Have your say - predict today's line up against Norwich City

Liverpool take on Norwich City at Carrow Road, Feb 15 2020, 17:30pm

Sadio Mane is set to return while James Milner will be in contention to feature when we take on Norwich City on Saturday. The reds will have the chance to stretch their lead at the top off the Premier League table when they lock horns with Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday evening. And, Jurgen Klopp has been handed a major boost ahead of his side’s latest fixture.

Sadio Mane has completed his recovery from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him for the last few weeks. The Senegalese speedster is expected to slot straight back into the starting lineup. Like Mane, James Milner has also put his own hamstring complaint behind him.

The return of the duo means that Nathaniel Clyne (knee) and Xherdan Shaqiri (calf) remain the only Liverpool first-team players on the sidelines.

Klopp mentioned at his press conference “Of course they [Mane and Milner] are in contention, it’s clear. When Millie and Sadio are back, you start thinking immediately. That’s how it is. It looks like – and I hope it stays like this – apart from Shaqiri, Clyne and [Paul] Glatzel, all players are in training.”

“We have some good options and hopefully it stays like this, that would be really great for the decisive part of the season now. It’s good news. They both [Mane and Milner] trained from Monday – and they both trained through the last week anyway – so they are in contention.”

Apart from Clyne, defence is at full strength and the first-choice quartet of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson pick themselves, with Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren being backup options. Alisson Becker is an automatic pick in the Liverpool goal.

In midfield, as mentioned earlier, James Milner is in contention to start. However, Klopp is likely to go with the strongest three-man unit, despite the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie against Atletico Madrid on the horizon.

My Predicted XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Keita, Salah, Firmino, Mane.

Result Prediction: 3:0 Liverpool win.

Snippets from today's press conference

Klopp's not underestimating Norwich

No Olympics decision yet on Salah Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp starts by providing an update on the chances of Mohamed Salah representing Egypt at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

He said: "Do I want to lose a player during pre-season? Of course not. But we have to consider different things.

"We need more information. How would it look? When will preparation start? Nobody has really contacted us so far. So no decision made yet but we'll see."

Klopp's not underestimating Canaries It's top versus bottom at Carrow Road on Saturday but Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will be taking nothing for granted.

He said: "People think it will be easy because they don't really think about it and they only watch the table but we know about the problems we can have - and we know about the problems we can cause them as well."

Andrew Robertson - Where there's a will there's a way

Andrew Robertson has been playing through the pain barrier

Reds defender Andy Robertson says he has been playing through the pain for months and feels the winter break has helped him get back towards being pain-free.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Robertson spoke about the problem which kept him out of the Scotland squad in November and said it had got worse before the winter break.

He said: “I feel closer to 100 per cent in terms of my body, which is always a positive. Training pain-free is always nice, which maybe hasn’t happened in a couple of weeks. The pain I was playing in at times; it continued on, then I took another knock on it and it got worse. A lot of us play through pain at times. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

“It was on my left foot, which is never the best. If it was on my right foot it probably wouldn’t even have been an injury. Being on your strong foot, it’s tough when you’re passing the ball and it’s sending pain up your leg. It’s hopefully a thing of the past, there’s been time to clear that up."

Robertson has been a key part of Liverpool’s rampage to the top of the Premier League and he hasn’t even been at full fitness.

He appears to insist it hasn’t impact his fitness and performances too much but it’s not difficult to imagine he could go to another level now he is able to train and play with less pain.

The business end of the season is approaching and the Reds have an incredible opportunity to make history by challenging on three fronts and Robertson can operate at closer to his maximum in those closing months now he’s closer to being free of injury.

Preview: Norwich City v Liverpool

Liverpool beat Norwich 4-1 in the season opener at Anfield

Norwich will welcome Liverpool to Carrow Road on Saturday for a match of the 26th round in the Premier League. The teams are at the opposite ends of the table, with the Reds 22 points ahead of the closest challengers at the top, while the Canaries are on the last 20th place and seven points away from the safe places.

Last game between the teams: 09.08.2019 Premier League: Liverpool – Norwich 4:1; Grant Hanley 7’(own goal), Mohamed Salah 19’, Virgil van Dijk 28’, Divock Origi 42’; Teemu Pukki 64’

Last game at this venue: 23.01.2016 Premier League: Norwich – Liverpool 4:5; Dieumerci Mbokani 29’, Steven Naismith 41’, Wesley Hoolahan 54’(penalty), Sebastien Bassong 90’; Roberto Firmino 18’, 63’, Jordan Henderson 55’, James Milner75’, Adam Lallana 90’

Worth mentioning: Liverpool won comprehensively with 4:1 the game from matchday 1 which was held at Anfield, scoring all of their goals in the first period. The Reds are undefeated in the eleven H2H clashes with the Canaries in this century.

The best Norwich managed to get from those meetings were two draws, both at Anfield and with the score of 1:1. Norwich scored in each of the last five encounters, as understandably they all witnessed goals at both ends, but Liverpool found the back of the Canaries net eighteen times, with four matches featuring over 4,5 goals.

Liverpool 4-0 Southampton

Liverpool moved 22 points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-0 win over Southampton at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

After an opening half that saw the visitors largely keep the Reds at arm’s length and produce a series of good chances themselves, the hosts edged ahead two minutes into the second half courtesy of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s low finish.

Roberto Firmino, who teed up the first goal, then created a second for Jordan Henderson, the captain sweetly side-footing in, and Mohamed Salah rounded off the scoring with a cute dink from the skipper’s assist and a 90th-minute conversion at close range.

Jürgen Klopp’s team therefore matched the second-longest unbeaten run in English top-flight history – 42 games – and equalled a Premier League record with their 20th consecutive home victory in the competition.