Liverpool vs RB Salzburg
Champions League 2019/20 season
Venue: Anfield
Date: Wednesday 2nd October, 2019
Kick-off time: 8pm BST
Champions League holders Liverpool will hope to bounce back from their opening Group E defeat to Napoli when they host Salzburg at Anfield on Wednesday.
The Reds are heavy favourites to return to winning ways on the European stage, but Jurgen Klopp insists there is no room for complacency.
The visitors play a similar brand of football to Klopp's Liverpool, while their 19-year-old striker Erling Haaland became the third-youngest player to net a Champions League hat-trick in their 6-2 win over Genk in their first match.
Read on for our full match preview...
Team news
Liverpool centre-back Joel Matip will miss the Champions League visit of Red Bull Salzburg with a knock.
It is likely to mean a recall for Joe Gomez, who has been restricted to just five appearances this season, alongside Virgil Van Dijk.
Midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri has not recovered from a calf injury while goalkeeper Alisson Becker (also calf) is back in training but not available for Wednesday.
Predicted XI: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mane, Salah, Firmino.
Provisional squad: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane, Kelleher, Lovren, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Keita, Lallana, Origi, Brewster.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 RB Leipzig
Liverpool are a wounded beast following their opening round defeat in Naples and will be keen to put that right in front of their own fans. Playing at home in the Champions League for the first time since their miraculous comeback against Barcelona in the semi earlier this year, Jurgen Klopp is set to call on his strongest team to revive their first European title defence since 2006.
Red Bull Salzburg have goals in them though, and dispatched Genk in their opening game. Haland will be keen to continue his fine record in front of goal after announcing himself to a wider audience in that thumping win over Genk last month.
Tickets
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Match odds
- Liverpool to win: 4/11
- Draw: 5/1
- Inter to win: 17/2
TV channel and live stream information
The match will be televised live on BT Sport ESPN and can be streamed live online via the BT app and website.
You can follow all the action and analysis on Standard Sport's LIVE blog.
Head to head (h2h) results and history
This will be the first time the teams have ever met in European competition, Salzburg becoming Liverpool's 129th different opponent and the 76th they have met in this competition.
They are the fourth side from Austria to face the Reds following Austria Vienna, Swarovski Tirol and AK Graz - Salzburg assistant coach Rene Aufhauser was in the Graz team that won at Anfield in 2004.
The English teams Salzburg have previously faced are Blackburn (UEFA Cup 2006-07) and Manchester City (Europa League 2010-11), losing on both visits to England and conceding five times without scoring.
