Ruben Amorim: How Liverpool could line up under the Portuguese manager

Here’s how Liverpool could potentially line up under Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim. The manager has been strongly linked with the Reds.

Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim is the current favourite to take over at Liverpool. He was considered a strong contender even with Xabi Alonso in the running, but once the Spaniard removed himself from contention, Amorim felt almost probable.

Of course, there's a long way to go and Liverpool face competition for the Portuguese manager. But with Amorim the current favourite, we thought we'd see what the team could look like should he take over.

Now, we're only going to use the current squad for this as transfers this summer are completely up in the air. We're also going to assume Amorim would want to stick with his 3-4-3 system that's brought such success at Sporting.

It leads to an interesting XI - and highlights where the Reds may look for signings.

---

Liverpool under Ruben Amorim

Defence

Well, goalkeeper is an easy one - Alisson Becker. That'll remain the case no matter who takes over this summer.

Then things quickly become interesting as Amorim's Sporting play with three centre-backs. Liverpool don't really have the squad for that just yet, given they've consistently played with two centre-backs under Jurgen Klopp.

At Sporting, it's Ousmane Diomande, ex-Red Sebastian Coates and Goncalo Inacio. Virgil van Dijk would certainly take one spot, presumable in the middle of the three.

Ibrahima Konaté is then an obvious suggestion alongside him and you'd imagine Joe Gomez would get the nod ahead of Joel Matip or Jarell Quansah at this stage.

Wing-backs/Wide-midfielders

We're throwing the wide players into a separate section here as it's debatable whether they're wing-backs or midfielders. Amorim also doesn't have absolute regulars on either flank.

Nuno Santos, who typically plays from the left, has never started more than 25 league games in a season. Ricardo Esgaio has never started more than 15 from the right (though, should move past that mark this season), while Geny Catamo has 12 starts from that side this season.

Amorim's wide players are typically very functional and versatile with what they produce. Does Trent Alexander-Arnold fit into that on the right? It's debatable and given how influential he's been centrally, it might not be the role for him.

He'd be the favourite for the position - but it's not necessarily a clean transition.

Andy Robertson, on the other hand, would surely offer the width on the left and he's a fantastic option for it.

Midfield

There's not really any question who this would ideally be, with Wataru Endo and Alexis Mac Allister showing this season that they're a near-perfect combination. They'd also offer Amorim pretty much exactly what he wants there.

Sporting's midfielders pair are there to control games, rather than produce magic. Hidemasa Morita and Morten Hjulmand both win tackles and pass the ball very well. That's the big two - and Endo and Mac Allister bring that better than anyone.

Exactly how Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones fit into things is a guess at this point and the transition to just two midfielders could be the most difficult one.

Attacking midfield

Sporting operate with two busy attacking-midfielders/wingers operating behind a central striker. They get a lot of production out of the two roles - Pote, in particular, was a driving force behind their title win a few years ago.

Marcus Edwards and Paulinho are two more options that look to provide both goals and assists. And that's perhaps the 'secret' here - Amorim is after both.

Thus Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz are pretty routine selections here. Of course, the likes of Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Harvey Elliott and Dominik Szoboszlai could likely thrive here, too.

Elliott, in particular, is an interesting one. It's a role that very well could be tailor-made for him.

The no.9

Viktor Gyorekes arrived at Sporting from Coventry in the summer and has been an absolute revelation. 25 Liga Portugal games, 22 goals and 10 assists.

He's an all-action player who's physical, athletic, driven, and makes things happen. Gyokeres has been so good, in fact, that Liverpool would likely be linked with him heavily if they didn't already have their own version.

Darwin Nunez might be a dream in Amorim's system - if he could get similar output as he has the Swede.

The possible XI

Alisson; Gomez, Van Dijk, Konaté; Alexander-Arnold, Endo, Mac Allister, Robertson; Salah, Diaz; Nunez