Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Giuseppe Muro

Liverpool XI vs Leicester: Confirmed lineup, team news, injuries & Covid latest for Carabao Cup game

Ahead of two Premier League games in just over 48 hours after Christmas, Jurgen Klopp hsa made sweeping changes for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Leicester.

Divock Origi is not ready to return from injury but Roberto Firmino makes his first start since injuring his hamstring against Atletico Madrid on November 3.

Firmino came off the bench for the final 30 minutes against Tottenham on Sunday and will lead the Liverpool attack with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane rested.

Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara and Curtis Jones all missed the 2-2 draw at Spurs after testing positive for Covid and remain unavailable. Liverpool have had no further confirmed positive Covid cases in their squad.

Liverpool face Leeds at Anfield to Boxing Day before a trip to Leicester on December 28 in a daunting few days. That means a debut for 19-year-old French defender Billy Koumetio, with Tyler Morton, Conor Bradley and Neco Williams included.

Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders said: “We know we are in an intense period, so what we always do is create a line-up, we make a small plan and we prepare well. And then we want to attack matchday.

“We know in these intense periods we need the whole squad. We know that’s something we want – we want to be in these intense periods, we want to play these games and we really look forward to it. What we want is to give our fans a cup night full of desire.”

Liverpool XI: Kelleher; Bradley, Gomez, Koumetio, Tsimikas; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Morton, Henderson; Williams, Firmino, Minamino.

Subs: Pitaluga, Konate, Milner, Keita, Jota, Gordon, Beck, Quansah, Woltman.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.