Without Salah, Liverpool take on Fulham in the Carabao Cup with this starting lineup

This Wednesday Liverpool and Fulham will play the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinals at Anfield Road. There, both teams will try to get a good result that will allow them to play more calmly the second match, which will be at Craven Cottage on January 24. This is precisely what Middlesbrough achieved on Tuesday, when they beat Chelsea 1-0 in the first match and took an important step on their way to the final of the tournament.

The Reds are the only English team still participating in the four tournaments of the season. And in all of them their performance is excellent. In addition to being in the semifinals of the Carabao Cup, they advanced to the round of 32 of the FA Cup thanks to a 2-0 victory over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. In the UEFA Europa League, they topped Group E and secured their place in the round of 16, while in the Premier League they are at the top of the standings with 45 points.

Coach Jurgen Klopp wants things to continue going well and that is why this Wednesday he will include most of the squad's stars in the starting lineup. The exceptions will be injured players such as Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara and Andrew Robertson, as well as Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo, who joined the Egypt and Japan national teams, respectively, for the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asia Cup.

Liverpool's XI will be: Caoimhin Kelleher; Joe Gomez, Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley; Curtis Jones, Alexis MacAllister, Harvey Elliott, Ryan Gravenberch; Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota. Substitutes will be Alisson, Jarell Quansah, Beck, Nyoni, Clark, Gordon, James McConnell, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez.

This is the lineup for The Cottagers

Fulham are in a difficult situation in the Premier League. With 24 points, they are dangerously close to the relegation zone. That's why their main objectives are the FA Cup, where they advanced to the round of 32 after beating Rotherham 1-0, and the Carabao Cup. Coach Marco Silva chose this XI: Bernd Leno; Timothy Castagne, Tosin Adarabioyo, Issa Diop, Antonee Robinson, Joao Palhinha, Harrison Reed, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Andreas Pereira, Willian, Raul Jimenez.