Excellent OP. Thank you for the time spent. Often I’ll skim over long posts online, as they don’t really hold my attention very well, and once you get the jist of what’s being said you sort of scroll through. But this was excellent. Well researched and well written. Thank you.
Midfield three:
Wijnaldum, Milner, Keita
I think Henderson misses out, for a few reasons. He will probably play for England, so Milner will be fresher. We lose a bit of control with Henderson when under the cosh, and there will at least be a decent sized spell in the game when Spurs will have the upper hand. Henderson hasn’t fully got up to speed yet, and Wijnaldum has done well as the 6, so the trio named is what I think Klopp will do.
Fabinho
I think if our Brazilian players had got the same treatment as their Man City counterparts, and been allowed to stay home, Fabinho would have got the nod and started. Since he will be flying back from America on Thursday, and since he hasn’t started yet, I think he will miss out on this one. Mind you, with the games coming thick and fast, and plenty of big matches too, it won’t be long before we see him start.
Bobby
I think he will be rested after the Brazil games and the travel, and my prediction is he won’t even make the subs bench for Spurs. (Alisson will play).
PSG
Bobby will be back for PSG. It’s not so much that he will be rested for the Spurs game though, more that he won’t be about to perform at his peak and do himself justice due to the international schedule. We will work with it and go with the flow, as we have a lot of games coming up thick and fast.
Henderson will be back for PSG too.
I think we will start with Shaqiri up front with Mane and Salah. In the bits we’ve seen of him so far he has looked like a man on a mission, eager to impress. That energy will help us at Spurs. Sturridge is fit, but I don’t really see him as a 90 minute sort of player these days. He would be better suited to coming on for the last 20 mins or so. He has the quality to make his mark even in a short time, and he could well come off the bench and score again.