Predicting the Liverpool starting XI to face Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday | OneFootball

Liverpool return to action next Sunday with the ultimate grudge match as they play host to Manchester United at Anfield.

The Premier League champions will be desperate to arrest a worrying sequence of three successive defeats prior to the international break, especially against their eternal rivals, who climbed to 10th in the table after beating Sunderland in their most recent outing.

Tickets for the meeting of the two northwestern powerhouses are still available at livefootballtickets.com, and as the big kick-off draws closer, let’s take a look at the starting XI that we think Arne Slot will select next weekend.

Predicted Liverpool starting XI to face Man United

With Alisson Becker out injured, Giorgi Mamardashvili will line out between the sticks for the next few weeks. It’s hoped that Liverpool’s number 1 will return to match fitness after the November international break.

The Reds have an injury concern at centre-back after Ibrahima Konate was sent home from the France squad on Saturday, but hopefully that was merely precautionary and he’ll be fit to line up alongside Virgil van Dijk on Sunday.

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Who Slot selects in the full-back positions will be intriguing. Andy Robertson has yet to start a Premier League game this season, but we reckon his experience might see him get the nod over Milos Kerkez on the left.

On the other flank, neither Conor Bradley nor Jeremie Frimpong has made the right-back berth their own, and it feels like one position that’s very much up for grabs. With the former racking up a concerning number of yellow cards, we think the Dutchman might be preferred against Man United.

Like Konate, Ryan Gravenberch was the subject of an injury scare on international duty, but James Pearce reported today that the midfielder was substituted as a precaution in Netherlands’ win over Finland and will undergo further assessment this week.

If the 23-year-old is passed fit to play, we reckon he’ll line up next to Dominik Szoboszlai, with Alexis Mac Allister not risked due to his late arrival back on Merseyside after Argentina’s friendly against Puerto Rico was pushed back to the early hours of Wednesday morning (UK time).

(Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)

Florian Wirtz starts in the number 10 role, with Mo Salah on the right flank as he hopes to continue his phenomenal scoring record against Man United, despite the goals not flowing freely for him so far this season.

The same can be said of Cody Gakpo, but we don’t see Slot throwing Federico Chiesa in from the start in a match like this, so the Dutchman will probably start.

A big decision awaits as to who’s selected at centre-forward – Alexander Isak or Hugo Ekitike? With the Swede now approaching peak fitness again, we think he might get the nod over our number 22, who might come into the line-up for the return to his former club Eintracht Frankfurt three days later.

Predicted Liverpool starting XI v Man United: Mamardashvili – Frimpong, Van Dijk, Konate, Robertson – Gravenberch, Szoboszlai – Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo – Isak