Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)

Mamardashvili; Jones, Konaté, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Frimpong, Isak, Gakpo

Both Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker are close to a return but neither is likely for Friday—though Slot has suggested Salah might be able to come off the bench for a few minutes if the game sets up for it. Florian Wirtz meanwhile has been ill and on a heavy dose of antibiotics this week. He might be fit in time, then, but seems unlikely to be match fit and also seems likely to cap out at a spot on the bench.

The question, then, may boil down to whether Slot continues his experiment of playing right back Jeremie Frimpong on the wing while deploying attacking midfielder (and youth attacker) Curtis Jones at right back while Joe Gomez sits on the bench. Slot seems to love getting cute playing players out of position and has been leaning into Jones behind Frimpong of late. It hasn’t worked so far. Like it’s been a bit shit, actually. But we keep doing it so hey maybe against Villa is when it clicks.

Hopefully, whatever the lineup, we see some signs of a tactical identity we can latch on to over the summer, especially if the club are determined to stay the course with Slot while a shunned Xabi Alonso makes the best of it and grudgingly accepts Chelsea are the biggest open job on the market. A coherent press, some link-up play that makes it look like the players know each other, a defensive structure that isn’t hilariously fragile, players avoiding stupid individual errors, and maybe even getting the ball to Alexander Isak in dangerous areas.

We would like to see all of those things. Might be too much to hope for at this point, but fingers crossed.

The Managers Have Their Say

Arne Slot: “One reason they are in the final of the Europa League and doing well in the Premier League is they have a big squad with many very good players. If you don’t have that, you’re not able to go all the way to the final in the Europa League and do well in the Premier League.”

Other Manager: “I am so motivated, so excited for the match. It is going to be test against them for which team is, in this moment, better than the other. In the table we have the same points of course, but it’s Liverpool and it’s going to be very difficult, it’s a huge challenge.”

The Officials

Referee: Chris Kavanagh Assistants: Dan Cook and Lee Betts Fourth Official: Andy Madley VAR: Neil Davies

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