Liverpool Face Lille With Chance to Avoid Playoff Round | OneFootball

Lille v Liverpool – The Champions League Preview

Date – 21st January 2025

Venue – Anfield

Kick-off – 20.00

After a superb late win over Brentford in the Red’s last Premier League game, a somewhat less pressurised game awaits the team that sits at the top of both the domestic and Champions League tables. Lille are enjoying a strong season in their domestic league and will be looking to upset their heavyweight opponents. Arne Slot knows that another in the Champions League will all but secure a place in their top eight, thereby ensuring a playoff round is avoided.

Lille Availability

Lille manager Bruno Genesio will be without several key players: Samuel Umtiti, Nabil Bentaleb, Tiago Santos, and Matias Fernandez-Pardo are all unavailable for the Ligue 1 side.

In terms of recent form, the French club beat Nice 2-1 at home this past Friday evening, following progression into the next round of the French Cup with a penalty shootout win away to Marseille. That cup tie victory came after a 1-1 draw in normal time. The game before saw the Pierre Mauroy Stadium outfit draw 0-0 at Auxerre. In the Champions League standings, 13 points have been taken in their six games played, with a superb 8th place in the table established.

The predicted lineup for Lille, using a 4-2-3-1 formation, is as follows:

– GK: Lucas Chevalier

– RB: Thomas Meunier

– RCB: Bafodé Diakité

– LCB: Alexsandro

– LB: Ismaily

– CM: Benjamin André

– ACM: Hákon Arnar Haraldsson

– CM: André Gomes

– RW: Mitchel Bakker

– CF: Jonathan David

– LW: Rémy Cabella

Liverpool Availability

Liverpool will be without Joe Gomez, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, whereas the status of Diogo Jota remains unclear. The Portuguese striker may well make the bench for this game, however, the nature of his injury makes that possibility unknown.

In their most recent match, Liverpool secured a 0-2 win away to Brentford after a 1-1 draw away at Nottingham Forest. That pair of away days came following a 4-0 victory against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup third round. Liverpool currently tops the Champions League standings with a maximum of 18 points taken from their six games played.

Here is the expected lineup that Arne Slot will field for this home match against Lille. Some degree of rotation is expected for this game, as the need to maintain freshness within the group is a key facet of achieving momentum across all footballing competitions.

– GK: Alisson Becker

– RB: Conor Bradley

– RCB: Jarell Quansah

– LCB: Virgil van Dijk (c)

– LB: Andy Robertson

– CM: Wataru Endō

– ACM: Harvey Elliott

– CM: Curtis Jones

– RF: Federico Chiesa

– CF: Darwin Núñez

– LF: Luis Díaz

How Will This Contest Play Out?

Liverpool is expected to rotate in preparation for the visit of Ipswich Town on Saturday. How much Arne Slot chooses to shuffle the pack will be dependent on fatigue and match sharpness ahead of this Anfield encounter. I expect Darwin Núñez and Federico Chiesa to start this game, with both showing signs of improvement in both form and fitness. Jonathan David will be the man to watch for the away side, one which should see a home win for the six-time European champions.

Player to Watch: Federico Chiesa

Steven Smith’s Score Prediction:

Liverpool 3 – 1 Lille