Paul Merson believes Jurgen Klopp will start the 22-year-old Liverpool star against Man United.
Jurgen Klopp plans to change the midfield for Liverpool’s game against Manchester United on Sunday. Klopp has rotated his team’s midfield quite a bit this season. And with Alexis MacAllister still out with injury, the coach will once again have to turn to this weekend’s game. Apart from an experimental trio against Union Saint-Gilloise last night, Liverpool’s midfield was Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai against Crystal Palace last Saturday. But according to pundit Paul Merson, there is a new face against United. Writing on Sportskeeda yesterday, Merson predicted that Curtis Jones would be the man asked to step in. “I expect Liverpool to tear them apart so I’m going for a 3-0 win at home,” says the former England midfielder. “Alexis MacAllister is a serious injury but Jurgen Klopp has a few options in midfield. Wataru Endo has played a few games recently and Harvey Elliott’s cameos have been impressive but I think Curtis Jones knows how big this game is to expect him to start .at Anfield. Merson predicts the return of Jones Jones was one of those who started last night in Belgium – and actually played the full 90 minutes. That doesn’t necessarily rule him out of Sunday’s game, but we’d be surprised to see him start again. The 22-year-old looked rusty against Union Saint-Gilloise. He may have provided help to Jarell Quansah, but he was guilty of USG’s opening kickoff and generally did not use his opportunity to make an impact. Again, that doesn’t mean Klopp doesn’t like Jones against United. The boss seems to like using the Scouser in big games and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him favor Curtis again. However, the England U21 team is not in great form at the moment. Statistically, he has now recorded assists in back-to-back games. But he didn’t look like the player we saw at the end of last season. One thing that will likely work in Jones’ favor is that Klopp doesn’t have many options at the moment. Szoboszlai is the nailed-on starter, although we’ll probably be waiting for Gravenberch again as well. But without Mac Allister, Jürgen will have to make a decision in defensive midfield. Given Endo’s form in the last two games, it won’t be an easy call. Maybe Merson is right after all.