Liverpool has set itself a big challenge in Europe once again, and this time, it doesn’t have the power of Anfield to help get it over the line. Away in Bergamo against Atalanta, the Reds need to win by three goals in 90 minutes just to force extra-time.
A big problem all through the season has been conceding the first goal and while that has often been the catalyst for a comeback, against Atalanta and then Crystal Palace, Liverpool has been unable to recover.
Today’s game feels like one where anything other than an early goal to go ahead would make overturning the deficit even closer to impossible. Gianluca Scamacca got a brace on Merseyside and Mario Pašalić added a third, and Liverpool will need to adjust much better to the man-marking system that Gian Piero Gasperini deploys this time
That seemed to bamboozle the Reds players but they now at least have 90 minutes worth of experience playing against it as it plots an unlikely place in the last four of the competition.
These are the teams that some of our Liverpool.com writers would select. Jürgen Klopp has an almost fully-fit squad to choose from, meaning the German has some big decisions to make on what could be his final European outing with the Reds.
Liverpool just has to go for it here and hope for the best in terms of progressing through to the semi-finals. If the Reds are clinical and manage not to go behind for once, it is still just about plausible that they could win by enough goals to at least force extra-time.
Alisson Becker will be in goal and the back four only has one decision in it for me. Trent Alexander-Arnold should start and the only question is whether Ibrahima Konaté can start a third game in a row. I’d perhaps expect Jarell Quansah to come in.
In midfield, my first-choice picks all play. I’ve been very clear for a while now that Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Curtis Jones are the best three that Liverpool can pick. That’s the best balance and gets all three of the best players in that position into the starting team, though I’d not leave it as long as Klopp did against Crystal Palace to bring on Harvey Elliott.
In the attack, Cody Gakpo comes in for me. Mohamed Salah is a certainty and then — assuming that Diogo Jota isn’t quite ready to start yet — it’s a toss-up between Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz. I’ll go with Díaz and have Núñez to come off the bench on the hour mark. It’s a strong team but we’re at the point in the season where there is no point thinking too much about rotation.
My starting XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson; Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Jones; Salah, Gakpo, Díaz
Predicted scoreline: 4-1 draw.
