Premier League title challengers Liverpool will turn their attentions to the Europa League on Thursday night as they host Atalanta at Anfield.
The Reds remain firmly in contention for a second Premier League title in five years, sitting just one point below second-placed Arsenal in the table.
Liverpool have won the Carabao Cup already, so they’ll be eager to get as many trophies on board in Jurgen Klopp’s final season at Anfield.
The Reds will be up against Serie A’s Atalanta, a side that has been flying high in recent years and currently sit sixth in the table.
However, they’re currently in a poor run of form, having lost three and drawn one of their last five league games. Liverpool will hope to take advantage.
Klopp will probably make a few changes with an eye on Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Crystal Palace at Anfield.
Curtis Jones could return to Liverpool starting XI v Atalanta
With that in mind, we could potentially see Curtis Jones return to midfield, having recently returned to the fold following an ankle injury.
The 23-year-old came off the bench against Sheffield United a week ago and against Manchester United at the weekend.
Jones’ outing against the Blades was the first time he featured for Liverpool since picking up the ankle issue at Brentford in February.
Now, the Liverpool academy graduate should be raring to go against Atalanta, a great opportunity for him to continue on his comeback trail.
Meanwhile, Dominik Szoboszlai has been below his usually high standards of late and could do with a rest ahead of Sunday’s league meeting with the Eagles.
Jones is a ‘super-talent‘ who ‘makes things happen in the middle of the park‘, and has been labelled ‘one of the best pressing players in the league‘.
It would be great to see him get a proper run-out and play his part for Liverpool in pursuit of the Europa League trophy.
Liverpool v Atalanta team news
In terms of team news, Liverpool received a major boost with Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker all returning to training.
However, Klopp told the Reds media team that he’s yet to make a decision on whether any of the returnees will feature against Atalanta.
According to the Evening Standard, opposition defender Giorgio Scalvini will miss out at Anfield due to a muscle injury.
