Haaland starts for Manchester City as Liverpool make surprise attacking choice

Liverpool have named young striker Lewis Koumas in their starting line-up for Sunday’s meeting with Manchester City at Anfield, while Erling Haaland leads the visitors’ attack in the sixth round of the Premier League.

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola turned to Koumas because Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo are all unavailable through injury. Dominik Szoboszlai has also been left completely out of the matchday squad.

Liverpool’s line-up is:

Goalkeeper: Alisson

Defenders: Araujo, Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk, Kerkez

Midfielders: Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz

Forwards: Luis Diaz, Bradley Barcola, Lewis Koumas

Manchester City, meanwhile, will be spearheaded by Haaland, with Enzo Fernandez and Rayan Cherki operating behind the Norway international.

City manager Enzo Maresca has selected:

Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Donnarumma

Defenders: Nunes, Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi, O’Reilly

Midfielders: Anderson, Enzo Fernandez, Rayan Cherki

Forwards: Savinho, N’Diaye, Erling Haaland

The match brings together two sides with contrasting starts to the Premier League campaign. Manchester City are top of the table with 15 points from five matches, having collected the maximum available total.

Liverpool sit eighth on nine points and are seeking to improve their position in the standings with victory at Anfield.