Liverpool predicted line-up vs Chelsea after Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk decisions

Liverpool predicted line-up vs Chelsea after Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk decisions

Latest Liverpool news and gossip as the Reds will have Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah back on Merseyside earlier than planned ahead of the clash against Chelsea

Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah

Liverpool will be busy looking ahead to their return to Premier League action next week after the international break. The Reds will host Chelsea in the top flight at Anfield as Arne Slot looks to continue his impressive start to the campaign.

Last weekend saw Liverpool beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park to maintain their spot at the top of the Premier League table. Slot has won six of his seven top-flight fixtures since being named as Reds head coach in the summer, and nine of his first 10 matches in all competitions.

Next week’s match against Chelsea will see Liverpool looking to extend their unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions. Slot could make some changes to his team for that fixture, but was handed a boost this week surrounding Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.

Van Dijk was part of the Netherlands squad for the Nations League this week, while Salah starred for Egypt in a World Cup qualifier against Mauritania. Van Dijk was sent off in a draw with Hungary and will now return to Merseyside early as he serves a one-game suspension for his country.

Salah is also set to return to Liverpool after being withdrawn from the Egypt squad over concerns about the pitch for their match away at Mauritania on Tuesday. As a result, both Salah and Van Dijk will get more time to recover ahead of next week’s clash against Chelsea in the Premier League.

Fitness providing, Salah and Van Dijk are two of the first names on Slot’s team sheet for Liverpool. With the duo returning earlier than expected from international duty, the Reds head coach will hope the duo will be fit and ready to start against Chelsea at Anfield.

One player who will not be in the matchday squad is Alisson Becker. The Liverpool No.1 will be sidelined for several weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in the win against Palace.

As a result, Caoimhin Kelleher is expected to start in goal for Liverpool against Chelsea next weekend. Vitezslav Jaros, who replaced Alisson against Palace, will serve as Kelleher’s deputy while Alisson is recovering from injury.

In defence, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson are all representing their countries during the break. Slot will hope each of the trio will return injury-free to start alongside Van Dijk in the back four against Chelsea.

Midfield could see one change with Alexis Mac Alister’s fitness still uncertain. The midfielder has linked up with the Argentina squad but did not feature in their World Cup qualifier against Venezuela earlier this week after suffering from a potential muscle issue in the win over Palace.

Should Mac Allister be unavailable to start, Slot could turn to Curtis Jones to go into midfield alongside Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai. Harvey Elliott will also be hoping to use the game against Chelsea as an opportunity to return from a lengthy lay-off with a fractured foot.

After returning from international duty with Egypt, Salah will hope to be in the Liverpool starting line-up this weekend. The other two spots in the forward line will see Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez compete for a start.

Federico Chiesa could also return to the matchday squad after missing Liverpool’s last two matches with a fitness issue.

Predicted Liverpool line-up vs Chelsea: Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz; Jota