klopp in the last few years you know he doesn’t care too much about this competition. Add onto that the fact that Pep Lijnders said in his press conference that they’ll put out a very strong team, and it makes predicting a starting XI dang near impossible. But I did it anyways,
The goalie is about the only position you know for sure. Given it’s the EFL cup the almost surefire selection is Adrian. At right back Neco Williams should get the start as his talent is a big reason Liverpool sold Ki-Jana Hoever to Wolves. At Left back Kostas Tsimikas should make his official Liverpool debut. At center back I most likely would’ve put Billy Koumetio, but given he’s a late injury test, and the fact that I’ve heard rumors about who it will be, I’ve gone with Van den Berg and Rhys Williams. A very young partnership as Williams would be making his Liverpool debut.
In midfield there is a lot of players to choose from. I went for a 4-3-3 formation just because I think that fits the players that I’ve chosen. However, I could easily see Klopp choosing a 4-2-3-1 as he knows he’ll probably be on the attack more often than not. Curtis Jones should get the nod since he is getting minutes in the Premier League and seems to be the like for like replacement for Lallana in this year’s squad. Thiago is someone I chose because I think Klopp will want to give him more game time in a Liverpool shirt. I do think that number six position could be Marko Grujic as well though. And lastly, I picked James Milner because he brings a veteran presence that could be helpful with a younger squad.
For the front three I think new signing Diogo Jota should make his debut as someone who can get his first minutes while being a very strong option. On the other side I went with Harvey Elliot because he impressed in pre-season. And up top I picked Takumi Minamino because he has been getting some minutes replacing Firmino, so it would make sense to give him the start at the position for the EFL Cup tie.
This cup doesn’t mean much to Klopp, but it doesn’t mean he won’t try to win. I do think the selection of the team could be really interesting for the reason that whoever doesn’t get picked for the 18 are probably looking to be sold. Off of my starting XI I’m leaning towards two of those players being Harry Wilson and Rhian Brewster. While it’s not a clear cut, if you don’t make the 18 you’re getting sold, I do think who Klopp picks is a pretty big hint.
My Prediction: Lincoln 0 – 4 Liverpool. I think even with a rotated side Liverpool should be able to take care of business comfortably. At the end of the day a lot of players that Liverpool are hoping to have a large say in this season, should be taking part. So, with the aspirations and goals of the club where they are, the rotated team should be able to easily beat League One opposition. Even if that opposition is on a 5-game win streak.
The Possible Absences and Starting XI portions of the article will be updated as necessary up until starting lineups are announced