Emotional, scintillating or fast-paced, it doesn’t matter how you describe this fixture, words fail to justify its hype. While on one end there is a Borussia Dortmund side that is coming into this game in top form, a Jurgen Klopp mentored Liverpool side would not be a walk in the park for the Signal Iduna Park residents.
As evident from his stint with Borussia Dortmund, Jurgen Klopp has the ability to prepare his teams for games like these. Thus, while this is an emotional fixture for him, Jurgen Klopp is too sagacious to let emotions come in the way of his pre-match planning.
The Reds and Klopp will have a fairly strong pool of players in the build-up to this fixture. Apart from the likes of Benteke, Ings, and Gomez, the German Manager has a fully fit squad to choose his starting XI.
While there are many factors that tip Liverpool to perform poorly in this fixture, it is the return of Roberto Firmino that will spur the Liverpool faithful. He was in top form before getting himself injured and Liverpool fans have the right to expect similar things from their top goalscorer in this fixture.
However, while they will be galvanized with the return of Firmino, the recent form of Daniel Sturridge is enough to floor the hopes of Liverpool faithful. They were expecting better things, but ever since Sturridge has returned from his injury, he has been a far cry from his personal best.
With just 2 goals in his last 7 appearances for The Reds, Sturridge is looking slightly out of the color of late. However, with Firmino coming back and the trio of Lallana, Coutinho and Firmino at his disposal, the English striker would be hoping for a solid performance on Thursday.
Here is how Liverpool are expected to lineup on Thursday …
