Liverpool vs RB Salzburg: Liverpool will be hoping to find their way to secure all-important three points against Salzburg.
Liverpool will face Red Bull Salzburg at Anfield in a high-voltage clash on Wednesday. It has been a contrast of two sides, as one went down to Napoli in the opening game, while the other trounced their opponents 6-1 to claim opening three points.
Jurgen Klopp will be attacking throughout the game after watching the defensive fatalities of Salzburg. Even though Genk scored once, the Belgian side had tons of chances to score at least two more in that game. On the other hand, Liverpool played out a decent game, but they were undone by a referee’s mistake in the 80-minute mark. There were plenty of positives to take out from that match and the reigning winners will be focussed on procuring all three points.
Liverpool’s side is stacked with plenty of individual quality all over the field. Red Bull Salzburg also have good players to cause trouble in the attacking areas of the pitch.
We shall look at three players possessing the capability to change the game on their own.
#3 Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool)
Virgil Van Dijk has a mammoth job in his hands to prevent Salzburg attackers from troubling him. The Dutch International has been a gigantic presence for the Reds since signing from Southampton way back in January 2018 – stabilizing them and making them compete for every trophy.
The 28-year-old is not only good at winning several duels including aerial duels, but he’s agile and quick to stop the opponent’s counter-attacks. Since Salzburg are playing their away turf, they will be reliant on hitting Liverpool on the break. Virgil Van Dijk has the ability to cut down those passes and has done on numerous occasions before.
Additionally, he can be threatening from the set-pieces too. He has scored many goals in those situations and can pick out passes from the backline to feed the attackers.
#2 Erling Haaland (Red Bull Salzburg)
Teenage striker Erling Haaland hasn’t done anything wrong this season. The forward is reportedly ill, but is expected to recover in time to face Liverpool on Wednesday. He’s integral to Salzburg’s goalscoring hopes as he has already found the back of the net on 15 occasions from 9 games in the Austrian Bundesliga and Champions League.
Since the Austrian side play with four midfielders, the Norwegian is not short of relentless supply. Salzburg are one of the exciting teams in Europe and they will have nil pressure to deliver on Wednesday as Liverpool are anticipated to bag a win at all costs.
Despite those numbers, Erling will be aware of his opponents. The Reds arguably own the best defence in Europe and has the beforehand experience to get better of their opponents. Joel Matip and Virgil Van Dijk have been at their best and it could take a lot to get past them.
#1 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Mohamed Salah has made a very good start to the Premier League season. The Egyptian is not the leading scorer in the domestic league this campaign, but has four goals and three assists from seven games. He is yet to break the deadlock in the European competition after failing to find the back of the net against Napoli in the opening game week.
The former Roma forward operates through the right-wing for the Reds and has the capability of wrecking opposition’s defence if they are not at their best. Salzburg will play four at the back and only one defensive midfielder will sit back with the defence. This could help Salah’s course who likes to run behind the defence more often.
With Roberto Firmino and potentially one of Naby Keita or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain playing behind, Salah will have tons of chances to find the back of the net. If the Egyptian manages to be clinical, he can rack up goals.
