Liverpool vs. Luton Town: Premier League 2023-24 Preview & Team News
The injury-ravaged Reds take on relegation-threatened Luton Town in mid-week Premier League action.
LIVERPOOL VS. LUTON TOWN
| Wednesday, February 21st|
Premier League | Anfield
7:30PM GMT/2:30AM EST
Liverpool’s injury concerns of recent weeks have evolved into a full-blown crisis after their weekend victory over Brentford left them without a further two stars, with Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones confirmed on the injured list and likely to be missing for a matter of months.
Add to that speculation surrounding Darwin Nuñez and Mohamed Salah—the former leaving the pitch after a half as a precautonary measure and the latter having just returned from an extended layoff—along with recent injuries to Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Dominik Szoboszlai and long-term problems Thiago Alcântara, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak, and Joël Matip and, well. Jürgen Klopp’s going to have a selection headache.
Even if Nuñez and Salah are fit (and we’re going to assume they are until proven otherwise), the League Cup final on the weekend poses a further selection headache, while everyone knows anything less than three points in a title race against the sportswashing front for a human rights abusing petrostate might be all it takes to see those title hopes slip away. So. Good times.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)
Kelleher; Bradley, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Elliott, Endo, Mac Allister; Salah, Gakpo, Díaz
For Luton, this is something of a free hit. A chance to spring a famous upset under the lights at Anfield while under no real pressure or expectation. Realistically, nobody will have expected them to take anything from this game when the schedule was written up, and despite a record of 3W-2D-3L since Christmas, that likely hasn’t changed.
And for a side that is very, very bad at defending but actually better than their position in attack—they’re 18th for goals against but 13th for goals scored—it might be a day to throw caution to the wind and see if they can take advantage of the Reds’ myriad injury issues.
An injury to leading scorer Elijah Adebayo, though, will make that a fair bit harder—and while Luton’s injury issues aren’t at the level of Liverpool’s, neither is their depth and Rob Edwards’ Hatters are currently without five first team players including their aforementioned top scorer. All told, then, for all Liverpool’s issues, at Anfield this isn’t just a game the Reds will feel they have to win for the title race but one that they really should.
What the Managers Had to Say
Jürgen Klopp: “They deserve respect and we have to show that with a proper Liverpool performance – and with a Liverpool performance I mean really everybody who enters the gate to Anfield has to be on their toes tomorrow night because they are really good.”
Rob Edwards: “It’s a great game, a brilliant challenge for us against a huge club, top of the league, amazing stadium. It will be full, full of excitement and expectation as well—on their side. It’s certainly one you look forward to, it’s right up there on the list from the start of the season.”
The Officials
Referee: Andy Madley Assistants: Eddie Smart & Nick Hopton Fourth official: Tom Bramall VAR: Simon Hooper
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