5 Liverpool lineups without Salah & Mane as Covid cases ease and starlets emerge

Liverpool's mix-and-match team which took to the pitch against Shrewsbury always looked to be strong enough to get the job done, and so it proved.

With the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Andy Robertson and Fabinho starting, and Roberto Firmino and Takumi Minamino coming off the bench, there was enough experience to see off the League One side despite the visitors taking a shock lead through a close range strike from Daniel Udoh.

It was a lead that wouldn't last long though, with a clever strike from youngster Kaide Gordon, Fabinho's penalty, a cheeky backheel from Firmino and then another Fabinho goal securing a comfortable 4-1 win.

The quality of the opposition has to be taken into account of course, but it was a welcome win for the Reds following a tumultuous few days.

With Alisson, Joel Matip, Firmino and even Jurgen Klopp all missing the Chelsea game on January 2 with positive Covid cases, the outbreak ramped up early last week forcing the Reds to request that the League Cup semi-final against Arsenal be postponed.

Klopp has since stated that there were some false-positive cases in the Liverpool squad to add to the confusion, but with players still forced to isolate and the Kirkby training ground closed the situation became an unworkable one.

The Reds confirmed on Sunday that Trent Alexander-Arnold had registered a positive test shortly after the Chelsea game, but with the right-back expected to return for the now switched League Cup semi-final against the Gunners at Anfield, attentions have turned to just how the Reds will replace their absent Africa Cup of Nations stars.

Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita are all in Cameroon for the tournament this month, with Mane and Keita kicking off their campaigns on Monday.

The trio will miss both legs against Arsenal and league games at home to Brentford and away to Crystal Palace, and after the Shrewsbury game offered some hints as to how Liverpool will look to replace their two greatest goal threats and attacking midfielder Keita over the next few weeks, we've had a look at some potential line-ups Klopp could consider.

Firmino the focal point

As well as the displays of the young players, perhaps the one thing that will have pleased Klopp the most during the Shrewsbury win was the goal for Firmino.

Having missed the Chelsea game with Covid, the Brazilian got just under half an hour from the bench against Shrewsbury, confirming that he is back to full working order and rounding off his display with a cheeky backheel goal.

As the last man standing from the long-established front three, Firmino will be looked to for goals in the coming weeks, and might well be asked to play as more of a conventional forward to what we have seen from him in the past.

Curtis Jones, who has suffered with an eye injury and then Covid after an impressive start to the season, got an important 90 minutes under his belt against the Shrews and he could also be key in the next few games.

Make way for Minamino

Klopp went out of his way to praise Takumi Minamino after he came on at half-time against the Shrews, with the Japanese returning from injury at an important time.

He'll expect to get some starts in the next few matches, and can offer a goal threat and clever movement when he forms part of the attack, a much more comfortable position for him than in midfield.

Klopp has sometimes switched to a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation (which can become a 4-5-1 or even a 4-2-4 both with and without the ball), and it might be that Salah and Mane's absences dictate that it is used again.

As above though, there might end up being a question mark over Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's role in system, as he's tended to play better when used more centrally.

Origi time

The recent absences of Divock Origi will not have pleased Klopp, with the Belgian building up a head of steam by scoring winning goals against Wolves and AC Milan prior to his spell out of the team.

Klopp hasn't been shy to admit that Origi could have left the Reds numerous times in the recent past, but given that he's still there he will have no hesitation in using him if he's fit.

One option could see him in attack with Diogo Jota, with Firmino dropping deeper and the Reds playing something of a diamond formation.

Trent into midfield... on paper

It has long been mooted, and even though Klopp has come out against it in the past, the idea of Alexander-Arnold's starting position at least being in midfield is something Liverpool could consider.

With Neco Williams and Oxlade-Chamberlain on that side as well, the trio would be extremely fluid as all of them could play in almost all of the positions on the right.

Williams has been used in the front three on occasion this season, and so could easily move up there, with Oxlade-Chamberlain dropping back into midfield and Alexander-Arnold back to right-back, with other combinations possible.

It would certainly keep teams guessing, and although the downside could be that Jordan Henderson moves to the left where he is less effective, Jones or James Milner could also play there.

Flash Gordon

Perhaps the most balanced approach Liverpool could take would be to trust the 17-year-old Gordon after his FA Cup goal in front of the Kop on Sunday.

Although comparisons should be avoided, like Salah he is a left-footed forward who loves to drift in from the right and get shots off, and although he obviously won't be able to replicate all of what Salah does there are structural similarities to the way he could help Liverpool play.

Henderson and Alexander-Arnold would help the teenager down the right too, and with Klopp never shy to trust in his side's young players then he might be pretty tempted to go with a forward who has certainly turned heads among the club's coaches.