Liverpool vs. RB Leipzig: Preview, Team News, and Ways to Watch

Liverpool vs RB Leipzig

| Wednesday, March 10th |
Champions League | Puskás Aréna
8PM BST /3PM EST

Following a sixth consecutive home loss in the Premier Leage, Liverpool might actually be thankful their return leg against RB Leipzig isn’t taking place at Anfield, as they look to maintain their 2-0 advantage from the first leg.

Leipzig have been doing well for themselves since the teams last met, winning three straight — scoring three goals in each game — and taking their current win streak to six, securing their grip on second spot in the league. Now only two points behind Bayern Munich Julian Nagelsmann’s charges might even have reinvigorated their dreams of Bundesliga gold, which may or may not impact how they approach tomorrow’s match.

With Yussuf Poulsen going on a run recently, they even have a player with double digit goals on the season, and the expectation will be that die Rote Bullen do not run out another strikerless formation on Wednesday night. Konrad Laimer and Dominik Szoboszlai will, however, miss out through injury once again.

Projected Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)

Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Kabak, Fabinho, Robertson; Thiago, Wijnaldum, Jones; Mané, Firmino, Salah

Having rotated bigly at the weekend — and suffering the consequences — Jürgen Klopp is expected to bring back the big guns tomorrow, with Trent Alexander-Arnold expected to return, alongside Ozan Kabak, who was back in training today. The Turk is likely to partner Fabinho in the centre of defense, while Andrew Robertson will continue to play every single minute of football the season has to offer.

Naby Keïta put in a solid 90 minutes at the weekend, but is unlikely to return to the starting XI, while Curtis Jones and Thiago were both rested, and will probably feature alongside the ever-present Georginio Wijnaldum.

Up top, Roberto Firmino missed training today with a knee injury, which means a triumvirate of Sadio Mané, Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah will be tasked with testing Leipzig’s talented but frequently vulnerable defenders. Jota has, unsurprisingly, not looked quite as sharp and lethal upon his return as he did back in autumn, but will benefit from more match fitness, and is always liable to get into dangerous positions, particularly against a side that is likely to leave space as they push forward in search of at least two goals.

What the Managers Said

Jürgen Klopp: “Why can we win the UEFA Champions League? Two things: the quality and football in general. You always have a chance in the next game. It’s half-time, we have to play the game. I have no doubt about us. We will give it a proper fight.”

Julian Nagelsmann: “It won’t be an easy task: the players know and I know. We must avoid the mistakes we made in the first leg. We will give everything we have and of course we can dream of delivering a great game.”

The Officials (FRA)

Referee: Clément Turpin
Assistant referees: Nicolas Danos, Cyril Gringore
Fourth official: Frank Schneider
VAR: Jérôme Brisard, Delajod Willy

Kickoff is set for 8PM GMT/3PM EST tomorrow, and television listings for the match can be found on LiveSoccerTV.

In the meantime, and as always, we’ll be keeping you updated with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it’s released, our live matchday thread, and post-match recaps from The Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign up for an SB Nation account to have your say on the action as it happens.