Liverpool only need a point against Lille to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League, but others have already underestimated the French club in this year’s competition.
By Ian King
Two strong sides go head-to-head
So, are Liverpool back on the boil? After the blip of draws against Manchester United and Nottingham Forest along with losing to Spurs in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, a semblance of this season’s normal returned at Brentford at the weekend with a 2-0 win, although it took them until stoppage-time and some very tired defending for this to come to pass.
But Lille are no pushovers. They’ve only lost four times in all competitions this season and haven’t lost to anyone since the 17th September. Their five game unbeaten run in the Champions League has included wins against both Real and Atlético Madrid, and a draw against Juventus.
History
These two clubs have only met once before, a two-legged Round of 16 match in the 2009/10 Europa League which came about after Liverpool could only finish in third place in their Champions League group. They won the first leg 3-0 at Anfield, but Lille did win the return match 1-0. Liverpool went on to lose to Atlético Madrid on away goals in the semifinals that year.
Key players
An injury may give an opportunity to a player whose arrival at Anfield hasn’t quite caught light yet. Federico Chiesa has only appeared twice in the Premier League since arriving from Juventus in August, but he scored his first Liverpool goal against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup and could be given another opportunity here.
Lille’s main goal threat is the Canadian striker Jonathan David, who’s already scored 17 in 30 matches in all competitions so far this season, including six in ten in this very competition.
Team News
Liverpool’s injury list is pretty short, at the moment. If Chiesa is to get his chance, it’s because Diogo Jota picked up an injury last week which kept him out of the Brentford match and which will likely keep him absent for a few weeks. Joe Gomez is injured, and unlikely to return until the start of February. Lille also have absentees. They’ll be without defender Tiago Santos for the rest of the season, while another defender, Samuel Umtiti, won’t return until the end of January.
Prediction
This is ultimately a match between one of the Champions League’s surprise teams so far and one of the favourites to win it outright. Lille are in eighth place in the 36-team group and a result for them leaves them on the cusp of qualification for the last 16 of the tournament themselves. And while Liverpool are genuine European football royalty, so are Real Madrid, and Lille beat them in a group match in September. But with the Reds needing just a point to seal their own qualification Arne Slot will be after getting the job done, and a narrow 1-0 win would be more than enough to see them through.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
You can follow every game from the Champions League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, player ratings, and a new super-intuitive knockout stage bracket. Download the free app here.