Liverpool are two games into their marathon December schedule. The Reds have seven games left to play this month in all competitions and tomorrow night’s Champions League tie against Red Bull Salzburg will be the first of seven games before the end of December. Liverpool players such as Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino have already been rotated this month by manager Jurgen Klopp. The manager is likely to continue his rotation of players with gameweek 16 on the horizon. So, is it time to sell these Liverpool players for FPL gameweek 17?
Should you sell these Liverpool players?
Klopp has used the first two matches of December to rotate his preferred attacking three. Firmino nor Salah started against Everton although the former came on and tallied an assist. Salah sat out the entire game which wasn’t a bad move on Klopp’s part. Salah had been out of form for much of November thanks to a lingering ankle injury suffered the month prior against Leicester City.
He came back with an explosion of Fantasy Premier League points in gameweek 16 against Bournemouth. The forward bagged 13 points courtesy of a goal, assist and clean sheet. Mane made way for Salah in the game.
Mane’s gameweek 15 FPL points were stellar in their own right. He bagged 15 points thanks to a goal and two assists. The forward is now second in FPL with a total of 109 points.
Firmino hasn’t had the consistency of Salah or Mane, but he is a wildcard in FPL capable of bagging a hatful of points any gameweek. However, Klopp’s rotation means Divock Origi could step in as he did against Everton. His brace led a 13-point haul for managers brave enough to select Origi on a regular basis.
Fixture congestion to cause issues for Liverpool players
Liverpool will be in action on Tuesday night in Austria against Red Bull Salzburg. It is a must-win game for the Reds at a time when Klopp would prefer to rest his star players. The manager doesn’t have that luxury and things are made worse by recent injuries to Fabinho, Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, and Georginio Wijnaldum.
Wijnaldum is likely to be the only player of the five fit for Tuesday night, although Lallana could make it back in time.
Liverpool will play their last Premier League match on Saturday against Watford at lunchtime. The game will take place at Anfield prior to half the squad flying off to Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup. There, Liverpool are guaranteed two matches regardless of how their semifinal goes.
Coming off of a draining game in Austria against Red Bull Salzburg, it is likely Klopp will rotate his side to play the Premier League’s bottom team. Watford are in last place on a mere nine points having drawn last weekend against Crystal Palace in a dull nil-nil match.
Which Liverpool players will start against Watford?
Nigel Pearson is Watford’s third manager of the season after Javi Gracia and Quique Sanchez Flores were both sacked. Liverpool have Leicester City still breathing down their necks. Yes, the points gap is eight but with Liverpool’s December being chaotic and injuries hitting key players, the Foxes could make their move.
Klopp may not choose to rest any of his three-star attackers against Watford. The manager could deploy a strong team to not only blow Watford away but to continue the team’s strong momentum ahead of the Club World Cup.
By the time Liverpool return from Qatar, Leicester City will have played Manchester City in the league. The Reds will then meet Brendan Rodgers’ team on Boxing Day in a game that could make or break the title race. Gameweek 17 should see a strong Liverpool attack and FPL managers should expectedLiverpool players Salah, Firmino, and Mane to be played together from the start.
