Still unbeaten in the English Premier League, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool haven’t really enjoyed a similar luxury in the UEFA Champions League this season. A draw and a defeat in five outings sure see them acquiring the top spot of Group D, but they are just three points above Tuesday’s opponent, Red Bull Salzburg.
Knowing the importance and intensity of the fixture, Liverpool are expected to enter Salzburg's Red Bull Arena in full throttle. Klopp, who guided Liverpool to their first Champions League title in 13 years last season, is aware of the fact that his team needs to salvage at least a point from the game if not a win.
If the result, however, goes south, they would need Genk to beat Napoli in order to avoid their demotion to the Europa League. Salzburg, on their part, currently sit third in the table with seven points. A win over Liverpool will take them level on points with the current title holders, and they would qualify on the back of a superior goal difference.
|
Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
Pts |
|
Liverpool |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
8 |
3 |
10 |
|
Napoli |
5 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
9 |
|
RB Salzburg |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
16 |
11 |
5 |
7 |
|
Genk |
5 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
16 |
-11 |
1 |
Liverpool, unlike their Premier League exploits, have dropped five points out of 15 in the Champions League. Their campaign kicked off with a 2-0 defeat against Napoli and they followed it by narrowly salvaging points against Salzburg in October at home.
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The Reds, riding on the back of Sadio Mane, Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah, went into a 3-0 lead in 36 minutes only to allow Salzburg to make an exceptional comeback by the hour’s mark. Salah, however, restored Liverpool’s lead minutes later to seal a 4-3 win.
The Austrian team is in exceptional form this season, having scored a whopping 87 goals in 24 games in all competition. And 28 of those have come from their young prodigy Erling Braut Haaland in 21 outings.
A win over the current Bundesliga table-toppers will take Liverpool to the Round of 16, but a defeat – considering Napoli take all three points against Genk – will make them the first Champions League winners to exit the competition at the group stage since Chelsea in 2012/13.
Heading into the game though, stats do favour the Reds given that they have won five of their seven games against Austrian sides in all European competitions (drew one, lost one). Salzburg, on the other hand, have lost four of their five matches against English opposition in all European competition, conceding at least twice in every match (13 in total).
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Paul Ellis
