Liverpool Vs Roma: Possible Lineups, Team News And Prediction
Anfield is the venue as Liverpool welcomes Italian team AS Roma for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Semi-Final clash on Tuesday night. It promises to be an exciting night of breathtaking football that will keep everyone on the edge.
This will be Liverpool’s first appearance in the Semi-Final of the Champions League in over a decade, to get to this stage Liverpool bundled out fellow Premier League club Manchester City in the quarter-final. Liverpool has been on fire since the start of the season, Jurgen Klopp’s men have hardly put any foot wrong and will be high on confidence as they battle AS Roma tonight at Anfield.
The Italian side themselves are not pushovers, they stunned the whole world with a miraculous come back win over one of the competition favourites Barcelona in the quarter-final, they overturned a three-goal deficit from the first leg at Camp Nou to unceremoniously dump the Messi lead Barcelona team out of the Champions League.
Team News And Possible Lineups
Liverpool
Liverpool will be without injured midfielders Emre Can and Adam Lallana as both remain sidelined, also Cameroonian international defender Joel Matip will also miss the match because of an injury that has ruled him out of the remainder of the season.
English defender Nathaniel Clyne might not likely be fit enough for this encounter and is set to miss the game. Jurgen Klopp will be delighted to have club Captain Jordan Henderson fit and available for selection after missing the second leg quarter-final tie against Manchester City due to suspension.
You May Also Read: Liverpool vs Roma Head To Head History
The Reds played with a heavily rotated squad against West Brom on Saturday, which means most of the key players were rested, and they will be recalled to the first team for tonight’s match against AS Roma.
Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Karius; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Milner; Salah, Firmino, Mane;
AS Roma
AS Roma don’t have so many injured players, the only notable absentees include defender Rick Karsdorp and forward Gregoire Defrel, both players will miss the match for the Giallorossi.
Forward Diego Perotti has returned early enough to be available for selection in this match after a three-week layoff due to injury. Di Francesco is likely to stick with the 4-3-3 setup that has worked effectively for his team over the past few seasons.
Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Alisson; Florenzi, Fazio, Manolas, Kolarov; Nainggolan, De Rossi, Strootman; Under, Dzeko, Perotti;
Key Stats
- Liverpool and Roma have met five times previously in competitive fixtures, with the Reds winning three of those (one win on penalties after the draw) while the Italians coming out on top just once.
- This is Liverpool’s 10th appearance in the semi-final of the European Cup/Champions League – they’ve progressed to the final on seven of the previous nine occasions, losing only in 1964-65 against Inter Milan and in 2007-08 against Chelsea.
- Liverpool is undefeated in their last 14 matches in the UEFA Champions League and has scored at least two goals in seven of their last eight games in Europe.
- Roma is appearing in their first European semi-final for 27 years when they faced Brondby in the Uefa Cup in 1990-91. Their only previous European Cup/Champions League semi-final was in 1983-84 when they eliminated Dundee United to face Liverpool in the final.
- Roma has won just one of their last 14 away Champions League games (D5 L8), a 2-1 win at Qarabag earlier this season.
Prediction
Liverpool 2-1 AS Roma
Both teams seem to be equally matched, neither of the teams was given a chance to get this far in the competition, it a special achievement for both teams to be competing at this level and they thoroughly deserve their place in the Semi-Final of the UEFA Champions League. AS Roma can boost of a solid defence and Liverpool has red-hot Mohammed Salah in the attack. We feel it will be a tight match but Liverpool will win this game by 2-1 at Anfield tonight.
