UEFA Champions League 2022-23: Rangers vs Liverpool – Match Preview
After losing three straight games in Group A, Rangers will be looking to break their Champions League ice when they play Liverpool on Wednesday.
Rangers vs Liverpool – Preview
The Last time these Giants met. Liverpool ended up on the winning side by 2-0. A glorious free kick from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah doubles it up. Rangers are yet to have their first win in their group. However, it is less likely since the Scousers are looking forward to steering away from the 3rd place in the group.
And the Reds have a record of winning 7 straight away games against the Scottish giants. But records are meant to be broken. It is only a matter of time to see if it breaks with a win or a loss.
Taking a trip to good fortune, the Scottish Club have lost 6 of their 8 home games in the Champions League.
After 12 long years
Rangers’ return to the Champions League group stages after a 12-year absence hasn’t exactly gone according to plan thus far. The Gers have been soundly defeated by Ajax, Napoli, and Liverpool.
Perhaps Giovanni van Bronckhorst thought his team would be more competitive than they have been this time.
At Anfield last week, the Dutchman moved to a back five, but they were still repeatedly torn apart during the 2-0 loss.
With a crushing 4-0 victory against St Mirren at Ibrox over the weekend in the Scottish Premiership, his team got back on track.
On Wednesday, Rangers’ goal is very clear: they must win in order to stay in the Champions League.
Team news
Luis Diaz will not be accompanying Liverpool to Glasgow because of a knee injury he sustained in a clash with Thomas Partey.
In a major setback for his team, the Colombian international was seen leaving North London on crutches while wearing a knee brace. And according to the Liverpool boss, it doesn’t look good.
The German maintained an offensive formation against Arsenal after using four attackers against Rangers the previous week. Despite losing, the German may repeat the strategy this next week. As a result, Firmino is most likely to take Diaz’s spot, with Diogo Jota moving to the left wing.
With Trent Alexander-Arnold unlikely due to an ankle problem that forced him to be replaced at halftime against Arsenal, Joe Gomez is set to start at right-back alongside Virgil van Dijk. Ibrahima Konate appeared for the first time in the season during the second half after recovering from a knee injury.
There’s a possibility for Fabinho. A chance to retake some form in place of English international Jordan Henderson. He is removed from the firing line following a confrontation with Gabriel on Sunday that is under investigation by the Football Association. This would allow Klopp to make some changes in the midfield.
The possible Line up
Here’s what we predict about the line-up:
Allison, Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Thiago, Fabinho, Jota, Nunez, Firmino, Salah
What we predict at Anfield Home
Rangers 0-2 Liverpool.
Rangers should have Liverpool work considerably harder than they did in last week’s easy 2-0 victory at Anfield, but in the end, the visitors will likely have too much firepower.
The need for the Gers to win might work in their favour since, despite recent defensive struggles, they still possess a lot of pace and talent in attack.
