The international break, it’s one of the worst things about football, particularly when your side is coming off the back of a heavy and humiliating home defeat. The players and fans alike will want nothing more than to put that West Ham game behind us and win everyone back on side with a win over our long-standing rivals.
However, we’ll have to wait until September 12 for our trip to Old Trafford, when we take on Manchester United and look to get our pursuit of a Champions League place well and truly back on track.
Of course, we’ll have to do so without Philippe Coutinho, who will be suspended following his red card against the Hammers. Meanwhile, we can only hope that Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana, who have both missed our last two games, are fit and ready to return in a couple of weeks time.
SEE MORE:
Five things we learned during 3-0 defeat v West Ham – Benteke, Firmino and more
Liverpool fans rage on Twitter at West Ham horror show – Lovren and Rodgers discussed
Liverpool player ratings vs West Ham – Lovren exposed on disappointing day
Here’s how we’re hoping we’ll be lining up…
GK) Simon Mignolet
The goalkeeper did very little wrong against West Ham, despite conceding three goals. Considering the fact that he came into that game off the back of three consecutive clean sheets as well, there’s no chance of him missing out.
RB) Nathaniel Clyne
Clyne, like all of our defenders, didn’t have the best of afternoon’s against West Ham. He’s enjoyed a decent start to life at Liverpool and won’t be overly concerned by one under-par showing, although he’ll need to be at his very best at Old Trafford if we’re to get a good result.
CB) Martin Skrtel
The Slovakian needs to stay on his feet against United and not give away too many free-kicks, as he was doing against West Ham. Hopefully, the change in centre-back partner should ease the pressure on his shoulders as well.
CB) Mamadou Sakho
It’s never nice to see knee-jerk reactions to a poor result but it’s hard to imagine Lovren, who has been widely chastised for his poor performance against West Ham, being mentally ready to take on Manchester United. Sakho has waited patiently for his chance and deserves the opportunity.
LB) Joe Gomez
It was a difficult afternoon for the youngster against West Ham but his performances in the first three games of the season suggest that Brendan Rodgers would be right to stick by him for this one. Alberto Moreno is the only alternative and he did little in that game to suggest that he deserves to leapfrog the Englishman.
DM) Emre Can
The Reds would be amiss to go without a holding midfielder for this game. The three man midfield worked well against Arsenal and needs to perform like that once again here. Assuming Henderson is fit to return, it’ll be either Can or Lucas for the deep-lying role, and we’d like to see the German given another chance.
CM) Jordan Henderson
Our captain was a big miss against West Ham. His command of the midfield and his tireless work-rate should never be underestimate, particularly ahead of big games such as this. Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to have him back for this one, particularly as United are so strong in midfield.
CM) James Milner
Milner will definitely benefit from having Henderson back alongside him. It’ll allow him to push that bit further forward with confidence, rather than constantly tracking back to help cover Lucas. These two were very strong together earlier in the season and it’s a shame that relationship has been put on hold.
AM) Adam Lallana
We’ve gone for a 4-4-2 diamond formation. This allows our attacking players to play in their correct position, rather than out wide, and for someone to get up in support of Christian Benteke. Lallana needs to put himself about in this one, drifting wide to either flank to support the full-backs and tracking back to help the midfield.
AM) Roberto Firmino
We’ve put the Brazilian in his natural number ten position, playing just behind the central striker. He really needs to push on and be the man that’s there to pick up the knock downs from the Belgian, who was far too isolated against West Ham. He’s started fairly slowly and this needs to be a big game for him.
ST) Christian Benteke
One goal in four games perhaps doesn’t do justice to a lot of his good work. He’s been one of our better players so far this season. Sadly, he’s not been offered anywhere near enough support, and he needs the chance to prove that he can be more than just a target man. Get Firmino playing off him and working in a partnership.
This is the formation we’d like to see: