Jota and Chiesa decision made as £140k-a-week player drops out: Liverpool predicted XI v Fulham

Liverpool return to Premier League action on Saturday as they play host to Fulham at Anfield.

The Reds, who didn’t play Everton last week due to Storm Darragh, go into the Cottagers game on the back of a 1-0 win over Girona in the Champions League.

Liverpool remain four points clear at the top of the Premier League table and now have a game in hand on every other team bar their Merseyside rivals.

Arne Slot’s charges will take on a Fulham side that will hope to get two positive results in a row against title challengers after drawing 1-1 with Arsenal last week.

TBR Football looks at who the Liverpool boss could name in his starting XI for the game against Marco Silva’s side.

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Liverpool team news v Fulham

Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa are both back in training following long-term injuries and could be in the Liverpool squad against Fulham.

However, Alexis Mac Allister is suspended after receiving his fifth booking of the season during the draw at Newcastle United.

The Argentine was due to serve his suspension in the Everton game, but its postponement means his ban is carried over to the Fulham fixture.

Defensive trio Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas remain out.

Darwin Nunez tipped to drop out of Liverpool starting line-up

Although Jota and Chiesa are closing in on a return to action, Slot is unlikely to risk either player from the off.

No fresh injury or suspension worries have arisen, so Slot will probably keep the faith with most of those who started the Girona game.

Alisson made a welcome return to the Liverpool goal and is expected to start again, while the defence will probably remain unchanged.

This means Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez should continue at centre-back, with Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the flanks.

Likewise, the midfield will probably remain unchanged, with Mac Allister unavailable due to suspension.

This would see Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones as the middle three.

The one predicted change for Liverpool would come in attack, with Darwin Nunez likely to drop out and Cody Gakpo coming back in.

The £140,000-a-week forward struggled against Girona and was subbed, so Slot could well replace him with Diaz, who has been playing through the middle of late.

Liverpool predicted XI v Fulham: Allison; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Diaz, Gakpo