3 things to watch with Liverpool and Man City in Tuesday Champions League action
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The second week of this season’s Champions League group stage sees Liverpool and Man City in action on Tuesday night.
After beating Ajax 1-0 in Amsterdam, Jurgen Klopp’s side host Danish champions FC Midtjylland at Anfield.
Meanwhile, following a 3-1 home victory over FC Porto, Pep Guardiola’s Man City face a tricky looking trip to Marseille.
Last season’s Premier League top-two will be hoping to continue their 100% start in this competition as both hold realistic hopes of lifting the trophy in Istanbul next May.
But with the primary focus very much on picking up another three points, what should we be keeping an eye on in these two matches?
Here’s 3 things to watch as Liverpool and Man City both take to Tuesday Champions League action…
1: Striker Sterling
Pep Guardiola has struggled to field a fit striker for the majority of the 2020/21 campaign, having to rely on his attack-minded midfielders to chip in with the goals. Although Sergio Aguero has returned from injury, the Argentina international looks nowhere near match-sharp and fellow striker Gabriel Jesus is still on the sidelines. This has forced Pep’s hand to play Sterling as a striker with the pacey goal-getter performing well in the early months of the season.
2: Liverpool selection – West Ham, Atalanta, Man City
With Liverpool facing a daunting three games after tonight’s clash, we think Jurgen Klopp’s selection is worth looking out for tonight. West Ham United at home on Saturday, followed by a tough trip to Serie A outfit Atalanta and then a heavyweight clash against Premier League table-topping rivals Manchester City away next Sunday will be playing on Klopp’s mind. With all respect to Midtjylland, the Danish side aren’t the strongest and we believe players such as Xherdan Shaqiri getting some much-needed minutes.
3: Foden + KDB
After a string of positive results for Manchester City following the 5-2 defeat suffered to Leicester City, things took a downward turn at the weekend as the Citizens were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham United. Football fans criticised Guardiola as he named both Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne on the bench, resulting in his side lacking creativity going forward. Both players came on in the second half and rescued a point for the Sky Blues. We expect Guardiola to name both players tonight against Marseille.