Liverpool predicted XI vs. Fulham: Barcola fit for first Premier League start? | OneFootball

Liverpool switch their focus back to the Premier League after Wednesday’s Champions League win over Atletico Madrid when they host Fulham on Saturday.

Andoni Iraola seems to be picking up a bit of momentum in the Liverpool hotseat, but these are still early days in his reign and the manager is working out his best team.

There hasn’t been too much variance in his last couple of lineups. Against Atletico, he went for Alisson in goal, Ronald Araujo, Jeremy Jacquet and Virgil van Dijk and Milos Kerkez in defence, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai in midfield, then Rio Ngumoha, Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola in behind Alexander Isak.

The only changes compared to last Friday’s win over Ipswich were on the wings, with Ngumoha and Barcola coming in for Cody Gakpo and Victor Munoz.

And it’s that part of the pitch that probably draws the most intrigue for how Iraola will rotate things against Fulham. Could Barcola keep his shirt for a full Premier League debut?

When he went off clutching his calf against Atletico, that was in doubt. But it has since emerged that the Frenchman was merely suffering from cramp and should be good to go against Fulham.

Whether that’s as a starter or sub is still up for question, as are the chances of Gakpo recovering after missing the Atletico game with an adductor injury. Gakpo had been in good form against Ipswich, so his absence would be a blow.

Elsewhere, there shouldn’t be too much change to Liverpool’s lineup. Iraola is settling on his formula and back-to-back wins have given him little reason to shake things up too much.

Liverpool do have a Carabao Cup game to follow in midweek, but the general suspicion is that that’s when Iraola will mix up his lineup more, even if Tottenham could be a tricky opponent on Tuesday.

One other player with a question mark over him is Kerkez at left-back, but his withdrawal on Wednesday was also due to cramp.

Given that Mac Allister and Szoboszlai were Liverpool’s scorers against Atletico, they should be in strong contention to keep their places in midfield.

With all that in mind, here’s how we’re predicting Liverpool to line up against Fulham for their 3pm game on Saturday.

Liverpool predicted XI vs Fulham

GK: Alisson Becker

CB: Virgil van Dijk

LB: Milos Kerkez

RW: Bradley Barcola

AM: Florian Wirtz

LW: Rio Ngumoha