Burnley v Liverpool – Probable line ups – Emre Can set to start

Liverpool travel to Turf Moor today to take on Burnley in their second game of the Premier League season.

Emre Can is a doubt for the game but may be called upon by Jurgen Klopp as he looks to shore up his midfield after conceding three goals agaisnt Arsenal last week.

The German tactician may also call upon striker Daniel Sturridge and midfielder James Milner who returned to training this week.

Can enjoyed an extended break after Euro 2016 and took time out in Turkey meeting friends and relatives as well as the US.

The hard working midfielder returned to training later than his teammates as a result and was not 100 percent match fit going into the new season.

Kick-Off: 15:00 (GMT)
Stadium: Turf Moor

Burnley probable starting lineup: Heaton, Lowton, Keane, Mee, Ward, Boyd, Marney, Defour, Arfield, Vokes, Gray

Liverpool probable starting lineup: Mignolet, Milner, Klavan, Lovren, Clyne, Can, Henderson, Lallana, Coutinho, Sturridge, Firmino.

Liverpool star Emre Can to be dropped to bench again

Liverpool’s star midfielder Emre Can is once again expected to start on the substitute bench tonight.

The 22-year-old was included in Joachim Low’s 23 man squad but is yet to make an appearance for Germany in Euro 2016 this summer.

Can has however been named as a substitute in all of Germany’s four games so far in the competition.

Germany take on Italy in the quarter finals and will be looking to build on an their unbeaten run in the tournament. The world champions defeated Northern Ireland, beat Ukraine and drew to Poland in the group stages.

The World Champions went onto dismantle Slovakia in the Last 16 by a 3-0 scoreline.

Can is one of eight Germany born ethnic Turks in the tournament.Mesut Ozil is the other Germany international of Turkish origin while Turkey has six Germany born players.

Germany v Italy

Kick-Off: 20:00 (GMT)

Germany probable line-up: Neuer; Kimmich, Boateng, Hummels, Hector; Kroos, Khedira; Muller, Ozil, Draxler; Gomez.

Italy probable line-up: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Florenzi, Sturaro, Parolo, Giaccherini, De Sciglio, Pelle, Eder.

“An ideal, long-term partner to Emre Can” – Mahmoud Dahoud Q&A

With Mahmoud Dahoud reportedly Liverpool’s “first-choice” midfield target this summer, we get the lowdown on the young German.

Dahoud was last month reported to be Jurgen Klopp‘s top midfield target, as the Reds manager looks to add quality and depth to his squad this summer.

The 20-year-old is one of a host of Bundesliga players linked with a move Liverpool ahead of Klopp’s first full season in charge.

In an era of FIFA and Football Manager, everyone likes to think they are an expert, but if we’re honest, Dahoud was an unknown quantity to most until recently.

Someone who has followed the young Borussia Monchengladbach man closely is Stefan Bienkowski, a Bundesliga expert and football writer for DW Sports and theNew York Times.

We got his thoughts on all things Dahoud:

Hi, Stefan. Not many Liverpool supporters know a huge amount about Dahoud, so what can you tell us about his style of play, strengths and weaknesses etc?

He’s a very young yet talented individual who excels in the middle of the park through his ability to make smart passes, dribble coherently and create chances as a traditional playmaker.

He certainly lacks experience but as things stand that doesn’t seem to be something that has got in his way.

How did he perform in 2015/16?

He was exceptional in the 2015/16 season for Gladbach. It was his breakout campaign with the first team yet he looked like a seasoned pro alongside (new Arsenal signing) Granit Xhaka.

Is there a current Premier League player that you feel is most similar to Dahoud in style, just to give fans who don’t watch the Bundesliga more of an idea of his qualities?

He’s a clever, technical player so perhaps Cesc Fabregas is the most similar player that comes to mind at the moment. He’s a little more physical than Cesc and can also play box-to-box.

In fact, he’s not too different from Xhaka, so perhaps he’s the most ideal comparison with an EPL player.

