Image Credits: Imago Images
Mohamed Salah has been named on the bench for Liverpool’s second leg quarter-final clash against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night.
The Reds need to produce one of those vintage Anfield nights to keep their Champions League hopes alive. Liverpool face PSG trailing 2–0 from the first leg after struggling to trouble Luis Enrique’s side in last week’s quarter-final.
Arne Slot’s switch to a back five worked in theory but was poorly executed, allowing PSG to take control after a quiet start. A different approach is expected at Anfield, where a raucous home crowd will look to inspire a turnaround.
Supporters were encouraged by Liverpool’s weekend win over Fulham, which featured a standout performance from 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha.
PSG, meanwhile, had the weekend off after their Ligue 1 fixture against Lens was postponed. The French champions appear to be returning to top form and will aim to eliminate Liverpool from the Champions League in consecutive seasons after a strong first-leg display.
Alexander Isak returns to Liverpool’s starting line-up for tonight’s Champions League clash. The striker starts for the first time since December after recovering from injury, with Arne Slot making five changes for the second leg of the quarter-final tie. Hugo Ekitike, Ryan Gravenberch, Milos Kerkez and Alexis Mac Allister are also recalled to the XI.
Salah is named on a strong bench alongside the likes of Andy Robertson, Curtis Jones, Rio Ngumoha and Cody Gakpo. The Egyptian was dropped for Liverpool’s 2–0 defeat against PSG last week and did not come off the bench.
However, he returned to the starting line-up in Saturday’s 2–0 win over Fulham in the Premier League, where he also got on the scoresheet at Anfield.
Following the first-leg loss in Paris, Arne Slot explained he chose not to introduce Mohamed Salah as he was wary of the deficit becoming even more damaging.
“In last part of game it was more about surviving than us having a chance to score,” Slot said. “You never know, as last season we scored five minutes before the end through Harvey Elliott when I took Mo off.
“We had 20-25 minutes defending in the box, I think it’s better to save his energy for the games coming up in the coming weeks.
“You think you can do better if you press them high and force them into mistakes. But we were in survival mode for large parts of the game. But maybe also in the period of season we are in survival mode.
“We try to find ways where we can try to make sure that their qualities aren’t seen that much but it’s really hard to do against this team.”
Liverpool: Mamardashvili, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez, Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Isak, Mac Allister, Ekitike, Frimpong, Gravenberch. Subs: Woodman, Misciur, Gomez, Salah, Chiesa, Jones, Gakpo, Robertson, Nyoni, Nallo, Ngumoha.