After humiliating Manchester United 5-0 in their latest Premier League match, Liverpool now have a different challenge on their hands in their next game with a clash against Championship club Preston North End at Deepdale in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.

On the chalkboard

One player that wasn't involved in the victory at Old Trafford that we think should be in the starting XI in midweek is 26-year-old winger Takumi Minamino.

Minamino has only made two appearances for Liverpool across all competitions so far this season, one of which came during the Merseyside club's previous Carabao Cup match which saw them beat fellow Premier League side Norwich City 3-0, with Minamino scoring two of them.

Taking this into account, we feel that Minamino would be a good option to start against Preston given the fact he hasn't played that much but has shown he is capable of putting in a decent shift when given the chance as he did against Norwich.

In that match against the Canaries, in addition to scoring two goals, Minamino managed to earn himself an overall match rating of 8/10 from the Liverpool Echo who said that he was "always a danger" in the match, showing how useful he can be when called upon even though he hasn't played regularly so far this season and how he could destroy Preston with his attacking talent on the pitch.

Liverpool signed Minamino, who has been described as "outstanding" by Jurgen Klopp in the past, back in December 2019 from Austrian club RB Salzburg after they triggered his £7.25m release clause.

Since joining the Merseyside club, the 26-year-old, who is currently valued at £10.8m according to Transfermarkt, has made just 33 appearances for the Reds across all competitions, scoring six goals and providing two assists in the process.

Back in February, Minamino joined fellow Premier League side Southampton on a loan deal where he managed to net two goals in ten matches before returning to Merseyside.

Looking ahead to the Preston clash, we feel that this game could be another good opportunity for the £72k-per-week earner to show what he is capable of and why he deserves to be in the Liverpool squad rather than away on another loan deal.

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