Liverpool players who deserve minutes against Leicester City
- Liverpool face off against Leicester City in the Carabao Cup
- Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch are expected to start
- Young players will also likely be given an opportunity
Liverpool will kickstart their Carabao Cup campaign on Wednesday evening against Leicester City of the Championship, in what will be seen by Jurgen Klopp as a game to get some peripheral squad players some much needed minutes.
The Reds are unbeaten in all competitions this season thanks to their impressive new-look starting lineup, and will be hoping young players will step up to continue the club's fine form in midweek.
Here's some players who should be in line for some minutes:
1. Jarell Quansah
Quansah was lavished with praise following his exceptional Premier League debut against Wolves.
"He has got a bright future ahead of him but the here and now is pretty good as well and for him to step in at a really tough place to come, a really tough team to play against, and to put in that performance, particularly in the second half, then fair play to him for his first start," Andy Robertson said.
The impression he left with that showing should be enough to earn the towering defender more minutes in the coming weeks - starting with this Carabao Cup clash with Leicester.
2. Wataru Endo
Jurgen Klopp admitted that Endo hasn't gotten many minutes since joining Liverpool because he "has no clue on what we actually do".
It sounds harsh but the boss was essentially saying that he simply needs time to learn the Reds' tactical system.
Playing a low stakes Carabao Cup game is seemingly the perfect opportunity to give Endo the minutes that'll help him do exactly that.
3. Ben Doak
A 17-year-old who's getting gametime for Liverpool: that's how good Ben Doak is.
The youngster is now seen as second choice behind Mohamed Salah and should get a chance to shine in the game on Wednesday.
He recently also signed a new contract at Anfield.
4. Ryan Gravenberch
The deadline day signing made his first start for Liverpool in the Europa League last week, bagging an assist in what was a very impressive showing.
He'll be hoping another strong showing in the Carabao Cup will help him oust one of Liverpool's trusted trio of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones from the regular starting lineup.
5. Cody Gakpo
Much was expected of Cody Gakpo heading into the 2023/24 season, and then Darwin Nunez's glow-up happened.
Now the Dutch international will need to impress in these types of cup games in order to force his way back into the starting XI ahead of the in-form Uruguayan.
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