How Liverpool could line up against MK Dons

Liverpool are one of several Premier League teams taking on lower-division opposition in the EFL Cup this week, heading to MK Dons for a third-round tie on Wednesday.

The Reds have been eliminated at this stage in each of the last two seasons, although Chelsea and Leicester City carried greater quality within their squads than the Dons, who are 15th in League One after losing 1-0 at home to lowly Southend United on Saturday.

With an early kick-off at Sheffield United coming up on Saturday, coach Jurgen Klopp is likely to offer opportunities to some of the players on the fringes of his first team.

Klopp will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2-1 defeat at Chelsea in this competition that ended Liverpool's perfect start to last season.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how the Reds could line up for Wednesday's match.

Out: Alisson Becker (calf), Nathaniel Clyne (knee) Doubtful: Divock Origi (ankle), Naby Keita (hip)

> Click here for Liverpool's full injury and suspension list ahead of this match

In the likelihood of Klopp making wholesale changes, three senior players - Adam Lallana, Xherdan Shaqiri and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - could make a case for featuring more regularly in Liverpool's starting lineup.

With Alisson injured since the start of the season, 20-year-old Irish keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has been playing backup to Adrian, and the youngster, who was recovering from wrist surgery at the start of the season, could be given his senior debut.

Sepp van den Berg, the 17-year-old Netherlands youth international signed from Zwolle in the summer, could be paired with the experienced Dejan Lovren at the back, and another teenage talent, Yasser Larouci, could debut at full-back having taken part in Liverpool's pre-season tour.

Exciting 16-year-old winger Harvey Elliott, signed from Fulham in the close season before appearing in Liverpool's friendlies, is also a candidate to make a much-anticipated debut.

Klopp will presumably start one of his three star strikers - Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino or Sadio Mane - alongside England Under-21s prospect Rhian Brewster, who has been a regular on the bench, including for the Champions League final in June.

Belgium forward Divock Origi missed the 2-1 win at Chelsea on Sunday with an ankle injury but could be given minutes should he be ready to play, and Klopp hopes midfielder Naby Keita will at last make his return from a troublesome hip problem at MK - probably from the bench.