Predicted Liverpool lineup against West Ham United: Konate, Jota to return; Firmino misses out

Roberto Firmino misses out with an injury, but Diogo Jota and Ibrahima Konate will return when Liverpool take on West Ham United on Sunday.

Liverpool will be hoping to bridge the gap to Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table when they lock horns with West Ham United at the London Stadium on Sunday evening. And Jurgen Klopp has been handed a major blow on the team news front ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Roberto Firmino is the major absentee for Liverpool after sustaining a hamstring injury earlier this week in the UEFA Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid. The Brazilian has joined Joe Gomez (calf), Curtis Jones (eye), James Milner (hamstring), Naby Keita (hamstring) and Harvey Elliott (ankle) on the sidelines.

Speaking to the Liverpool media, Klopp did not provide a definitive update on Firmino, although he did reveal that the hamstring injury is a serious one. The Liverpool boss also provided an update some of the other players who are unavailable.

Klopp said, “Bobby is not good news with a serious hamstring injury, really unfortunate. We don’t know exactly how long he will be out but it will be not now after the international break directly. We have to work on that. Curtis is a completely different story, he was very unlucky in training – he got a finger that scratched the eye.”

“I had a lot of injuries to players in my career, that was not involved. He is on the way back but we have to see how long exactly. He will be back after the international break, for sure, but in the international break we have to see when he can start doing proper stuff again. And Joey, hopefully after the international break as well.”

“We will see. For them [Milner and Keita], I have hope for after the international break but I don’t know exactly. We have to wait. That’s two weeks and a few days from now on, so that’s what I would really wish for but I cannot promise that. But that’s what we are working on.”

The absence of Jones, Milner, Keita and Elliott leaves Liverpool with just four senior midfielders at his disposal. And Thiago Alcantara could be the one to miss out, as Klopp continues to ease him back in following a sizable period on the sidelines. So, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be the three midfielders starting for Liverpool.

In attack, Firmino’s absence means Diogo Jota is a certainty to lead the line for Liverpool, with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane being the two wide men. At the opposite end, Alisson Becker picks himself, with a four-man defensive unit set to protect him.

At the heart of the Liverpool defence, Ibrahima Konate could replace Joel Matip as Virgil van Dijk’s partner. Out wide, Andrew Robertson will be back in the starting lineup after being rested in the midweek European tie. Finally, there is no looking past Trent Alexander-Arnold at the right flank.

Predicted Liverpool XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Jota, Mane