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Liverpool’s best XI: Who should Brendan Rodgers select to face Arsenal on Super Sunday?

Brendan Rodgers has named a different starting XI in all 25 Liverpool matches this season.

With the team 11th in the Premier League, 18 points behind leaders Chelsea, Liverpool are desperate to go on the kind of run of results which propelled them to within touching distance of the title last season.

But which XI should Rodgers opt for against Arsenal on Super Sunday?

Should he stick with the team which defeated Bournemouth 3-1 in the Capital One Cup – or should he shuffle his line-up again?

Here we look at his selection dilemmas ahead of the Sky Live clash. Read on and then pick your Liverpool XI to face Arsenal using the Sky Sports Team Selector.

Graphic
Image: Liverpool's most-picked players in each position this season

Goalkeeper

“It is something that can happen to ‘keepers, taking them out of the firing line to give them time to reflect,” said Rodgers after axing first-choice stopper Simon Mignolet and replacing him with Brad Jones for Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester United. “I just felt after the Basel game that I needed to make the change.”

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Four clean sheets in 22 games and a top flight save percentage of 66.67 – ranking him 12th in the Premier League – are hardly stats which reflect Mignolet’s status as one of the top ‘keepers in the division, which is how Rodgers labelled the Belgian when he signed him for £9m in June 2013. Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher picked out Mignolet’s technical faults on Monday Night Football and with free agent Victor Valdes, Petr Cech and Guillermo Ochoa linked with the club, could there be movement in this area in January?

Defence 

Of course, a keeper can only do so much and as the three goals conceded with Jones in goal at Old Trafford showed, Liverpool’s defence is far from watertight. In fact, Liverpool have made the second-most number of errors leading to goals (six, two behind Everton) and joint-most number of errors leading to shots (15, tied with Manchester United) in the Premier League this season.

Rodgers has gone with 10 different defensive line-ups in 16 Premier League games – only using the same combination three times in a row once – and switched to a back three to face United. Croatia centre-back Dejan Lovren – who arrived for £20m in the summer – has made more errors leading to shots than any player in the major European leagues (seven), while 14 starts for Glen Johnson, 15 for Javi Manquillo and 14 for Alberto Moreno in all competitions highlights the manager’s uncertainty in the full-back positions.

Midfield

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The Sunday Supplement panel discuss whether Steven Gerrard's future still lies with Liverpool.

Liverpool have not deployed the same midfield personnel and formation in consecutive Premier League games this season. Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Lucas Leiva and Emre Can have all played in the holding role at various times – sometimes on their own, as a two or even as part of a three-man screen in front of the defence - while Raheem Sterling, Rodgers’ most-selected outfield player, has been deployed on both flanks and even as a false nine at Old Trafford.

Questions about Gerrard’s best position continue to be asked, while expensive summer signings have played a peripheral role, too - £19m summer recruit Lazar Markovic has made just two starts in the Premier League, while Adam Lallana (£25m) has been selected nine times and Can (£9.75m) on just three occasions. 

Attack

“Without Luis Suarez and the injured Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool look the average side that they were a few years ago. It shows you how one or two players can transform a team and make them better than what they are.” That’s the frank assessment of Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp on Liverpool’s problems this season.

If losing the Premier League’s top scorer to Barcelona wasn’t bad enough, injury restricting Sturridge to just three top flight appearances this season has been a major blow for Brendan Rodgers. Mis-firing £16m buy Mario Balotelli, summer-signing Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini have managed just one goal between them in the Premier League this season – and Rodgers opted to play without a striker at United. Just how costly was missing out on Arsenal hotshot Alexis Sanchez?

Watch Liverpool v Arsenal live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Sunday from 3.30pm

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