Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Sevilla boss Unai Emery do not have too many injuries to worry with, but choosing the right starting XI will be the difference between lifting the trophy and settling for the runners-up medal. Liverpool and Sevilla clash in a Europa League final in Basel, which should provide plenty of the proverbial thrills and spills.
The longer Klopp has stayed at Liverpool, the better the team have looked, and having suffered the disappointment of losing one cup final – the Capital One Cup against Manchester City – the former UEFA Cup winners will be keen to ensure they end the season with at least one trophy.
Unable to help them potentially win that trophy are Joe Gomez, a long-term injury casualty, Jordan Rossiter and Mamadou Sakho, who remains suspended after testing positive for a banned substance in this very tournament. Danny Ings returned to action, from his own long-term absence through injury, in the 1-1 draw with West Brom on Sunday, but Klopp believes playing the forward in two matches in three days, following seven months out with a cruciate ligament injury, is not worth the risk.
Apart from those four absentees, however, Klopp has a fair few options to choose from – Divock Origi is expected to be named in the squad despite a slight doubt over an ankle problem -- chief of them being the skipper Jordan Henderson, another one of those players who has had injury issues this season.
Henderson made his comeback recently, and Klopp has to weigh the pros and cons of starting with the midfielder. Henderson, who was recently picked by Roy Hodgson in England's provisional squad for Euro 2016, though, believes he is likely to start this Europa League final on the bench.
"I don't know the team, I don't know if I will be starting," Henderson told reporters. "The manager won't name the team until a few hours before the game, as always. But I don't expect to start, no. I've been here a long time and I know I've only played 25 mins, so....
"When I wasn't involved the team did really well and we won some big games -- they played brilliantly to get us here. But at same time I feel good and I am ready. I am ready to play as long or as little as the manager wants me to."
The rest of the team makeup should be along the lines with which Klopp had put out in the recent past, but it remains to be seen if Daniel Sturridge will find a place in the starting XI, having been left out of previous big Europa League games, or if Klopp will go with that "false 9" system, where Roberto Firmino plays through the middle.
For Sevilla, Emery will have to do without the services of Michael Krohn-Deli and Benoit Tremoulinas. The manager is again expected to play Coke in midfield, with Mariano and Sergio Escudero set to be the fullbacks. Goalkeeper Sergio Rico, despite being names in Spain's squad for the European Championships, will have to start from the bench, with David Soria set to continue, having done so well in this tournament.
Expected starting XI: Liverpool: Simon Mignolet; Nathaniel Clyne, Dejan Lovren, Kolo Toure, Alberto Moreno; Milner, Lallana, Can; Firmino, Sturridge, Coutinho.
Sevilla: David Soria; Mariano, Rami, Carrico, Escudero; Krychowiak, N'Zonzi; Coke, Banega, Vitolo; Gameiro.
