Spanish LaLiga behemoths Barcelona will make the long journey to Mestalla Stadium to face Valencia in LaLiga week 11. The two games will undoubtedly be easy for both teams, who needed three points to improve their standing in the league table.
Barcelona is currently breathing down Real Madrid's neck in the league table, and a win will keep them on track to dethrone the Los Blancos.Xavi Hernandez and his teammates, on the other hand, are still reeling from the trauma of their UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich in front of their own fans. As a result, Xavi will require a very strong lineup capable of defeating Valencia.
A victory would help to heal the wounds of the Champions League exit. Given these facts, here is how the Catalans giant might line up at Mestalla Stadium.
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Liverpool must fix £15m transfer mistake in January as Man City call proves Jürgen Klopp choice
Liverpool has a busy winter ahead of them. Julian Ward will have to make a number of decisions, including whether or not to bolster the Reds in areas where he failed last summer.
But the Liverpool sporting director will have to think about more than just potential new signings. His focus will also be on outgoing players and contract renewals, with players like Roberto Firmino and Naby Keta free to negotiate a free transfer with prospective clubs after the January window closes.They are not the only ones facing a bleak future. Liverpool exercised caution in the summer by keeping Nathaniel Phillips at Anfield despite interest from several Premier League clubs. Given the rest of Liverpool's defense's injury record, it was necessary to be cautious, but the last few months have shown that it may have been a precautionary step taken too far.
Phillips has only played sixty minutes for Liverpool since the summer, and has spent the majority of his time on the bench, despite injuries to Ibrahima Konaté and Jol Matip. Jürgen Klopp preferred to use Joe Gomez in the middle and 36-year-old James Milner at right-back against both Manchester City and Nottingham Forest, rather than bringing in an emergency center-half.Ward is now in a bit of a transfer quandary. Phillips' transfer value has undoubtedly dropped since the summer, when he was coming off the back of a half-season in the Championship in which he played a key role in Bournemouth's promotion to the Premier League.
Nobody was willing to pay Liverpool's asking price of around £15 million at the time (The Athletic). Prospective suitors are unlikely to come close to the club's previous valuation of a player who will need time to regain match sharpness and who may be a risk.
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