OPINION
Liverpool are back in Champions League action against Italian giants Napoli on Wednesday night, as the Reds go face to face with the manager they vanquished on their most famous night.
Carlo Ancelotti was the unfortunate man in charge of Milan on that glorious night in Istanbul in 2005, and the Italian now faces the daunting task of stopping the Liverpool juggernaut.
For Jurgen Klopp it’s the third big game in just over a week as his Reds team travels to Naples on the back of a brace of games against Chelsea. However, the German is not expected to make many changes from Saturday’s draw with Maurizio Sarri’s side – none in fact.
In goal, Alisson produced a super performance at Stamford Bridge, particularly when he saved one-on-one from Eden Hazard to keep the score at 1-0. The full backs, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson, also pick themselves at this stage.
Joel Matip’s impressive recent return to fitness is not enough for him to penetrate the fearsome Joe Gomez-Virgil van Dijk partnership at the heart of the Liverpool defence. Gomez, on a reported £30,000-per-week [Source: Spotrac], has been excellent this season and he’ll look forward to the challenge of facing Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne.
The midfield three will likely stay the same, too. Klopp tends to put his faith in his captain Jordan Henderson for the big games and that probably won’t change here. James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum have been terrific and deserve to start once again.
Up front, Liverpool’s devastating trio will surely stay in place despite Mohamed Salah’s struggles. The 26-year-old Egyptian looked sub-par again on Saturday but is too good a player for Klopp to leave out. The inclusion of Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane speaks for itself.
