The Details
Venue – Red Bull Arena, Salzburg, Austria
Referee – Danny Makkelie (NED)
Date & Time – Tuesday, November 10th 2019 @ 17:55
Current Odds – RB Salzburg 11/4, Draw 16/5, Liverpool 17/20
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A draw in Austria will confirm Liverpool’s place in the last-sixteen of this season’s Champions League. A win for Jurgen Klopp’s side means they will top the group. Whatever happens, let’s hope the dream is still alive by the end of Tuesday night as The Reds continue the defence of their European crown.
Form
RB Salzburg Form
Since losing at home to Napoli back in October, RB Salzburg have gone undefeated in 9 games, winning six and drawing the other three.
On Saturday, they beat Swarovski Tirol 5-1 to maintain their two-point lead at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga. Jesse Marsch’s team is unbeaten in their 17 league games this season so far.
RB Salzburg can qualify for the knockout stages with a two-goal win over Liverpool. A one-goal win could also put them through as the head-to-head record would then be equal with a level aggregate score but RB having scored three away goals. A low-scoring one-goal victory for the Austrians or a two-goal win would see them into the last sixteen.
Liverpool Form
Liverpool’s record-breaking season continued at Bournemouth on Saturday. The visitors won comfortably at the Vitality Stadium with goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah.
Napoli is still the only team to have beaten Liverpool this season. Let’s hope that is still the case after Tuesday night’s match.
Team News
RB Salzburg Team News
Patrick Farkas, Antoine Bernede and Sekou Keita are injured and unavailable for the visit of Liverpool.
RB Salzburg are not missing any players through suspension.
Jesse Marsch has used several different formations with this team so far this season. However, I think he’ll go for the 4-4-2 shape that helped his side almost cause an upset at Anfield in October.
Liverpool will need to pay special attention to the potential front pairing of Hee-Chan Hwang and Erling Braut Haaland. They have 11 goals between them in this season’s Champions League.
Liverpool Team News
Joel Matip and Fabinho are two players who are definitely out of Tuesday night’s game in Austria. Adam Lallana, Gini Wijnaldum and Dejan Lovren may also miss out due to injury. Lovren went off in the first half of Saturday’s win at Bournemouth and, although it doesn’t look like it’s a serious issue, it’s unlikely Jurgen Klopp will risk him against RB Salzburg.
Joe Gomez will deputise in place of Lovren with Trent Alexander-Arnold starting at right-back.
In midfield, I believe Gini Wijnaldum will be passed fit, judging by Klopp’s comments after the Bournemouth game. Therefore, Wijnaldum should start at the base of The Reds’ midfield and I think Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in front of him.
In attack, Klopp will probably go full strength with a trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané.
Predicted Lineups
RB Salzburg XI (4-4-2) – Stankovic; Kristensen, Onguene, Wober, Ulmer; Minamino, Mwepu, Junuzovic, Szoboszlai; Haaland, Hwang
Liverpool XI (4-3-3) – Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Firmino, Mané
When they last met
Liverpool won 4-3 when the sides met at Anfield back in early-October. Goals from Sadio Mané, Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah (x2) gave The Reds the win. Hee-Chan Hwang, Takumi Minamino and Erling Braut Haaland scored for the visitors.
Prediction
RB SALZBURG 1 – 3 LIVERPOOL
In what should be another high-scoring, entertaining game, Liverpool will need to step it up a gear compared to their performances in this group stage so far. I think The Reds will get the win in what could be a cracking match in Austria.
