Liverpool Vs Napoli - UEFA Champions League Tuesday 11th December 20:00 GMT - Match Preview
Liverpool are having their best season ever domestically but are not experiencing the same success in Europe this season. After losing all three of their away fixtures they enter the 6th and final game in Group C needing to win in order to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, and things are so tight that even a win may not be enough. Liverpool are currently 3rd in the group with 6 points while Napoli are top on 9 points, they are separated by Paris St Germain on 8 points who play Red Star Belgrade in their final game.
A loss or a draw will see Liverpool exit the competition while a 1-0 win or a win by 2 goals or more will see them qualify so a 2-1 victory would not be enough unless PSG fails to beat Red Star. Liverpool's previous game against Napoli was a real dull affair with The Reds failing to get even 1 shot on target before being hit by a 90th-minute winner by Lorenzo Insigne. That match did come at a critical time for Liverpool though and was sandwiched between league games against Chelsea and Manchester City while Liverpool were going through a bit of a lull offensively. They seem to have turned a corner lately and will be coming into this buzzing after taking the top spot in the Premier League with star man Mo Salah bagging a hat-trick last time out. Liverpool fans will be hoping for more goals from the Egyptian and replicate the pre-season meeting at Anfield between the two sides which saw Liverpool bag a 5-0 victory. It will be an extremely tough game as Napoli themselves are in fine form sitting 2nd in the Serie A and undefeated in their last 12 games in all competitions and also won 4-0 last time out.
It's expected that Trent Alexander Arnold will return for this game having been rested for the past couple of matches and with Gomez and Clyne both sidelined by injury, Joel Matip is likely to continue at centre-back but Lovren is able to play after recovering from his recent head injury. Sadio Mane came off the bench against Bournemouth and is likely to rejoin Salah and Firmino in the attack. Midfield is a little less easy to predict with just Oxlade Chamberlain unavailable. Fabinho and Keita have started to come good recently while Wijnaldum and Milner have both been really consistent all season with Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana both coming back from injury, on top of that Shaqiri has also shown promising signs when playing a deeper role and so Klopp has an abundance of options and it's anyone's guess. I expect to see Wijnaldum, Henderson and Keita start with Henderson and Milner being kept fresh for the Manchester United game at the weekend. Napoli boss Carlo Ancelotti has Vlad Chiriches and Simone Verdi both out injured but no major concerns for any of his regular first teamers.
Liverpool never seems to do anything easily when it comes to this competition and Anfield has seen far more than it's fair share of thrilling European battles. The situation of them needing to win by 2 or more goals brings back memories of 2004 when they faced Olympiakos in similar circumstances. Back then they had to come back from 0-1 down and it wasn't until the final 10 minutes that they took the lead 2-1, that still wasn't enough to see them qualify. The Anfield crowd roared their players on and drove the team forward inspiring Steven Gerrard to strike a stunning half-volley that flew into the goal like a rocket to send Liverpool through. The fans will be just as up for this game and will push their players as much as they can, it is going to be an incredible atmosphere and should Liverpool pull it off they will be hoping the side will also replicate that Steven Gerrard lead side who ended up lifting the trophy in Istanbul that season.