Judging by Klopp's and Mane's words, they treat this as one of the biggest games of the season and Klopp will select the strongest (and freshest) starting 11 regardless of the derby on Sunday. I still thought it's interesting to summarize the rotation of the front 4 in the last 2 weeks:
Tuesday Sevilla – first-choice front 4 starts
Saturday Chelsea – Firmino and Mane rested
Wednesday Stoke – Salah and Coutinho rested
Saturday Brighton – Mane rested
Wednesday Spartak – ?
Sunday Everton – ?
Will Klopp rest any of the "fab 4" tomorrow? It's very hard to predict, not knowing the specific tactical idea he has in mind against each opponent. In recent games you could see Klopp has analyzed every opponent thoroughly and selected a team based on a specific idea, for instance he predicted Brighton would sit back, so 2 midfielders in the back 3 made sense, Stoke was all about control and I still can't quite explain the Chelsea selection, but it surely looked like two tacticians with a lot of mutual respect trying to surprise and outsmart each other.
For Spartak, it really depends on what specific weaknesses Klopp wants to exploit – for instance I could see an argument for Sturridge either leading the line or playing alongside Firmino or Salah up front. I could also see Ox's energy and speed being useful in this game – but that doesn't mean he will start. Spartak is a team with good individual technical quality and playing an intelligent continental style of football under their Italian coach – I think our biggest edge over them is not in terms of quality and technique, but in terms of energy and intensity; the RPL simply can't condition a team for the same level of intensity over 90 minutes as the EPL – if I were Klopp I would try to maximize our advantage in that area first and foremost.
With that and other things in mind, somehow I have a "hunch" that Coutinho will be surprisingly rested this time. Once we go past the front four, I think it's much easier: Can and Wijnaldum will probably start together in midfield (with Milner and Hendo penciled in for Everton) and the only other question is Trent vs Gomez – really hard to pick one over the other. Really looking forward to this game, a big atmosphere and a big performance.
4-2-2-2:
-----------------Karius------------------
Trent---Lovren---Klavan---Moreno
----------Wijnaldum---Can-----------
Salah-----------------------------Mane
-----------Firmino---Sturridge--------
Subs: Mignolet, Gomez, Henderson, Milner, Coutinho, Oxlade, Solanke
BTW I would pay money to watch Mane and Salah race each other. They should really televise it.
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