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Liverpool vs. Athletic Club lineups, starting 11, confirmed team news, injuries: Ekitike gets first Anfield chance to impress

Dom Farrell

Liverpool vs. Athletic Club lineups, starting 11, confirmed team news, injuries: Ekitike gets first Anfield chance to impress image

Liverpool conclude their preseason preparations with a double-header against Athletic Club at Anfield on Monday.

Arne Slot will send out two XIs and Ernesto Valverde will do likewise for two games that kick off back-to-back at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time.

Anfield will get its first look at a host of new signings, including record buy Florian Wirtz, who has taken on Liverpool's famous No. 7 shirt.

It is also likely to be an emotional occasion as the Reds' first home encounter since Diogo Jota's tragic death.

MORE: Can Liverpool really sign Alexander Isak? How Reds can afford Newcastle United

Liverpool vs. Athletic Club lineups, starting 11, team news, injuries

Hugo Ekitike made an underwhelming Liverpool debut against Yokohama F. Marinos and will be keen to impress, especially with the club's ambitions to sign Alexander Isak having hit an impasse.

Alisson left the Asian tour early due to personal reasons and might not return from Brazil in time to feature. Virgil van Dijk was not part of the Liverpool matchday squad, which was a surprise, with Liverpool confirming he misses out due to illness.

Alexis Mac Allister came through his return from injury unscathed last time out and should feature again. Federico Chiesa is back following his latest muscular injury, but it remains to be seen how much action the Italy winger, Darwin NunezHarvey Elliott or Tyler Morton are granted with their futures up in the air.

Joe Gomez remains sidelined, leaving Slot light at centre-back.

Liverpool 1st starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Woodman (GK) —Stephenson, Robertson, Nyoni, Tsimikas  — Mac Allister, Elliott, Jones — Doak, Nunez, Ngumoha.

Liverpool 2nd starting lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Mamardashvili (GK) — Frimpong, Endo, Konate, Kerkez — Szoboszlai, Gravenberch — Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo — Ekitike.

Injured: Gomez (Achilles), Allisson (doubt), van Dijk (illness).


Athletic suffered a pair of defensive injuries against Racing Santander last time out and Valverde must run the rule over Aitor Paredes and Unai Egiluz.

Part of the reason that Bayern Munich swooped to buy Luis Diaz from Liverpool was Athletic's success in keeping hold of their star winger Nico Williams, who is poised to feature on Merseyside.

Athletic Club 1st starting lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Padilla (GK) — Gorosabel, Vesga, De Luis, Lekue — Prados, Rego — Berenguer, U. Gomez, Serrano — Guruzeta.

Athletic Club 2nd starting lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Simon (GK) — Areso, Vivian, Boiro, Berichiche — de Galarreta, Jauregizar — I. Williams, Sancet, N.Williams — Sannadi.

Injured: Paredes (doubt), Egiluz (doubt)

Liverpool vs. Athletic Club live stream, TV channel

Here's how to watch these friendly matches across selected areas of the world's major regions:

RegionTVStreaming
USADAZN
CanadaDAZN
UKLFCTVLFCTV
AustraliabeIN Sport Connect
India

Dom Farrell

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.