How Liverpool could line up against Manchester United

The champions host the league leaders on Sunday in a blockbuster showdown between English football's two most successful teams as Liverpool welcome Manchester United to Anfield.

The hosts come into the match having failed to win any of their last three league games and failing to even score in their last two, although they did return to winning ways in the FA Cup last time out.

Liverpool's blip in the Premier League has allowed Sunday's visitors to leapfrog them in the table ahead of this match, though, with Man United moving three points clear at the top by beating Burnley on Tuesday night.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Jurgen Klopp could line his side up for the mouth-watering contest.

Out: Naby Keita (muscle), Diogo Jota (knee), Virgil van Dijk (knee), Joe Gomez (knee), Kostas Tsimikas (knee) Doubtful: Joel Matip (adductor) > Click here for Liverpool's latest injury and suspension news ahead of this match Liverpool are hoping that Joel Matip makes a timely return for this match, after deploying a centre-back pairing of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson in their last league outing. Klopp has confirmed that Matip is "close" to being fit and that he will be assessed when he returns to training ahead of this match, but the manager also suggested that he will not take any risks over the Cameroonian's fitness. Matip may therefore have to settle for a place on the bench, which once again leaves Klopp with a headache regarding whom to start alongside Fabinho. Henderson is again an option but his presence in midfield was missed in the defeat to Southampton and so he could return to his favoured position, leaving Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams to battle it out for a place. The lack of pace of those two players may cause concerns against a speedy Manchester United attack, but Klopp is down to the bare bones in terms of defensive options and it could be Phillips who gets the nod. Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas remain sidelined, while this match also comes too soon for Naby Keita and Diogo Jota, but Liverpool's injury problems elsewhere have generally eased. Thiago Alcantara is one of those to be back in the fold, and the Spain international is in line to make his home debut for the club some four months after joining. After back-to-back blanks in the league, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah were among the scorers when Liverpool returned to winning ways in the FA Cup against Aston Villa's youngsters and so they will hope to end their mini-drought in the top flight. Xherdan Shaqiri had a marked influence on that match when he came off the bench and he has also hurt Manchester United in the past, and so he could play some part on Sunday too. > Click here to see how Manchester United could line up for this contest