Liverpool vs Sheffield United LIVE: Premier League result and final score after Alexis Mac Allister wins it

With games coming in quick succession throughout the entirety of the rest of the season having a strong squad of players is crucial if teams, like Liverpool hope to win silverware at the end of the year.

Jurgen Klopp spoke about the schedule and how important having a fit and firing squad is for their chances of winning trophies.

“Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday – these are our next six games,” said the manager, “So we need the squad, we need everybody who can come back.

“We need, yeah, in an ideal world full strength, which is probably not possible because they come back but somebody else will not be available.

“That’s how it is; the games are too intense, everybody is fighting for everything. It’s really, really a tough period but exciting as well. Looking forward to it. Tomorrow and all the games coming up.

“They are all difficult for different reasons, because first and foremost they are football games, that’s always difficult. But we are really looking forward to it, I cannot say it differently.”

Liverpool’s manager search has been dealt a blow after the news that Xabi Alonso will not be on their shortlist to replace the outgoing Jurgen Klopp this summer.

It means Liverpool will have to look elsewhere as they try to replace Klopp, who will be stepping down at the end of the season. Here are the candidates currently on the shortlist to take over at Anfield:

Ruben Amorim

Reported by The Independent last month as Liverpool’s second-choice behind Alonso, Sporting’s Ruben Amorim is regarded as a sharp tactical thinker. Amorim has revitalised Sporting, winning their first league title in 19 years in 2021. He has become one of the most in-demand managers for this summer, with Barcelona and Bayern also interested in the 39-year-old.

Roberto De Zerbi

If Liverpool favour a manager familiar with the Premier League, Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi might fit the bill. The Italian’s progressive coaching style has proved a neat fit on the South Coast, taking the club into Europe for the first time during his first campaign in charge. De Zerbi is also a manager Liverpool’s incoming sporting director, Richard Hughes, had wanted previously during his time at Bournemouth.

Simone Inzaghi

The Italian has worked wonders at Inter, leading the Nerazzurri to the Champions League final last season and coasting to the Serie A title this campaign. The 47-year-old has caught the eye by implementing a free-flowing style of play with Inter. The former Lazio boss and brother of former Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi is yet to take a job outside of Italy, however.

Ange Postecoglou

Surely not? It seems unlikely that Ange Postecoglou will leave Tottenham after his early success in London but the Australian was a Liverpool fan growing up, and has made a success of virtually every role in a long and varied career. He distanced himself from the Liverpool job earlier this season and says he has a “long way to go” with Tottenham. “I’ve only been here for seven months so I think that is self-explanatory,” he said.

Julian Nagelsmann

Now in charge of Germany, a jump to the Premier League has long been rumoured for managerial wunderkind Julian Nagelsmann. Things turned a little sour towards the end of his stint at Bayern Munich but Nagelsmann was once European football’s hottest coaching commodity after success with Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig.

In Chris Wilder’s first game back in charge of the Blades, goals from Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai gave Liverpool a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in December.

Barcelona are racing to try and secure the appointment of Ruben Amorim, in the knowledge that he has now become the top choice for a series of major European clubs.

The Catalan club had been seen as favourites for the Sporting Lisbon coach, up until last week, as it was revealed that Xabi Alonso would be staying at Bayer Leverkusen for one more season.

The widespread feeling from industry figures directly working in this summer’s frenetic managerial market had been that Amorim would go to Barcelona and Alonso to one of Liverpool or Bayern Munich, with the Anfield club more likely to get the Basque tactician.

Though the Reds have quite a few key players missing for tonight’s game there is a feeling from Jurgen Klopp that the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota will be back in training by next week.

He said: “The other boys [are] doing well. Diogo and Trent are together in a group, which helps both, but [it] looks like from next week on they will be hopefully in parts of team training, and then we will see the rest.

“Ali is with the goalkeeper coaches, so I just see them through the fence, but that looks good as well. I think in his mind as well, next week parts of team training.”

Jurgen Klopp has provided an update on Joel Matip’s rehabilitation from the anterior cruciate knee ligament injury he sustained earlier this season.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Klopp claimed that Matip was progressing well but may be out for the rest of the season.

“Joel [is] running – he hates that! But he is able to run again, so that’s good,” the manager said, “I think since he got injured this is the best moment because it was very painful in the beginning, very painful for him [but] he got through that and now he is pain-free.

“But, that now all takes time so I don’t think the season is long enough for him.”

Liverpool have won their last six league meetings against the Blades, conceding only once during those matches. Sheffield United’s last league victory against Liverpool came at Anfield in April 1994.

It may not prove the most helpful of tips to beleaguered defenders but Pep Guardiola has thought of a way to stop Phil Foden from finding the net. “If we play s**t, he is not going to score goals,” he rationalised. And if the flaw in that theory, as many an opponent can testify, is that Manchester City rarely play badly, perhaps it reflected the sense that Foden can look unstoppable.

There are games when he seems so. Aston Villa arrived at the Etihad Stadium fourth in the table, albeit with a depleted team, and conceded three times to Foden: twice from outside the box, once from around 14 yards, to three shots with a combined xG of 0.41. The free kick, the steered first-time finish, the thunderbolt that Jack Grealish compared to Wayne Rooney: all struck with his left foot, but very different types of goals. Little wonder, then, that Guardiola said: “He can do whatever he wants.”

It is hard to look past Liverpool when deciding a winner for tonight’s match. The two sides came into these midweek fixtures at opposite ends of the table and when considering the Reds’ dominance at home it should be an easy win.

Liverpool 3-0 Sheffield United.

Liverpool XI: Kelleher; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Salah, Nunez, Gakpo

Sheffield United XI: Grbic, Holgate, Ahmedhodzic, Robinson, Bogle, Vini Souza, Hamer, Norwood, Osborn, McAtee, Brereton Diaz.