Liverpool plays Spartak Moscow in Russia tonight (Kickoff time is 7:45pm – West Africa Standard Time) to put their qualification back on track after playing a 2-2 draw with Sevilla at Anfield.
Recall that Liverpool’s last five games have seen them play beautiful football but with no good result to show for it after they were thrashed by Man City 5 goals to nothing.
In other disappointing games, they drew with Sevilla (2-2), drew 1-1 with Burnley, eliminated by Leicester in the Carabao cup before getting back to winning ways against Leicester in the English Premier League (EPL) with the hard-fought match on Saturday.
Russia is a difficult place to go and get results for English teams as it has proved to be in the past.
Liverpool has played with Spartak Moscow on four occasions in European competitions, winning two and losing the other two.
If Liverpool must win against Spartak Moscow, they must on top of their game, which means their attack must put on their goalscoring boot; the midfielders must create enough for the Strikers and complement the defenders, who will be tasked with keeping the counter-attacking Spartak Moscow team at bay.
Here is Liverpool full squad for the Spartak Moscow game:
Keepers: Karius, Mignolet, Ward
Defenders: Matip, Lovren, Moreno, Robertson, Alexander Arnold, Flanagan, Klavan
Midfielders: Henderson (captain), Wijnaldum, Milner, Can, Coutinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Forwards: Mane, Salah, Sturridge, Solanke, Firmino.
This is the line-up football analysts will expect for the game if Liverpool is to win the game in Russia. The club operates a 4-3-3 formation. that has been Liverpool’s formation since last season and it could be difficult to imagine Klopp changing it anytime from now.
Expected Line-Up:
Goalkeeper: Loris Karius.
Reason – Mignolet should be rested after his “hero and villain” performance against Leicester. Ward should remain on the bench and Karius be given the nod to take charge of the goal post.
Defenders: Flanagan, Matip, Lovren, Moreno.
Reason – Flanagan strength and power will be needed since Gomez is suspended for this game and the young Alexander-Arnold will be bullied on the ball.
Matip and Lovren should be at the heart of defence due to Klavan’s lack of pace and power.
Moreno should be given the nod ahead of Robertson due Moreno’s pace, his contribution to the attack and directness.
Midfielders: Henderson, Can, Coutinho
Reason – Henderson will be expected to lead the team out on the field of play after a good all-round game on Saturday.
Wijnaldum or Can? This is a big task for me to do. Either of the two can do the job but I will go for Can because of his versatility and his big body presence. Wijnaldum away performance is against him as he does not use to perform when he plays away from home. Coutinho automatically slots into creating and dictating the play from midfield.
Forwards: Mane, Sturridge, Salah
Mane is ready for selection after not playing for his club’s last three games serving a suspension.
According to kloop, Mane is in the right frame of mind to start this game, so there is nothing stopping him from starting this game.
Mo Salah should start the game from the right side of the pitch, is pace and goal scoring ability will be needed if Liverpool is to win.
People will be expecting me to start Firmino for this match, but I will go for Sturridge. Many eyebrows will be raise as to this selection. In this match, Liverpool will need a natural number 9 to do the finishing which Sturridge has proven to be over the past years.
And moreover, Firmino needs rest as he has underperformed in the last two games and Sturridge showed what he is capable of doing in his brief cameo against Leicester.
With this strong line-up, I see Liverpool dismantling Spartak Moscow in Russia with a bit of luck.
