Liverpool managed to grind out a 1-0 win against West Ham United on Saturday and next up, they return to the Champions League for the second leg of their Round of 16 clash against Inter.
Winning against West Ham means the Premier League title race is very much alive plus given that Liverpool have a 2-0 lead from the 1st leg vs Inter, they should be going into the next round of UCL very comfortably.
Inter failed to put up a strong fight against Liverpool at home so it’s almost impossible to think they will be able to come up with anything magical at Anfield. To make things worse, the Serie A side go into this game at the back of some really poor form as they have lost two and drawn two out of their previous five games.
Inter have a good away record though as they are unbeaten in their previous five away games but this is Liverpool we are talking about, a team who have not lost in their previous 15 matches. The Anfield outfit should be picking up an easy win in midweek and despite Inter winning 5-0 at the weekend, we don’t see Simone Inzaghi’s side causing too many headaches to Klopp’s side.
Liverpool team news and injuries vs Inter:
Liverpool were troubled a bit by West Ham United but in the end, they were able to hold onto their slender lead. The one major headache for the manager though will be that most of his players will not be properly rested for the midweek clash.
Joel Matip missed the Hammers game through illness and we are not yet sure if he will be fit for the Inter game or not. If Matip is not available then Ibrahima Konate will hold onto his place alongside Van Dijk.
Klopp had said on Friday: “Joel is ill – no COVID, nowadays you can be ill in different ways as well – so he will not be available.”
It wasn’t pretty but another 3 points and a clean sheet! 😉 pic.twitter.com/Om64wXxSCa
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) March 6, 2022
Thiago is another player who is out injured and we don’t think the midfielder will be fit in time to feature against Inter. If Thiago misses out then Jurgen Klopp will keep faith in Henderson and Naby Keita to feature alongside Fabinho.
The problem though will be that all the three midfielders played against West Ham United on Saturday so fatigue could be an issue when Inter come to town.
Luis Diaz has settled in perfectly at Liverpool and right now, he is keeping Diogo Jota on the bench. Jota came on as a substitute during the 1-0 win but we think the manager will hand him a start in midweek.
We expect Jota to start on the left wing with Salah playing on the opposite wing and Sadio Mane operating through the middle.
Firmino was scheduled to start training on Sunday so we don’t expect him to be on the matchday squad on Tuesday.
Klopp updated on Saturday: “Bobby is looking good but not good enough for the weekend. I think the plan is that he trains on Sunday, first time. That sounds then doable for Tuesday.”
16 – Trent Alexander-Arnold has provided 16 assists in all competitions this season for Liverpool, his best return in a campaign in his career, overtaking the 15 he achieved in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. Sweet. pic.twitter.com/wxOkFE0Elt
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 5, 2022
Head to Head:
Liverpool: 1
Draw: 0
Inter: 0
Recent form:
Liverpool: WWWWW
Inter: LLDDW
Prediction:
Liverpool 3-1 Inter
