Expect Widespread Changes but No Coutinho Start Says Reds Legend

Plenty of changes, and maybe even an appearance for Philippe Coutinho, but the Brazilian won’t start on Wednesday against Sevilla. Or at least that’s what John Aldridge things, with the former Liverpool attacker weighing in on the club’s recent loss and how best to move past it.

“The one good thing that we can say about Saturday is that we have a nice juicy game to move on with this week,” Aldridge said in his column in The Liverpool Echo. “The Champions League is back at Anfield and it’s a great chance to get the feel-good factor back. The negativity has to go out the window.”

As to the best way to get rid of some of that negativity: changes. Liverpool added some quality depth over the summer and have more options than in most years, and especially at the back, Aldridge sees Klopp putting the 5-0 thrashing to Manchester City behind him by making a few of them.

“I think there’ll be changes for Wednesday,” Aldridge said. “There could be three in the back four, for starters. I think Lovren will come in, Robertson will too, possibly Gomez. In midfielder, there’s no the option to rest on and maybe bring in either Milner or Oxlade-Chamberlain for a full debut.”

In all those potential changes, though, one thing Aldridge expects to stay the same is the attacking trio of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, and Sadio Mané—with Mané barred from playing on the weekend, there’s no need to change there or to start want-away Coutinho.

“There’s also Philippe Coutinho available, of course,” he added. “But I think he’ll be on the bench for this. He’s more likely targeting the League Cup against Leicester for a start, but he might just be able to give us something off the bench before then.”