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Right then folks, just wanted to share how I tackled that Liverpool vs City lineups puzzle today. Woke up early with that itch to figure it out before breakfast. Grabbed my phone first thing, still half asleep, and opened up the main sports app I always check. You know, the one that usually gets stuff right.
Starting the Search
Typed in “Liverpool team news” and “Man City injuries” right away. Scrolled through like five different articles, all saying kinda the same thing but with little bits missing. Annoying, really. Like Pep Guardiola not giving a straight answer about Haaland again yesterday. Headlines screamed “Doubt” everywhere. Made a mental note: check Haaland’s socials later, see if he posted any gym stuff.
- First stop: Official club sites. Liverpool’s was frustratingly vague on Salah – just “assessing” the knock. Useless!
- Then hopped over to a couple of those rumour aggregator pages. Felt like sifting through mud. One said Alisson definitely out, another said “might be fit”. Honestly felt like throwing my toast at the screen.
- Remembered that decent local Liverpool reporter who usually knows his stuff on the reserves. Found his tweet thread – confirmed Alisson out, Jota probably benched. Okay, getting somewhere.
Putting the Pieces Together
Sat down with a proper coffee then, opened a notes app. Started listing names based on the scraps of news.
For Liverpool, decided Alisson out means Kelleher is definitely in goal. All the talk was Konate next to Van Dijk, so pencilled that in too. Midfield looked messy – Endo’s situation was unclear, saw whispers he wasn’t training much. Figured Klopp might stick with Mac Allister deep, slot Gravenberch back in. Up top, since Jota wasn’t fully ready, figured it’d be Diaz, Nunez, Salah if fit. Left Salah with a big ? though.
City was the Pep roulette special. Took a deep breath. Knew Ederson was sorted. Defence… Stones was touch-and-go but most places said he’d start. Went with Walker, Dias, Stones, Ake? – felt shaky. Rodri is always there, thank god. The rest? A mess. Grealish still out, so Doku wide left. That middle spot with Silva and De Bruyne… Pep loves making this hard. Ended up thinking De Bruyne slightly ahead, Silva buzzing around him. And yeah, took a gamble on Haaland starting despite the noise. Just seemed like one of those games.
Finally stared at my predicted XIs:
- Liverpool: Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch; Salah(?)/Elliott, Nunez, Diaz.
- City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Stones, Ake; Rodri; Silva, De Bruyne; Foden, Haaland, Doku.
Slapped those down on my blog draft. Felt okay about it? Mostly? But honestly, it’s just guessing half the time. Took me ages clicking through junk sites and conflicting tweets. City especially could start with three at the back and blow the whole thing up. Probably all wrong by Saturday! Done my bit trying to piece it together though. Time for lunch.