Given Klopp’s preference for a 4-2-3-1 formation, and with some doubts about Jordan Henderson and James Milner‘s long-term places in the team, would Dahoud be a perfect foil for Emre Can in the centre of midfield, and would he be an immediate starter?

I can’t tell you much about Jurgen Klopp‘s plans at Liverpool or the future of Jordan Henderson or James Milner, but he would certainly offer an ideal, long-term partner to Emre Can.

I’m not sure I’d advise Klopp to rely upon him straight away, but then I don’t think we’ll see him leave Gladbach for another year or two. By then there’s no reason why he couldn’t be a starter for Liverpool, should they sign him.

Do you see him as a future Germany regular, like Can, or would that be going a little overboard?

He’s definitely got the potential to play for Germany. He was expected to play for the Olympic squad in August before Gladbach requested that he sit it out to take part in their Champions League qualifiers.

If I’m being honest I actually think he offers far more potential than Can and if he can live up to the promise then he’ll definitely be in the national team before too long.

A quick word on Klopp to finish: How do you think he has done so far, and do you believe he is the man to win Liverpool the Premier League title for the first time (you’re allowed to break our hearts and say no)?

I think Klopp has done an outstanding job thus far. I actually thought Brendan Rodgers was a little unfairly treated by the end of his run, but Klopp has obviously came in with a reputation and authority that Rodgers just hasn’t got at this moment in time.

It’s that authority that has allowed him to dictate who the club targets – mostly Bundesliga players – and why things seem to be running far smoother.

Liverpool don’t seem to have the same resources or quality on the pitch as the teams challenging for the title but if there’s one coach who can make up for that then it’s certainly Klopp.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp likes to hug players says Emre can

Emre can has stated that Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp is a very energetic and emotional manager.

The 22-year-old was asked bout his boss during a question and answers session on Liverpool’s twitter page.

Can was asked how his experience working under the dormer Dortmund manager was.

“He is very very emotional. He likes to hug players and jump on the sidelines, thats Jurgen Klopp.” Can stated.

Klopp was appointed as Liverpool manager early on in the season in place of Brendan Rodgers following a slow start to the season.

The 22-year-old midfielder is currently out of action following an ankle injury he sustained during Liverpool’s 4-3 win over Borussia Dortmund in the quarter final’s of the Europa League.

The injury is Can’s first major one since joining Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen at the beginning of last season. The 22-year-old was a major part of Klopp’s starting line-up. Can had cemented a place in Liverpool’s first eleven prior to his injury.

Liverpool take on the Spanish outfit Villareal in the Europa League semi finals next week.

Aldo: I know Emre Can's best position for Liverpool FC in years to come

When you have a great result like the one against Crystal Palace you can usually look at the spine of the team to where it was won.

Simon Mignolet has had plenty of stick but he’s made one mistake in three games now and he was faultless at Selhurst Park.

Dejan Lovren had one of his best games for Liverpool, maybe even his best game of all, at centre back.

And in midfield, Emre Can was excellent. He’s better when he does the simple things and doesn’t try to run with the ball too much.

I know some people disagree but I think he can develop into a really quality sittiing midfielder in years to come.

For me he’s played in a three at centre back so there’s no reason he couldn’t hold in midfield.

James Milner was excellent in the week against Man City and he’ll know he made an error of judgement against Palace.

There were other sendings off too, like the Mata one for United which was pathetic and Kevin Mirallas for United - they were so stupid.

Jordan Henderson got a yellow card after 10 minutes too but he knew not to get himself into a situation to get sent off.

With 11 men we wouldn’t have won anyway, so it worked out well for Liverpool in the end.

John Aldridge: This is Emre Can’s best position for Liverpool

John Aldridge believes Emre Can is capable of developing into a quality holding midfielder for Liverpool.

John Aldridge believes Emre Can’s best position for Liverpool is playing as a sitting midfielder.

