Red Bull Salzburg boss Jesse Marsch admits a visit to Anfield represents "mission impossible" for his team in the Champions League after delivering a fresh fitness update on Erling Haaland.
Haaland had been a doubt for the game after struggling to overcome in illness in recent days, but Marsch suggested that the Norwegian youngster will be in shape for the trip to Liverpool on Wednesday night.
The 19-year-old Haaland has scored 17 times in just 12 appearances, including a hat-trick against Genk in their Group E opener last month. Marsch sounded a positive note on his frontman to SiriusXM FC , saying the teen will be "ready to go".
"It was obviously a special night in Salzburg [against Genk]," said Marsch. "But we've got a tougher test awaiting for us on Wednesday night, but we will be ready.
"We've had a really good start to the year and I said previously we had a young group with a lot of potential and that is still the case.
"In terms of Erling, the kid is an incredible talent, he can do almost anything. He is fit. He is fit for this weekend. So we just have to make a decision – is he ready to start from the beginning or do we bring him off the bench?
"But he’s had a long week, this week he’s been sick a little bit so we’ve had to manage that, but he’ll be ready to go."
Marsch accepts that the European champions at Anfield represents a much more daunting task than Genk at home, but the American coach believes his team cause problems by sticking to their clearly defined gameplan against Jurgen Klopp's Champions League holders.
It will be Liverpool 's first European game at Anfield since the historic 4-0 win over Barcelona in May's semi-final second leg and Marsch is keenly aware of the uphill task that awaits his Champions League fledglings.
He added: "First of all, we have tried to create an incredibly clear gameplan so we know exactly how to play to our advantage and exactly the ways that Liverpool can punish us.
"The more that we are able to have concentration for 90 minutes and execute a matchplan that puts us in position to succeed, then we can at least give ourselves a chance.
"In the end, what I have tried to say to them is, honestly, I don't care what the result is. What I do want is we go there and play our football.
"That we are confident, that we are aggressive, that we go after the game and the opponent, that we don't worry about mistakes and that we just play with joy and with confidence. and clarity.
"If we do that then we will give ourselves a better chance of getting a result. Having said that, I think this in every will be mission impossible! Who cares? Honestly, who cares?
"As long as we go there and play brave then we can walk out of there and be very proud.
"We will be smart, but our way to play defensive is to make sure we understand how to be aggressive in certain areas and we still play our version of football and calculate exactly how we want this game to be played."
