Liverpool predicted lineup vs Chelsea - Premier League
Liverpool start to 2022 with a trip to Chelsea's Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday - but they have to do it without a Covid-positive Jurgen Klopp on the bench.
Following a sequence of eight consecutive victories, the Reds haven't won a match inside 90 minutes in any of their past three outings.
Liverpool's midweek defeat to Leicester was not only the club's second loss this season, but also ended a run of scoring in 36 consecutive matches across all competitions.
Here's the XI that could bring a return to winning ways.
Liverpool predicted lineup vs Chelsea
1. Goalkeeper & defenders
Alisson (GK) - The former Roma custodian shipped three goals on his first visit to Stamford Bridge with the Italian club back in the 2017/18 Champions League campaign, the same season he was knocked out of the competition's semi-finals by his current employers.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (RB) - Chelsea are the only side to have conceded more than one goal scored by Alexander-Arnold.
Joel Matip (CB) - The injury struggles that have dogged much of Matip's career - but appear to have mercifully subsided for the current campaign - ensured that the former Cameroon international has avoided defeat in all six of his Premier League meetings with Chelsea.
Virgil van Dijk (CB) - Liverpool's talismanic centre back limited a goalless Romelu Lukaku to the fewest touches of any Chelsea player that played the full 90 minutes in the reverse fixture last August.
Kostas Tsimikas (LB) - The self-appointed 'Greek Scouser' has offered remarkably little drop off to Andy Robertson's undoubted quality in the role of understudy this season.
2. Midfielders
Jordan Henderson (CM) - No team has ever defeated a side including Liverpool's captain as often as Chelsea (11).
Fabinho (CM) - One positive to have emerged from Liverpool's defeat against Leicester was Fabinho's avoidance of a fifth yellow card that would have ruled him out of Sunday's crunch game.
Naby Keita (CM) - The Guinea international hasn't started a Premier League defeat since playing the full 90 minutes of Liverpool's 1-0 loss at home to Fulham in March.
3. Forwards
Mohamed Salah (RW) - The former Chelsea player (for just ten starts) has faced the Blues more often than any other opponent in his career (16 games).
Diogo Jota (ST) - With ten goals from 15 Premier League starts, the Portugal international has snuck not only into second place in the division's scoring charts, but seemingly ahead of the fit-again Roberto Firmino in Klopp's pecking order.
Sadio Mane (LW) - Alongside his fellow first-choice Liverpool forwards, Mane ranks among the Premier League's top three for 'Big Chances Missed' (per FotMob) this season - the latest of which proved particularly costly in defeat to Leicester City.