Most of what I said two weeks ago about Porto applies here. But moreso. We REALLY need to rotate now, and Klopp acknowledged in the presser today that his fitness team would destroy him if he failed to do so. He also said that he couldn’t rotate an entirely new 11. Based on that statement, at least some player(s) will be starting a third game in six days. My guess is Alisson and Salah will do that — Alisson because he’s a keeper and Mo because he wants to score all the goals in both the PL and CL. Maybe one of Matip or VVD will start alongside Konaté as well, though I hope not.
Origi will get the call, after his big moment Saturday. At least half of the press conference today involved questions about Origi. “How does he stay ready?” “Does he ever moan about lack of playing time?” “Is there something special about him that allows him to come off the bench after not playing in a long time, and still make an impact?” All of this was a bit amusing, but probably deserved. Origi made his 100th appearance as a Liverpool substitute on Saturday, and scored his 10th goal as a sub. No other Liverpool player has ever scored that many as a sub.
Klopp pointed out that Divock can be quite good as a starter as well — noting that he started one of the most famous games in LFC history — the 4-0 against Barcelona, in which Origi scored twice.
This morning I rewatched the 38 minutes that Divock played against Wolves. Without the emotional terror, I was able to observe that Origi played a REALLY good game, even before scoring. His touch, dribbling, and linkup play were all better than I’d seen from him in a long while. Really nice to see, and even nicer to see him reward us and himself with that late stunner.
Keïta and/or Gomez could make the bench for this one, though there’s no way they will start. If they’re on the bench, I would expect at least one of them to see a few minutes at the end, given that we have five subs.
For Salah or any other outfield players from the “starting unit” who start this game, I would expect that they will be subbed at halftime, regardless of the score.
Only seven teams have previously won all six group stage matches: Real Madrid twice (2011-12 and 2014-15); Bayern Munich (2019-20); Paris St. Germain (1994-95); Spartak Moscow (1995-96); Barcelona (2002-03); and AC Milan (1992-93). Thus, the Reds seek tomorrow to do something no English team has done. Add that motivation to the list from the Porto match below.
I find it difficult to fathom that the Reds will be able to sustain intensity for very long in this match. And AC Milan will have plenty of motivation, as they are still in the hunt either to advance to the Round of 16 in this competition (that’s unlikely — they would need to win tomorrow while Porto and Atletico would have to draw), or win the booby prize of moving onto the knockout stages of the Europa League by finishing third in the group. But, our backup players are good. And I’m sure they will be intense in short bursts.
This is a big stage for them.
And, by the way, Milner is out for this one because he got a one-game suspension for picking up his fifth yellow card against Porto. Too bad, because we could use him.
Lineup guess:
I think the match will be close. A.C. Milan 2 – LFC 2
