Liverpool hosts AC Milan at the Anfield in a beautiful game from Group B of the Champions League. Let’s preview it in our usual soccer predictions online.
After disappointing performances in the last two seasons, Liverpool will try to do better in the tournament this time. The Reds won the trophy in 2019, so most of these players know how to do well in the Champions League. The same could be said about the manager Jurgen Klopp who led the club to glory two years ago.
Liverpool’s fans are getting hope because of the way the team started the 2021/22 season. The Reds won three of their four matches in the Premier League which is certainly a good sign. They also kept clean sheets in three of these matches and only conceded against the European champion Chelsea.
In the weekend Liverpool paid a visit to Leeds United at the Elland Road and celebrated a dominating 3-0 win. Mo Salah opened the score in the first half while after the break Fabinho and Sadio Mane finished the job. It was another convincing game for Liverpool who only lost points in the 1-1 draw against Chelsea so far.
Far from surprising, Klopp used his favorite 4-3-3 formation against Leeds. Once again he left the summer signing Ibrahima Konate on the bench and started with Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip in defense. In midfield he put Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara and Harvey Elliot while Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino started in attack.
Liverpool won against Leeds, but they suffered a horrific incident in the second half of the game. The Reds’ young star Harvey Elliot left the game on a stretcher with a broken leg. This means that Elliot is certainly missing the remainder of the season. That’s a bummer because the 18-years old midfielder was showing a lot of promise with his performances. It’s also bed for the manager because he’s losing depth in the midfield.
Harvey Elliot is obviously out for the AC Milan game, but what kind of rotations could Jurgen Klopp do on Wednesday? The German coach is lucky to have many options in midfield at the moment. Most likely Jordan Henderson will return in the line-up against the Rossoneri but players like Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could feature as well.
In attack we don’t expect to see any changes. Roberto Firmino is recovering from an injury so most likely he’s missing the game. This means that Salah, Jota and Mane will keep their places in the attacking trident. This is not bad news, of course – it’s obvious that right now Klopp prefers to use Diogo Jota than Roberto Firmino in attack. The Portuguese international proved himself to be an outstanding signing since his move to the Anfield.
Mohamed Salah started the new season with the red shirt pretty well. The Egyptian is still negotiating for his new contract, but he already scored three goals in four matches played in the Premier League. Obviously he’s the player to watch among Liverpool’s attackers right now. Diogo Jota also scored two times since the beginning of the season, so he’s dangerous as well.
The summer signing from RB Leipzig Ibrahima Konate still haven’t recorded a single minute in the Premier League, so it’d be interesting if Klopp will trust him in the Champions League. Konate is obviously a huge prospect for the future as he’s young and very talented. It seems though that his adaptation at the club is going to be a bit slower.
AC Milan finally returned to the Champions League after years of absence. The Rossoneri had some serious problems lately, but under the management of Stefano Pioli they finally returned to the most prestigious competition on the continent. Now Milan are dreaming of reaching the knockout phase as well, but they have a tough start in England on Wednesday.
In the Serie A Milan made a dream start of the season. The Rossoneri enjoyed a perfect beginning with three wins from three matches played. They are currently second in the standings and they have conceded just one goal for 270 minutes of football. This speaks really well of Stefano Pioli’s work so far. Now the club has another goal – to have the same beginning in the Champions League as well.
During the weekend Milan hosted Lazio at the San Siro and enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 win against Maurizio Sarri’s team. Rafael Leao opened the score in the last minutes of the first half while Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off the bench in the second 45 minutes and put the ball in the net as well. This was the Swede’s first goal for the new season. He’s 39-years old, but he continues to impress with the Rossoneri’s shirt.
The good news for Milan is the possible return of Olivier Giroud. The French striker missed the game against Lazio, but he tested negative for COVID-19 and he could be in line to face Liverpool. Stefano Pioli has many attacking options at the moment, so he must decide which players to use from the first minute at the Anfield.
Liverpool’s attacking power is impressive, so Milan must be flawless at the Anfield if they want to get a positive result. Most likely Pioli will use the same back four he used against Lazio in the weekend. Fikayo Tomori and Alessio Romagnoli should start as center-backs while Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria are tipped to start as fullbacks. Their performance will be really crucial for the Rossoneri because of Liverpool being so dangerous on the wings.
That’s the soccer predictions online for the Champions League fixture between Liverpool and AC Milan on Wednesday. These two clubs have 13 trophies in the competition combined, so you can see what’s the magnitude of this clash. AC Milan didn’t play part in the Champions League in the last few years, but now they are determined to return with a bang. They have a really difficult challenge in their first game, though.