Thompson predicts a victory for his former club in Spain.
Former Liverpool coach Phil Thompson has predicted a win for his former employers in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash against Atletico Madrid.
And the Sky Sports pundit has predicted the lineup Jurgen Klopp will use as he goes in search of a result at the Wanda Metropolitano, where he lifted the Champions League back in June.
He said: “Roberto Firmino will complete the three amigos and the back four will be the same. He will pick Fabinho as he was rested at Norwich, He will come into the starting team. It will be Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum in front of him, as Wijnaldum was substituted with a view of starting this game.
“It was great to have Sadio Mane back at Norwich. He has become as important as Mohamed Salah this season. Being on the bench with the Champions League game coming up on Tuesday, but whether we would have been winning or losing, he would have been coming on to gain the relative game-time.”
Unlike last season, when Liverpool took the Premier League title race right down to the wire as well as winning the Champions League, the Reds can focus more energy on retaining that European crown this year.
Their lead in the league is so big that players, like Fabinho and Mane, can be rested at times, meaning Jurgen Klopp’s side will be at full strength for their European engagements.
That is a luxury that is not usually afforded to English teams, whereas the likes of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain are the ones who tend to have their domestic titles wrapped up by February.
It gives Liverpool every chance of having a historic season, retaining their European crown while ending that long wait for a domestic title.
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