Why Liverpool’s new-found depth could be bad news for Dream Team bosses
FOR a long time Dream Team bosses could be thankful for the fact Liverpool’s starting XI for any given game was relatively predictable.
Whereas Manchester City were subjected to ‘Pep Roulette’, injury trouble was the only thing that would prevent Mohamed Salah (£7.9m), Sadio Mane (£4.2m) and Roberto Firmino (£3.8m) from starting up top together.
With all due respect to the likes of Divock Origi (£2.9m) and Xherdan Shaqiri, there was a sizeable gulf in quality between the first-choice attackers and their understudies for a while, meaning Dream Team gaffers could back Salah, Mane and Firmino knowing full well all three were guaranteed every minute that matters.
These days the outlook is rather different.
The arrivals of Diogo Jota (£5.1m) and, most recently, Luis Diaz (£3.2m) has muddied the pecking order.
In addition, Takumi Minamino (£2.1m) can’t have pushed much harder given he’s scored nine goals in approximately 1,000 minutes of action this season.
This new-found depth is obviously great news for the Anfield faithful and Jurgen Klopp but it may cause Dream Team managers a few headaches.
As the Premier League’s runaway leading scorer, Salah is assured of his spot but four players competing for the other two places will surely involve plenty of rotation, as we’ve seen in recent weeks.
And this is no small matter in the world of Dream Team considering Mane (24.7% ownership) and Jota (22%) are two of the most-popular players in the game.
It may be the case that gaffers will just have to accept a few blanks.
In the same way that Man City midfielders hoard points despite Guardiola’s penchant for shuffling the pack, Liverpool score so many goals that all their forwards should tick along nicely even if they’re shorter on minutes than they’d like.
Of course, it’s worth remembering that new boy Diaz is categorised as a midfielder in Dream Team – some bosses may feel better about rotation risk with the Colombian as opposed to Firmino, whose place could go to a striker guaranteed to start.
It seems the ex-Porto man will continue to play on the left of Klopp’s front three when selected, a position that lends itself more naturally to goal involvements.
Gaffers should always follow the Dream Team commandment: pick attack-minded midfielders over defensive workhorses.
The Reds’ increased depth is not limited to their bolstered forward line.
Virgil van Dijk (£7.0m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.6m) remain nailed on when fit but it’s likely Joel Matip (£5.3m) will have to share even more of his duties with Ibrahima Konate (£4.1m) as time goes on – not to mention Joe Gomez (£2.6m).
And while Andy Robertson (£5.9m) is still very much first-choice at left-back, Kostas Tsimikas (£3.3m) has impressed when given a chance this season.
Where before Dream Team managers could set their watch to Liverpool’s starting line-up, now they must monitor Klopp’s selections closely or risk spurned returns.