Predicting Liverpool’s XI vs Galatasaray as Arne Slot plots big changes for last 16 comeback | OneFootball

Liverpool‘s season is on the line as they look to turn things around in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 against Galatasaray.

Calls for Arne Slot to go will surely grow louder if the Reds fail to overturn their 1-0 deficit from last week, the second time they’ve lost to the Turkish Super Lig giants this season.

But how will Slot approach such an important, must-win game? Here’s how we reckon Liverpool might line up on Wednesday night.

GK: Alisson

Back-up keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili didn’t do much wrong out in Istanbul, but there’s little question Alisson will be back between the sticks after returning from his knock at the weekend.

The long-serving Brazilian has saved some of his most spectacular moments for European nights at Anfield (Napoli, anyone?), and Liverpool might need him to be at his best if they’re to turn things around.

RB: Joe Gomez

Probably the biggest question mark on Slot’s teamsheet.

Jeremie Frimpong was signed as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s replacement in the summer, but we can’t help but feel the manager doesn’t really trust him as a traditional right-back.

He started as a winger against Tottenham on Sunday, with Dominik Szoboszlai shunted back there once more.

Given the stakes here, we can envisage going with the relatively conservative option in Gomez. The experienced defender has famously struggled with injuries but has played every minute of Liverpool’s last three matches, including at right-back in the first leg.

Frimpong will offer a natural go-to option off the bench if Liverpool really need to go for it. But we don’t expect to see Slot go so gung-ho from the off; it’s not in his nature.

CB: Virgil van Dijk

Among the very first names on the teamsheet, as ever.

The captain hasn’t been at his best this season, but the two clean sheets he helped keep against Arsenal demonstrated he’s capable of rolling back the years if the occasion calls for it.

Arguably more integral than anybody else in Liverpool’s faint hopes of salvaging something this season by going all the way in Europe.

CB: Ibrahima Konate

The France international was given a rare rest on Sunday. He wasn’t even turned to from the bench as Slot’s Reds unconvincingly held onto – and inevitably squandered – their one-goal lead against Tottenham.

We’d be amazed if Konate doesn’t return to the fold here.

LB: Milos Kerkez

Another one who watched Liverpool’s miserable display from the bench on Sunday.

The setbacks, frustrating performances and daft dropped points haven’t really let up in 2025-26, but one small positive is that there have been fewer questions asked of Kerkez in recent weeks.

The Hungarian endured a difficult start to life at Liverpool, but has gradually come into his own. He is now clearly the club’s best option at left-back ahead of an ageing and increasingly shaky Andrew Robertson.

DM: Ryan Gravenberch

Slot turning Gravenberch into a defensive midfield powerhouse was one of the masterstrokes of Liverpool’s 2024-25 title-winning campaign.

It was a development that few saw coming and probably where the manager deserves the most credit for not simply just picking up where Jurgen Klopp left off.

Gravenberch has been far from Liverpool’s worst player this season, and you get the feeling there’s a wider systemic midfield failing at play, but he hasn’t been the same imperious figure he was last term.

Still, with a lack of options Slot has little choice but to continue plugging away and hope his midfield pivot can find the old balance and control once again.

CM: Alexis Mac Allister

A much more noticeable drop-off from the World Cup winner.

Chipping in with important goals against Nottingham Forest and West Ham last month, Mac Allister was threatening to find his old verve. But that hasn’t really come to pass.

Much has been made of Liverpool’s fitness issues this season, and with no player is that more evident than their No.10. He looks as though he struggles to keep up with the pace of a Premier League game for 90 minutes.

Mac Allister has played a lot of football of late and is rarely taken off. There’s a case to be made for taking him out of the firing line, or at least subbing him off after 60 minutes for Curtis Jones. Let’s see how the night develops.

CM: Dominik Szoboszlai

To state the bleeding obvious, Liverpool are in need of inspiration against Galatasaray. Fail to score, and they’re out.

Increasingly, it looks as though Szoboszlai blooting one in from 35 yards – be it from a free-kick or open play – is their best chance of scoring.

The 25-year-old has drawn comparisons to prime Steven Gerrard this season for his box-to-box dynamism and ability to provide big moments in an otherwise dysfunctional, ordinary-looking team.

Slot’s Reds might need an Olympiacos moment if they’re to progress.

Sticking Szoboszlai back into his favoured midfield role is their best route to making that happen. Whatever happens, at least his hair is back to normal.

FWR: Mohamed Salah

Salah has been a shadow of his former self.

On nights like this, sometimes you just have to hope that a muscle memory kicks in and he can be Liverpool’s talisman once more.

But his rusty touch and concerning cameo against Spurs raise doubts. Could this be the Egyptian King’s last big European night at Anfield?

ST: Hugo Ekitike

The striker immediately looked the sharpest of Liverpool’s summer signings.

He generally escaped any pelters amid the struggles in the first half of the season, but we’re just starting to hear murmurings of discontent.

Ekitike has scored just once in his last eight appearances and some have accused him of selfishness. The late break against Tottenham a case in point of shooting when he ought not to.

A big performance here will go a long way to silencing the doubters.

A bit like Max Dowman at Arsenal, we’ve somehow arrived at a situation where Liverpool’s most exciting, dangerous winger isn’t old enough to buy a pint.

There’s naturally a rawness to Rio Ngumoha’s game, but he showed enough in his first Premier League start at the weekend that you can make a genuine case he deserves to be starting a do-or-die Champions League knockout match. That’s a bit mad, isn’t it?

Slot’s pragmatism will probably stop him from throwing Ngumoha into the bear pit, and that’s probably sensible, but the 17-year-old ought to be the first port of call if Slot needs to turn to the bench. Few others look as capable of making something happen.

As for who Slot will go with, it’ll surely be their £100million summer signing. After really coming into his own at the turn of the year, Wirtz once again looks like he’s struggling with physicality and intensity after his latest injury knock.

If things aren’t going to plan, we can see Wirtz being the first player hooked. Or at least moved into midfield to provide some creativity from deeper.