Liverpool line-ups for Brighton as Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez decisions made
Liverpool are fully in the midst of one of their most challenging periods of the season. On Wednesday night, they visit Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup.
The Reds have started life under new head coach Arne Slot superbly in the Premier League and Champions League, while a 5-1 win over West Ham United in the previous round of this competition set up this challenging encoutner on the south coast.
The game will be the first of two meetings between the sides in four days, with Brighton the visitors to Anfield on Saturday in the Premier League. With that in mind, changes are expected on Wednesday evening for both sides. Paul Gorst and Ian Doyle both have their say below on how Liverpool should set up.
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Paul Gorst
A place in the quarter-finals may be up for grabs tonight but this is the second most important game with Brighton this week for Arne Slot. And that will mean changes aplenty, as much as the squad will allow.
Vitezslav Jaros can come in for Caoimhin Kelleher in goal behind a back four of Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, Jarell Quansah and Kostas Tsimikas. If the Northern Ireland captain is still unfit then Gomez can shuffle off to the right and I'll name Virgil van Dijk alongside Quansah.
In midfield, it's a rare outing for Wataru Endo and Tyler Morton can get the nod too. Curtis Jones is picked as the slightly more advanced of the three.
Up top, with no Federico Chiesa, I am going to name Luis Diaz off the right and I'll give Cody Gakpo the nod off the left side. Diogo Jota's injury means Darwin Nunez will lead the line for the Reds with Mohamed Salah left in reserve.
My team (4-2-3-1): Jaros; Bradley, Gomez, Quansah, Tsimikas; Endo, Morton; Diaz, Jones, Gakpo; Nunez
Ian Doyle
If it's the League Cup, then it's changes for Liverpool. But probably not as many as Arne Slot would like as his team face a tricky task at Brighton.
What, then, is the Reds boss to do?
The competition has seen second-choice goalkeepers thrive for Liverpool, and with Caoimhin Kelleher the number one for the time being, it's a chance for Vitezslav Jaros to make his full debut for the club.
Conor Bradley is fit enough to come in at right-back, Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah are the centre-backs with Kostas Tsimikas at left-back.
In midfield, Wataru Endo can feature alongside Tyler Morton as the double pivot, with Curtis Jones ahead of them as the number 10. And up top, Dominik Szoboszlai can shift across to the right flank, with Cody Gakpo down the middle and Luis Diaz on the left.
The bench is pretty strong, of course.
My team (4-2-3-1): Jaros; Bradley, Gomez, Quansah, Tsimikas; Morton, Endo; Szoboszlai, Jones, Diaz; Gakpo