Preview: Liverpool vs. PSG
The Reds look to capitalise on their first leg smash and grab and secure advancement to the quarter-finals.
Liverpool vs PSG
| Tuesday, March 11th |
Champions League | Anfield
8:00PM BST / 3:00PM ET
After further cementing their grip on the Premier League title with a comeback win over Southampton as Arsenal stumbled against Manchester United, Liverpool will look to put on a better showing than was the case in the first leg, as they take a one-goal advantage into the Champions League round of 16 second leg with PSG at Anfield.
Luis Enrique’s side bounced back from their 87th minute home defeat on Wednesday well enough, traveling to Rennes with a rotated side at the weekend and smashing their 12th placed opponents 4-1, albeit with two goals coming from substitute Ousmane Dembele in injury time.
Not much has changed for Les Parisiens since last week, and Enrique can field his best XI once more — including the likes of Dembele, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Bradley Barcola — as they attempt to replicate their performance from the home leg but adding the ability to beat the best goalkeeper in the world.
Projected Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, van Dijk, Robertson; Jones, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Gakpo, Jota, Salah
For the Reds, there’s not much reason to expect massive upheaval, as a number of players were given a 45-minute run-out on the weekend, in an attempt to maintain match fitness but also some freshness.
Trent Alexander-Arnold played 89 minutes but is also the only fully fit right-back on the squad at the minute — Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez remain unavailable — and will start, while Ibrahima Konaté continues to partner Virgil van Dijk at the heart of defense. There is a chance Arne Slot chooses the defensive capabilities of Kostas Tsimikas over the attacking output of Andy Robertson.
In midfield, Tyler Morton is out injured, while Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai only played one half each at the weekend and will start. Ryan Gravenberch would be in line for his 40th start of the season, but could potentially be rested, as Curtis Jones comes into the side. Harvey Elliott remains an impact substitute at best in the eyes of the manager.
Up top, Cody Gakpo is fit an available for the first time in two weeks and could start right away, while Luis Diaz played the full match at the weekend and could start on the bench. Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota duke it out to start in the centre alongside Mohamed Salah.
What the Managers Said
Arne Slot: “We try to win every game, that’s what we tried to do last week – it wasn’t our intention to be defending so deep. We want a different game, though our intentions are the same. We don’t want a draw, we want the ball as much as we can.”
Luis Enrique: “No player in the team will not want to play at Anfield. It is a legendary stadium in the history of football in Europe. It is a huge motivation for the players and as a team. We want to show that we are capable of playing a good game in Liverpool’s stadium.”
The Officials (ROU)
Referee: István Kovács
Assistant Referees: Mihai Marica, Ferencz Tunyogi
Fourth Official: Horațiu Feșnic
VAR: Bastian Dankert (GER), Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
Kickoff is set for 8:00PM GMT/3:00PM ET tomorrow, and television listings for the match can be found on LiveSoccerTV.
In the meantime, and as always, we’ll be keeping you updated with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it’s released, our live matchday thread, and post-match recaps from The Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account to have your say on the action as it happens.
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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