Liverpool vs Atalanta, Wednesday 25 November 2020, Anfield, 8.00pm
P W D L F A GD Pts
| Liverpool FC 3 3 0 0 8 0 8 9 | | AFC Ajax 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4 | | Atalanta BC 3 1 1 1 6 7 -1 4 | | FC Midtjylland 3 0 0 3 1 8 -7 0 |
|
Injuries:
Out: Van Dijk (knee), Gomez (knee), Alexander-Arnold (hamstring/calf), Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee), Keita (hamstring)
Doubts: Henderson (kebab), Thiago (knee), Rhys Williams (hip),
For anyone who doesn't know too much about Atalanta,
stockadam’s excellent OP a few weeks ago is a great way to get up to speed with them.
After a 5-0 victory in Bergamo, we’re one victory away from qualifying for the next round with two games to spare. On paper then, things should be straight forward from hereon in but it's usually never that simple.
The last international break brought with it injuries to Gomez, Henderson and Salah, leaving us a lot weaker than we had been two weeks ago. And the squad had already been suffering with injuries anyway. Add to that, despite their result against us, Atalanta are still a dangerous side and can cause any team problems, as they've shown over the past few years under Gasperini. Even in our victory they looked strong in spells and Zapata was almost a one man wrecking ball towards the end of the game so it's not going to be easy. But no one's expecting anything else.
Still, things have generally been pretty good this season all things considered and the away game in particular was our best performance of the season, albeit aided by the way Atalanta play. The good thing for us is that Gasperini doesn't seem like he's the type of manager who'll radically change his style in order to stop us.
The reverse game also brought to the fore two players who not many had down as having such a big impact so early in their Liverpool careers.
Diogo Jota's been great hasn’t he? We finally have genuine competition for Salah/Mane/Firmino and a player who's able to come in without much of a change in formation/style or a drop off in quality when one of those is out. Most would argue that Firmino’s place is the one that’s most immediately under threat, understandably so; as as much as I adore him, his performances this season haven’t been at the level of the previous 4/5 years. Jota isn’t a like for like replacement for him but that can be positive in some ways. His goal against West Ham is one which I think Firmino is unlikely to have been in a position score from. Can't wait to see more of him as he becomes part of the team.
And yeah, his hat-trick last time out was ace.
Look at that smile! Early days but who cares, Rhys Williams been thrust into the first team and he's come in and played like a boss. And he coped wonderfully against Atalanta three weeks ago. I don’t know if he’ll play on Wednesday with Matip and Fabinho potentially being back but I’m a lot less worried about us playing this 19 year old centre back in the Champions League than I would have been three games ago.
The only potential issue is who plays at right back, where it's between Neco Williams or Milner. Not having Alexander-Arnold available will be a miss. His pass to Jota for the first goal in the game in Italy was brilliant and a reminder of what he brings offensively. More importantly from a defensive point of view, either Williams or Milner will need help from the midfield and it would be great to have Henderson available as he's terrific in that respect. Personally, I'd love Williams to start, although my feelings are that Klopp will opt for Milner.
Sp win this and we’re through, which is strange to say as it feels different from the traditional final group game showdown we tend to have in this competition. That's brought with it some brilliant memories that have gone down in folklore but I think we'd all settle for the upcoming Ajax and Midtjylland games having only top spot riding on them.
Let’s hope it happens
