With the first international break of the season having (thankfully) passed, Liverpool will hope that all their players return to Kirby in good health and fit to make the trip to Elland Road for the first of 7 competitive matches in all competitions before the next international break in early October. At present we sit in joint 2nd place in the league, with 7 points from a possible 9. Most fans would have been satisfied with that haul of points at the start of the season, but given the nature of the draw at home to Chelsea in our last game and the failure to take advantage of playing half of the game against 10 men, it may be seen as a missed opportunity that we are not sitting at the top of the league with Tottenham.

Last season we struggled against the 'bottom 13' with a habit of dropping points and failing to take our opportunities in front of goal. In our opening games against both Norwich and Burnley that habit was eradicated, but it raised its head again against Chelsea when we failed to turn the screw in the 2nd half. Granted we were playing against possibly our greatest contender for the league this season, the current European Champions with an extremely well drilled defence, but we need to become more proficient at taking our chances and finding alternative approaches to testing our opposition.

Our opponents on Sunday will offer a different test to what either of our opening three opponents offered. Leeds made an impressive return to the Premier League last season finishing in the top half of the table and amassing an impressive 18 wins over the season. In their opening three games of this season they have had 2 draws and a loss - compare that with their start last season when they won 2 of their 3 matches, and you could forgive many Leeds fans for thinking that there may be a risk of the infamous 2nd-season-syndrome setting in. However with the animated but experienced Marcelo Bielsa at the helm, it would be a surprise if they ended up anywhere near a relegation battle this season. Generally they are extremely offensive, and in front of a raucous Elland Road faithful the Red's are likely to encounter nothing other than an attacking and ambitious gameplan from Bielsa. 
Much of their attacking play is centred around the impressive Brazilian Raphina, a player who was heavily and regularly linked with a transfer to Liverpool over the summer. On Deadline Day Leeds picked up Daniel James from arch rivals Manchester United, and it will be interesting to see if he will be thrown into the action against Liverpool. This is a possibility at the time of writing, with Brazilian players from both sides at risk of missing the game due to the absolute shambles of politics mixing with football still hangs over us, but hopefully this will be resolved before matchday. 
Bielsa has started with a back three in his opening games, but he may revert to a back four for the visit of Liverpool.

Leeds are possibly without Junior Firpo and Mateusz Klich who recently tested positive for COVID-19, with the latter's absence being the one of most concern as it would leave them light in the centre of the pitch.

Patrick Bamford will come into the game after making his full English debut at the age of 28 last weekend, but after failing to score and managing only two shots in the match against minnows Andorra, he will be looking to prove that he is worthy of further consideration at the highest level. Kalvin Phillips will also be a threat as he continues to impress for both club and country.

Liverpool will start Dioga Jota, with the Portuguese star likely to replace Bobby up front who will be unavailable due to injury. Jota scored two and assisted one in his two starts this season, and also had an impressive international break with Portugal. His form along with that of striking partner Mohammed Salah means that Liverpool will be expected to create chances and score goals. In midfield it is likely that we will see some significant minutes given to Thiago who was not called up for international duty for Spain, whilst Fabinho will get a start if the Brazilian FA ban is removed, and Jordan Henderson also likely to start. At the back it's likely to only be a question of whether Robbo or Tsimikas start on the left hand side, with Virgil, Matip and Trent all assured of a full 90 minutes. Let's hope that Becker is available also, although Kelleher should be an ample replacement between the posts if needs be.

This will be a big test, but we should get our full allocation of points in what will be an entertaining game in front of a bloodthirsty set of home fans. Can't wait for the kick off. 
Up the Mighty Reds.

Paul Collins

LFC Fanatic

Follow me on Twitter: @IrishRedDubai