Liverpool boss Arne Slot may give consideration to dropping Dominik Szoboszlai and starting Harvey Elliott in Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Reds clinched a smash-and-grab 1-0 victory at the Parc des Princes last week thanks to a solitary Elliott strike, but the Englishman was still not handed a first Premier League start of the season for Saturday’s 3-1 win over Southampton.
However, Elliott was introduced for the second half as one of three changes at the break, and Slot admitted that he may have made a mistake keeping Szoboszlai in the starting lineup as he saw a negative kind of “different energy” from the Hungarian.
As Liverpool will need as many fresh legs as possible against PSG’s fast-paced attacking unit, Slot could very well demote the fatigued Szoboszlai entirely, as Elliott joins Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez in an unchanged attack.
Nunez’s well-taken goal at the weekend and subsequent praise from Slot may be enough to see him keep Diogo Jota at bay, while Alexis Mac Allister will no doubt return in midfield over Curtis Jones alongside Ryan Gravenberch.
Andy Robertson is also set to come back in for Kostas Tsimikas on the left-hand side, but Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Alisson Becker – who made nine saves in the first leg, his most in a single Liverpool game – will all reprise their roles.
Cody Gakpo (knock) is still a major doubt for the contest, while all of Tyler Morton (shoulder), Joe Gomez (hamstring) and Conor Bradley (hamstring) will play no part.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Elliott, Diaz; Nunez
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