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Liverpool fans appear to have little hope of beating Manchester City today (March 10) after seeing Jurgen Klopp's team selection.
The Reds have endured an injury curse as of late and it has struck Ibrahima Konate. The French defender will play no part in today's encounter at Anfield.
Konate picked up an injury against Sparta Prague in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League last 16 tie (March 7). He's been vital for the Merseysiders this season and his absence could be detrimental.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah doesn't start as he continues his recovery from a hamstring problem. The Egyptian superstar is named on the bench and club legend Jamie Carragher reckons that'll be a concern.
It means Klopp has had to shuffle his deck in Liverpool's crucial clash with title rivals Manchester City. The German has named Caimohin Kelleher in goal, with Conor Bradley, Jarrell Quansah, Virgil van Dijk, and Joe Gomez in defense.
Meanwhile, there is good news regarding Dominik Szoboszlai as the Hungarian midfielder makes his first league start since early January. He's joined by Wataru Endo and Alexis Mac Allister in midfield.
Harvey Elliott replaces Cody Gakpo in attack after the Dutchman started in his side's 5-1 thrashing of Sparta Prague. The young English attacker is joined in the frontline by the in-form Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz.
Liverpool can move back to the top of the Premier League with a win against Manchester City. They are second, a point behind leaders Arsenal who beat Brentford 2-1 yesterday to displace them.
However, the Anfield faithful haven't got high hopes for the side after Klopp's team news came to light. In fact, one fan thinks they'll drop down to third.
One fan chuckled at Klopp's team selection:
"Thought it was a joke it’s real."
Another fan feels the Merseysiders' injury crisis makes the fight with City unfair:
"Gutted we’re missing so many big players for this game. It isn’t a fair fight anyway against 115 Charges FC but this makes it even less fair. Get right behind the lads if you’re in the ground & hope we’ve got enough."
Here's how fans on X (formerly Twitter) reacted to Liverpool's starting XI to face Manchester City:
Jurgen Klopp gives an update on Liverpool's Mohamed Salah who starts on the bench against Manchester City
There was much speculation over Salah and whether Klopp would opt to start the club's leading goalscorer. He's been in prolific form this season, with 19 goals and 10 assists in 29 games across competitions.
Salah, 31, has been a constant problem for Manchester City to deal with during the two sides' recent rivalry. The Egypt international has bagged 11 goals and six assists in 20 games across competitions against Guardiola's Cityzens.
However, Salah will have to impact today's game from the bench. Klopp refused to risk him and touched on this in his pre-match interview (via Sky Sports):
"We didn’t even consider or think about starting Salah. It was not a big decision."
It means Liverpool will head into battle without their protagonist spearheading their attack. He could be a game-changer off the bench as the two title rivals tussle to try and claim the top spot in the league.