The Germany international produced another dominant performance in the heart of Jurgen Klopp’s side at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon.

Can anchored the Liverpool midfield as the Merseyside outfit came from 1-0 down with 10 men to secure a vital 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.

The 22-year-old has been deployed in a wide variety of positions since he moved to the Reds from Bayer Leverkusen in 2014, including centre-half, right-back and centre-midfielder.

However, former Liverpool striker Aldridge believes Can’s future lies as a holding midfielder.

“Emre Can was excellent. He’s better when he does the simple things and doesn’t try to run with the ball too much,” Aldridge wrote in his Liverpool Echo column.

“I know some people disagree but I think he can develop into a really quality sitting midfielder in years to come.

“For me he’s played in a three at centre back so there’s no reason he couldn’t hold in midfield.”

Can has scored one goal in 27 Premier League appearances for the Merseyside outfit so far this season.

The former Bayern Munich midfielder moved to Liverpool in a £6.75m deal from Bayer Leverkusen under Klopp’s predecessor,Brendan Rodgers.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp vote of confidence for Simon Mignolet

Jurgen Klopp denied the goals Liverpool conceded against West Brom showed they have a problem defending set-pieces.

The Reds needed a very late Divock Origi strike to salvage a 2-2 stalemate at Anfield last weekend after Craig Dawson and Jonas Olsson had both scored from corners for Albion.

Klopp was quick to defend goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who missed his punch to allow Dawson to head in, and protested Olsson's goal should have been disallowed.

The German insisted no pattern could be discerned from the goals, saying: "They are all different. Of course it's a situation. Maybe it could be the next misunderstanding.

"Simon came out of his goal and wanted to reach the ball and that's how I work. You can say that if the goalkeeper comes out he has to take the ball, and he didn't. But he came out because I said he should.

"Not in this situation but in general. Because I think as a goalkeeper you have to try to help in the six-yard box as much as you can. That's what he tried and if you try sometimes you miss, that's all. It's not about quality, or something else, it's only this situation.

"The second goal, nobody spoke about things like this after the game because we defend bad set-plays, but it was a foul and it was offside.

"Everybody spoke about Jurgen Klopp, Tony Pulis, celebrating with fans, whatever, nobody spoke about this. If it's a foul and it's offside, how can I tell my team to defend it better? We have to defend so that nobody can easily make a goal. That's it.

"We know about this but in this special game, they were two different situations to all the other things. Usually we are more stable in situations like this.

"We cannot be taller but we saw all the situations, we saw that some teams change their formations against us because of our kind of defending. We try to change now again something to be better prepared for situations like this."

On Sunday, Liverpool travel to Watford, who have been one of the surprise packages of the season and went into the weekend in seventh place in the Premier League table.

But Klopp does not think it should be too much of a shock how well Quique Sanchez Flores' side are doing.

He said: "I don't think it's a big surprise, it's how football is.

"If you have a good team, of course you need good players, but if these players together are a really good team, if you have a good plan like they have and if you play football like they do, then it's not easy but it's possible to be more successful than everybody expects. And if the expectations are not too high, then it's easier to go over them.

"But we go there not to clap our hands because of their season because we want to fight for the points."

James Milner will miss the trip to Vicarage Road due to a calf complaint but defender Dejan Lovren is recovering quicker than expected from the knee injury he picked up against West Brom and could return on Boxing Day.

Flores will go head-to-head with Klopp for the first time in his managerial career, but the Watford boss says his attentions will be on the Liverpool team rather than their charismatic manager.

"He's a very positive manager and he's always thinking about good, offensive football," Sanchez added.

"He wants to learn about the Premier League and it is new for him.

"But I'm not thinking too much about the coach, I'm thinking about Adam Lallana, James Milner, Emre Can, Christian Benteke. That's more important than the thoughts of Jurgen Klopp."

Flores has no fresh injury concerns but midfielder Valon Behrami and defender Sebastian Prodl could both make their returns from injury.