Having just amassed their first away league win of the season in a hard-fought battle with Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool will be looking to continue their newfound run of good form at Anfield on Wednesday when they host Derby County in the Carabao Cup.
Liverpool Predicted Lineup vs Derby County in League Cup Clash
82' – Thiago plays in Darwin, whose effort hits the crossbar and is eventually flagged for offside.
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#TOTLIV pic.twitter.com/p81BrSMPCR— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 6, 2022
Injuries to Force Jurgen Klopp’s Hand
It will not come as a surprise to many that Liverpool have spent the bulk of this season with a bare-bones squad, which has no doubt played a detrimental part in their underwhelming league form.
Klopp has been extremely vocal about fixture congestion playing a massive part in causing this problem, so a midweek game against League One opposition three days after playing Tottenham away will likely be somewhat of a nuisance to the German.
That said, success in the League Cup would come as a great relief to Liverpool fans who have faced a great deal of disappointment so far this season, and Klopp will see this as a must-win game as a result – but he will likely try to do so without several of his key players.
Senior Debuts and an Injury Returnee
Liverpool will head into the League Cup clash with one eye on their upcoming Premier League game against Southampton. Reds fans watching the game on Wednesday evening will likely witness the first senior starts for a teenage duo: 19-year-old Calvin Ramsay and 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic.
Ramsay was a summer signing of Liverpool’s, acquired for £5 million from Aberdeen, at which time Klopp said that he had noticed “bags of potential” in the young, attack-minded right-back. He has already appeared off the bench in the Champions League for Liverpool, coming on in the dying minutes against Napoli last week.
Bajcetic has made multiple substitute appearance for Liverpool, in both the Premier League and Champions League, but is yet to be given more than 20 minutes off the bench. On these occasions, he was utilised as a defensive midfielder. The young Spaniard has been noted for his versatility and can operate as both a centre-back and right-back.
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Liverpool fans can also look forward to the return of a much-needed familiar face in their injury-stricken midfield in the form of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The high-intensity midfielder has not started a competitive game since an FA Cup fixture against Nottingham Forest in March and has been recovering from a hamstring injury he picked up in pre-season.
While Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn’t been a mainstay in Liverpool’s midfield since signing from rivals Arsenal in 2017, Reds’ fans will surely welcome his return in the midst of their injury crisis.
Liverpool predicted XI vs Derby County: Kelleher, Ramsay, Gomez, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Bajcetic, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Milner, Carvalho, Firmino, Nunez.
