Liverpool are set to face Real Madrid in the Champions League this week and they go to Spain at the back of a rather shocking 1-0 loss to AFC Bournemouth.
Liverpool were flying high after scoring seven goals against Manchester United and everyone thought they will go into this second leg with a lot of confidence. However, this weekend’s loss to the Cherries has once again deflated the Reds’ confidence.
The tie is already out of their reach because Real Madrid came from 2-0 down to win the first leg 5-2 which means the away side will need a miracle to turn things around on Wednesday.
Liverpool haven’t lost in two away matches but at the same time, they have lost 12 games across all competitions this season and there are still almost two and a half months in the campaign. Honestly speaking we don’t see Klopp’s team staging a fightback but the manager would love his team to make things uncomfortable for the home team.
Liverpool’s team news and injuries:
After this match, the international break kicks in so Jurgen Klopp does not need to rest his regular starters. However, he does have several players missing due to injuries, namely Thiago, Luis Diaz and Joe Gomez.
All of them are ruled out for midweek but they should be back after the international break.
The defence is not likely to see any changes from the Bournemouth game unless there’s a late injury but the midfield could see a rotation.
Harvey Elliott played at the weekend but he is going to drop to the bench with Jordan Henderson coming into the starting line up.
Diogo Jota and Bobby Firmino are both fully fit and available for selection but we think the Liverpool boss will keep using Nunez and Gakpo along with Mo Salah.
In a game of this stature, Firmino’s experience and link-up play can really come in handy but both Gakpo and Nunez are in good form so Klopp won’t risk benching them. They scored four goals amongst themselves in that Man United game so they will definitely be on the field at the Bernabeu.
Liverpool predicted line up vs Real Madrid:
Predicted Starting Line up(4-3-3): Alisson; Van Dijk, Konate, Trent, Robertson; Fabinho, Bajcetic, Henderson; Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo, Nunez.
