Gian Piero Gasperini believes Liverpool are in their best form of the season after Jurgen Klopp’s side warmed up for tonight’s Atalanta clash with a 3-0 battering of Leicester City, speaking to Sky Italia.
Never again will Liverpool be as vulnerable as they were on Sunday evening.
The Premier League champions had to do without Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson, Mo Salah and Thiago Alcantara, meaning Foxes fans could be forgiven for thinking they could become the first away team to win at Anfield since Sam Allardyce’s Crystal Palace in April 2017.
But Liverpool wasted no time in delivering a dose of harsh reality to all those who predicted a dramatic and injury-enforced demise. The Reds crushed Brendan Rodgers’ high-flying side with James Milner, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota stepping up in stunning style.
Gasperini would have been wincing at the sight of Sunday’s Leicester demolition as his out-of-sorts Atalanta side prepare to do battle against a Liverpool side who battered them 5-0 in Bergamo a few weeks ago.
“Honestly, beating them would be a great satisfaction. I saw Liverpool against Leicester and they are probably living their best moment (of the season),” the former Inter Milan boss says.
“Getting a good result at Anfield would be very important for our path in the competition and would give us great satisfaction.
“It’s going to be a very difficult match as we are up against a top-level team doing extraordinary things.
“Clearly, we need to do everything better than we did in the Bergamo match and not make the same errors that led to such a heavy defeat. We know their quality, but we also feel confident we won’t give them as many gifts as we did in the first match.”
Jota, the most expensive attacker in Liverpool’s history, scored a remarkable hat-trick at the home of the Serie A challengers and took his tally to eight goals in 12 games with a brilliant header against Leicester on Sunday.
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