Jurgen Klopp will hope his Liverpool side can conjure up the ghosts of Anfield past as the Reds must defeat Napoli on Tuesday night to advance in the Champions League. The Reds have been abysmal away from home in the Champions League, losing all three matches on the road.However, they have won both home Group C games.
It isn’t straight forward for Klopp’s men as Liverpool must secure a 1-0 victory or win by two clear goals if Napoli score. Anything other than those permutations and Klopp’s Liverpool maybe playing Europa League football after Christmas. Even then, the Reds are not assured of playing post-Christmas going into Tuesday night depending on their result and Paris Saint-Germain's visit to Red Star Belgrade.
Liverpool have been on a roll of late in the Premier League. The Reds have won their last three games with wins over Everton, Burnley, and Bournemouth. All three fixtures have seen the Reds score eight goals and concede just one. Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick in Liverpool’s win over Bournemouth on Saturday. Thanks to the win, Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League table.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli have won their last two Serie A matches. The Italians warmed up for Liverpool with a 4-0 win over Frosinone on Saturday. It followed a 2-1 come from behind win over Atalanta.
Although Liverpool must win, they don’t have to go all out to start the game. Liverpool must keep things solid defensively while attempting to get the one goal they need to go through. The Reds have injury issues, however. Defender Joe Gomez suffered a fractured lower leg against Burnley while Sadio Mane missed out on action due to injury during the week. Centre-back Dejan Lovren has been injured as well.
The Reds are in the midst of playing nine matches this month and will face Manchester United at the weekend. Klopp has hinted at making changes to the side for the match as he rotated his squad for Liverpool’s two most recent games.
Ancelotti won’t sit back and let Liverpool dictate the game at Anfield. The Italian tactician has plenty of history against the Reds. He was in charge of AC Milan during the 2005 and 2007 Champions league finals and oversaw Chelsea for two seasons. On Champions League matchday 2, Ancelotti’s Napoli defeated Liverpool 1-0 in the 90th minute as the Reds lost concentration.
The manager won’t play the cliched Italian defensive tactics as he has instilled an attacking mentality into his team. Napoli won’t go easily and Tuesday’s game could turn out to be one of the biggest in both clubs’ Champions league history.