Ex-Liverpool defender Hyypia backs current crop for title push
Liverpool are expected to make several changes for the Europa League visit of Toulouse this Thursday. The Reds know victory would see them move another step towards winning Group E and securing a spot in the last 16. They have six points from six so far with their French opponents on four after drawing with Union Saint-Gilloise and beating LASK.
Caoimhin Kelleher should start in goal with Joel Matip and Joe Gomez likely to come into the defence. Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones will hope for minutes in midfield with Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota potential starters in attack.
At left-back, though, Liverpool were last week rocked by a serious shoulder injury for Andy Robertson. Kostas Tsimikas started in the Merseyside derby win over Everton on Saturday and the Greek is now likely to be the first-choice in the position now until early 2024 when Robertson returns post-surgery.
Robertson could miss as many as 11 Premier League matches before then. And that means Klopp will be eager to protect Tsimikas where possible in the coming months. Being without both of his senior left-backs would create a massive headache for the German manager.
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With Liverpool at home to Toulouse, this could be an opportunity for him to mix things up. Yet the most experienced of his younger options, Luke Chambers, is only just back in training after “a little ligament issue”, per Klopp. That would indicate he is not yet in contention to start a match.
The 19-year-old only made his first-team debut last month, coming on as a substitute in a Carabao Cup win over Leicester. To keep Tsimikas fresh for the weekend’s Premier League match against Nottingham Forest and in the absence of Robertson and Chambers, Liverpool could give Calum Scanlon his first ever professional appearance in the Europa League.
The left-back, 18, joined from Birmingham City for £500,000 in 2021 and impressed in pre-season for the Reds this summer. He has started four of Liverpool under-23s’ six Premier League 2 matches this term, only missing one of the other two because he was in the first-team squad on the substitutes’ bench.
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He was an unused sub against Everton and is clearly a player whose talents Klopp is well aware of. With a Carabao Cup clash at Bournemouth to look forward to next week, which Chambers might fancy his chances of starting, Scanlon could be handed an exciting opportunity against Toulouse.
He would become the 85th different player to make his Liverpool debut under Klopp if he is involved from the start or off the bench. Joe Gomez is a more established alternative option at left-back. But Gomez is likelier to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, or Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate at centre-back, instead.
Liverpool will be confident of victory against a team who are 10th in Ligue 1 with just two wins from nine games this season, though they have only conceded 10 times. And that the match is at Anfield, where the Reds have been remarkably strong in Klopp’s tenure, could mean Scanlon gets a shot he’d love to take.
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