Bidding to stretch their unbeaten Premier League home run to 25 matches, Liverpool welcome Luton Town to their Anfield headquarters for a midweek matchup on Wednesday evening.
The table-topping Reds pummelled Brentford 4-1 on Saturday lunchtime, one day before the Hatters were bested 2-1 at Kenilworth Road by Manchester United.
Match preview
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Following a trio of injuries in the first half of their early kickoff with Brentford, Liverpool revelled in a more welcome triad during the second half at the Gtech Community Stadium, where the third time was the charm for Jurgen Klopp as far as the Premier League is concerned.
Darwin Nunez's deft chip saw Liverpool strike the first goal of the weekend before the Uruguayan was one of three players who failed to emerge for the second half, but three further efforts arrived from the boots of Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo, rendering Ivan Toney's finish meaningless.
The customary Klopp fist pumps were out in full force before concern turned to the visitors' injured contingent, but only a matter of hours passed before the Merseyside faithful were rejoicing again; Manchester City's failure to overcome Chelsea means that the fate of the top-flight title rests in the Reds' hands.
Four points clear of City having played a game more and two clear of Arsenal on the same number of matches, Liverpool will remain on their throne no matter what occurs in the champions' clash with Brentford on Tuesday, and not since Leeds United's shock success in October 2022 have the Reds fallen short in a Premier League home fixture.
Still unbeaten in all tournaments at their base of operations in the 2023-24 season, Liverpool have also netted at least twice in each of their last five triumphs on home soil, although they are still awaiting their first Anfield clean sheet of 2024, conceding in seven straight fixtures on familiar territory.
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While Liverpool have been guilty of the odd defensive lapse during otherwise dominant successes, Luton were left to lament an early rearguard howler during Sunday's battle with Man United, whose main man Rasmus Hojlund capitalised on Amari'i Bell's underhit backpass to net for the sixth Premier League fixture running.
An improvised chest finish from the Dane doubled the Red Devils' tally with fewer than 10 minutes on the clock, and even though Carlton Morris was in the right place at the right time to pull one back for the Hatters, there would be no terrific turnaround for the newly-promoted outfit versus the 20-time English champions.
Man United could and arguably should have had an even greater margin of victory, but Rob Edwards and co were indebted to some remarkable last-ditch defensive efforts, although such heroics paled into insignificance as the Hatters were bumped below the dotted line on Monday evening.
Everton have consigned Luton to at least 48 hours in the relegation zone by taking a point off of Crystal Palace, and after ending January with three triumphs on the spin, the feel-good factor has worn off for the Hatters, who are now winless in three successive fixtures.
The visitors can take some comfort from a three-game unbeaten run in Premier League away games, as well as their gritty 1-1 draw with Liverpool earlier in the campaign, but they have failed to come up trumps in any of their previous 14 trips to Anfield; against no other team have they endured a longer winless away run in their professional history.
Team News
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The Liverpool medical team more than earned their keep during the first half of Saturday's affair with Brentford, where both Curtis Jones (shin) and Diogo Jota (knee) were taken off before the break, while Nunez was also a half-time casualty due to discomfort.
While Nunez has not been officially ruled out of Wednesday's game just yet, Klopp has conceded that Jota's knee concern appears to be serious, so a first Liverpool start for Salah since New Year's Day is seemingly a guarantee.
Following the win at Brentford, reports from Egypt claimed that Salah had picked up another injury straight away, and Klopp has confirmed that the ex-Chelsea man will need a once-over too.
Stefan Bajcetic (calf), Joel Matip (knee), Ben Doak (knee), Thiago Alcantara (muscle), Dominik Szoboszlai (thigh) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (knee) also remain on the sidelines ahead of the weekend's EFL Cup final, while Alisson Becker hurt his hamstring in Liverpool's final pre-Brentford training session, so a third successive Premier League start awaits Caoimhin Kelleher here.
Edwards can empathise with Klopp over enforced attacking changes, as Luton lost top scorer Elijah Adebayo to a hamstring injury during the warm-up on Sunday, and the 26-year-old has been ruled out of this one alongside Jacob Brown, who underwent a knee operation on Tuesday.
Mads Andersen (calf) and Marvelous Nakamba (knee) welcome Adebayo and Brown to the absentee list alongside captain Tom Lockyer, who has conceded that he is unsure if he will ever play competitively again following his second distressing collapse.
January signing Daiki Hashioka is also being eased into action slowly and may not be considered for his debut at Anfield, so Edwards should be working with an identical group of players from Sunday's defeat, where Cauley Woodrow filled in for Adebayo up front.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Gomez, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Endo, Mac Allister; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Bell, Osho, Mengi; Ogbene, Barkley, Lokonga, Doughty; Townsend, Chong; Morris
We say: Liverpool 2-0 Luton Town
Luton's efforts against a free-scoring Man United side were commendable, and the Hatters have developed a resilient streak on the road in recent weeks, but losing the aerially dominant Adebayo is a massive blow.
As a result, Liverpool fans can feel optimistic about a first clean sheet since the turn of the year, and even with injuries piling up again, the hosts still possess enough attacking verve to wear down a fatigued Luton rearguard.
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Ben Knapton
