Eusebio di Francesco’s AS Roma will today clash with Liverpool at Stadio Olimpico in the Champions League second leg semi-final tie.
Francesco’s men heads into this clash trailing 5-2 to the Reds from the first leg encounter last week at Anfield.
The defeat at Anfield saw Roma fall to their fourth straight loss in away matches in the Champions League, and they will now be relying on the cauldron of the Olimpico to try to put some pressure on the travelling Reds.
The Giallorossi, who are currently occupying the fourth position in the Serie A league table, over the weekend beat Chievo 4-1 in the Italian topflight league.
Di Francesco has already insisted that Perotti is likely to miss two weeks of football with another injury issue.
Kevin Strootman has also been listed as doubtful for Wednesday’s game in Rome.
Dzeko is expected to continue in attack for the Italian club and Schick could join him later in the game.
Kostas Manolas, Cengiz Under and Alessandro Florenzi were rested at the weekend against Chievo and should all return against Liverpool.
However, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool will be heading to a venue where Roma have not conceded a goal in five Champions League games this season.
Roma have already beaten the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk at home in the competition across the group and knockout stages.
Klopp’s men heads to Roma standing on the brink of a first Champions League final appearance since 2007, when they lost out to AC Milan at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.
The Reds hold a 5-2 lead over Roma following a triumphant display at Anfield last week, although Di Francesco’s men might just be heading into the return leg with some momentum.
Klopp’s side will have in mind the comeback Roma pulled off against Barcelona in the quarters stage, but having rested a number of key players at the weekend, the Reds head to Italy with a three-goal advantage and a fairly fresh squad aiming to get the job done.
Liverpool over the weekend played a goalless draw with Stoke City at Anfield in the Premier League.
Klopp is expected to make wholesale changes to the side that drew with Stoke.
Sadio Mane will come back to start alongside Roberto Firmino and Salah in a three-man forward line.
Andrew Robertson could come back in at left full-back, with Trent Alexander-Arnold shaking off a knock to start on the right, leaving Virgil van Dijk and Dejan Lovren in the heart of defence.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is out for the rest of the season, while Georginio Wijnaldum should slot in alongside James Milner and Jordan Henderson in midfield.
Roma potential starting XI: Alisson, Fazio, Manolas, Jesus, Florenzi, De Rossi, Gonalons, Kolarov, Under, Nainggolan, Dzeko
Liverpool potential starting XI: Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Roberts, Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Mane, Firmino, Salah
The kick off time for the match is 7:45pm.
Meanwhile, in the other semi-final game played yesterday, Real Madrid drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich in Spain to qualify for the finals of the competition with 4-3 aggregates, having beaten the Bundesliga champions 2-1 in the first leg of the Champions League at the Allianz Arena stadium last week.
Zinedine Zidane’s men will now face the winner between Roma and Liverpool in the finals on May 26 in Kiev.
Related Posts
-Daily Post
Comments are closed.