Liverpool lineup: Jurgen Klopp forced to ABANDON his plan as star withdraws

Cody Gakpo was supposed to start for Liverpool against Everton on Wednesday evening. Here’s why he withdrew from the squad.

Jurgen Klopp named his final XI in a Merseyside derby on Wednesday evening – but things didn’t all go to plan. Cody Gakpo was supposed to be in the team but had to withdraw late on.

The reason? His partner has gone into labour. Liverpool granted him an absence as a result. James Pearce confirmed as much on X, with Luis Diaz stepping back into the team as a replacement.

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Gakpo has been in solid form as of late, even if that hasn’t really translated into goals and assists. Still, the Dutchman has looked far more comfortable and effective with the ball.

Part of that is consistently playing in the forward positions after Klopp admitted he made a mistake by playing Gakpo too deep. Now Liverpool are seeing him near his best again – but they won’t be able to count on him against Everton.

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Klopp has been able to call on arguably his best XI other than Gakpo. Alisson Becker starts between the sticks, with Trent Alexander-Arnold back to regular football at right-back. Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk start as the centre-back pairing and Andy Robertson is there at left-back.

The midfield is where it’s contentious. No Wataru Endo here – Alexis Mac Allister is back in the holding role. Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones operate ahead of him.

And then up top, there’s Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah. Diogo Jota is injured again and misses out entirely.

It should be enough for Liverpool to win at Goodison Park but Klopp has another concern – a quick turnaround. The Reds are playing the 12:30 on Saturday again, so the boss won’t want to burn anyone out here.

Not exactly ideal in a fixture like this.

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