I don’t know about you, but I still haven’t quite caught my breath after Sunday’s match, and here comes another one. Imagine what it’s like actually be playing in these things.
With a two-goal lead and the game at Anfield, LFC should feel quite comfortable about tomorrow. According to fivethirtyeight.com, LFC have a greater than 99% chance of advancing to the semifinals.
But, as we know, stranger things have happened. And, I’m confident that Jürgen and the boys will be taking it quite seriously. Nonetheless, Klopp would not be doing his job unless he planned this match with one eye on the FA Cup semifinal on Saturday. This time, there have been only two days rest since our last match, along with only two days of rest on the other side before we face City again. From a sports science perspective, we MUST take every opportunity to give some of our best players a rest. Remarkably, Klopp said in today’s press conference that we still have a full squad available. Let’s keep it that way.
Klopp will likely take full advantage of the five subs that he will get tomorrow, so that he can start a few key players, hopefully put the tie to bed, then take them off. But, I think some key players should — and probably will — be held out of the match completely tomorrow. I’m betting Thiago falls in that category. Maybe Salah as well.
I think it’s likely that the three subs from Sunday — Díaz, Keïta, and Firmino — will all start this one. However, one or more of them might NOT start, if Klopp has decided he instead wants them to start on Saturday.
If it were up to me, I’d start Minamino or Origi alongside Díaz and Firmino. I think there’s a pretty good chance that might happen. I’ll guess that it’s Taki, and that he lines up initially on the right side.
I would guess that Henderson starts this one, with the expectation that he will leave the game early. If LFC still feel some jeopardy at the point that Hendo comes off, I would guess that Fabinho would come on for him. If we have a three-goal or more cushion at the point Hendo leaves, then Fabinho will likely be spared. If that happens, I would expect us to switch to playing with a double pivot, because none of our senior players other than Hendo and Fabinho really play the lone defensive midfielder position adequately for our 4-3-3 system.
The remaining midfield spot (after Hendo and Keïta) could go to any of AOC, CuJo, or Elliott. I will guess Curtis, based on Klopp’s most recent decisions.
In defense, I’m guessing that both Konaté and Tsimikas start, and that Trent will be subbed early (with Gomez replacing him — probably at halftime).
Benfica, unfortunately for them, are in a position where they have to go for it once again. They did that pretty aggressively in the first leg, and it didn’t work out too well for them. They gave up three goals, and it probably should have been five or six. They got one goal, but only because Ibou had a really bad moment.
My predicted lineup:
In addition to seeing Gomez off the bench, I’ll guess that the subs used tomorrow also include Origi, Milner, AOC, and Elliott.
Anything can happen, but we should cruise.
LFC 2 – Benfica 0 (5-1 aggregate)
