Updated 01:05, 05 May 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/div>\n
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\nAndrew Robertson of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool (Photo by Liverpool FC\/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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Liverpool will hope that the dust will have long settled on their 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford by the time they welcome Chelsea to Anfield on Saturday lunchtime.<\/p>\n
It has been the dire form of the Londoners which is has been one of the reasons why Liverpool have been able to stick around in the Champions League qualification places despite their own issues of late, and a positive result would all but confirm that they will be dining at European football’s top table again next season.<\/p>\n
Arne Slot will be weighing up some changes to his starting XI for the visit of the Londoners though, and here’s a look at just what the Reds boss could be planning.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Virgil van Dijk responds to Liverpool holiday accusation after new setback – ‘We are adults’<\/span><\/span>READ MORE: Ibrahima Konate lifts lid on Liverpool dressing room talks after Manchester United loss<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nAndy Robertson out?<\/strong><\/h3>\nThere has been plenty of competition, but another one of the many strange things about Liverpool’s season is that Andy Robertson has become a regular in the starting XI just as he’s heading out of the door.<\/p>\n
The Reds vice-captain has now started the last four league matches, and while he impressed and scored on his last Anfield appearance against Crystal Palace, he struggled against Manchester United and was taken off before the hour mark.<\/p>\n
In truth, a minor injury that had briefly forced Milos Kerkez out of training might have been part of the reason why Robertson was turned to at Old Trafford, but the Hungarian – who hasn’t started a league game since he scored in the 2-1 defeat at Brighton in March – is certainly due a game, and it would be no surprise if Slot picked him from the off on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Such a decision would have an emotional connotation of course, with Robertson denied a penultimate Anfield start, but the points are the most important thing and Kerkez will be champing at the bit to play.<\/p>\n
Changes from back to front?<\/strong><\/h3>\nThere was a couple of key absentees at Old Trafford who must surely come back in to the starting XI on Saturday, with Alisson Becker poised to end an eight-match absence and return to the Liverpool goal and Alexander Isak set to recover from what was described as a minor issue.<\/p>\n
Slot said that he expected both to be back for the visit of the Londoners when he spoke before the United game, and the addition of two quality performers at front and back of the team is surely to make a big difference.<\/p>\n
With Giorgi Mamardashvili also missing, third-choice goalkeeper Freddie Woodman has done everything you could ask of him, but having Alisson back is sure to increase the confidence levels of the defenders in front of him.<\/p>\n
Isak, too, will surely relish another start after his goal against Crystal Palace on his last Anfield outing. He was missed at Old Trafford, and the sooner Liverpool structure their attack around him the better.<\/p>\n
FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!<\/strong> All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo’s dedicated LFC Facebook page<\/strong><\/p>\nThe right side questions<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe fact that Curtis Jones, a midfielder by trade, started against United at right-back while Jeremie Frimpong, who was signed as a right-back, was on the right of midfield caused plenty of discussion.<\/p>\n
It was held up by some as an example of how things have gone wrong at Liverpool under Slot, but in truth Jones has done a good job in the position of late and it was no surprise to see him stay there.<\/p>\n
If he does again here, then perhaps Mohamed Salah’s place on the right of the attack could be up for grabs given Frimpong’s limited impact at United. Rio Ngumoha has drifted over there on occasions this season and could be an option, while Florian Wirtz is another one.<\/p>\n
What is clear is that Liverpool need more of a threat from that side of the pitch, as one wasn’t really apparent at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool are next in action against Chelsea in a Saturday lunchtime kick-off and Reds boss…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}