Swansea City vs Liverpool. Premier League.
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Tuesday 23 January 2018 06:07, UK
Virgil van Dijk is set to make his first Premier League appearance for Liverpool when they travel to Swansea on Monday Night Football, live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7pm.
The £75m January signing, who scored on his debut for the Reds in the FA Cup win over Everton, saw a tight hamstring rule him out of last weekend's thrilling 4-3 win over Manchester City.
But he is set to feature against Swansea, while Loris Karius will keep his place in goal ahead of Simon Mignolet.
"Of course Loris has to deliver, he knows that, but he is the No 1 now," said manager Jurgen Klopp. "I am really fine with our goalkeeper situation. Yes, Karius could have made a save for the first goal against Manchester City, but he is a really good goalkeeper.
"We brought him in because we wanted him to play. He has settled, there are a lot of really good things in his game. We have changed a lot of positions throughout the season. I changed not my opinion but the situation - that is all."
Liverpool's win over City saw them move up to third in the Premier League.
However, Swansea's form has improved since the appointment of manager Carlos Carvalhal in late December. They have taken four points from three Premier League matches under the former Sheffield Wednesday boss.
Swansea are waiting to assess striker Tammy Abraham as he has missed the last four games with a hip injury, but the return of Wilfried Bony from a hamstring problem has bolstered the strikeforce.
Mike van der Hoorn (muscle injury), Renato Sanches (hamstring) and Angel Rangel (calf) should all be available.
Liverpool top scorer Mohamed Salah and defenders Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan are all expected to recover from illness.
Captain Jordan Henderson (hamstring) and Alberto Moreno (ankle) are back in training but are not likely to be ready until next weekend's FA Cup tie at home to West Brom.
Although Swansea have conceded 27 goals in 13 Premier League games (W3 D3 L7) against the Reds, just six of those have come at Liberty Stadium.
Since Swansea and Liverpool last met in the Premier League at Liberty Stadium in October 2016 - Francesco Guidolin's last match in charge - the Swans have had five different managers take charge of a Premier League game (Bradley, Curtis, Clement, Britton and Carvalhal), spanning 54 games; by contrast, Liverpool have had five different managers span 517 Premier League games.
Liverpool, who won 5-0 in the reverse fixture, haven't won both league matches in a season by such a margin or greater against an opponent since 2001-02 against Ipswich Town (6-0 away, 5-0 at home).
This will be Liverpool's first away league visit to a side starting that day bottom of the Premier League since February 2016, when they won 6-0 at Aston Villa.
Roberto Firmino has scored five goals in his last three Premier League games against Swansea, including doubles in each of the last two.
Mo Salah has scored 18 goals from 44 shots on target in the Premier League this season - Swansea, by contrast, have scored just 14 goals as a team from 52 shots on target.
Swansea have done alright recently under Carlos Carvalhal. I was shocked when he got the job, and he was probably shocked himself. But he's done what he's had to do so far.
He got a good result at Newcastle, where they couldn't lose, and then they beat Wolves in the FA Cup.
When clubs change managers, all they ask for is a reaction, that's why they change them. He's achieved that so far. This is another hard game, and I can't see anything but a Liverpool win. But I think Swansea will improve as the season goes on.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 (5/1 with Sky Bet)
