French powerhouse Mamadou Sakho has promised Liverpool fans the team will do everything they can to make the fans proud this evening, the official website reports.
The 26-year-old will line up alongside Dejan Lovren in central defence, following a superb individual performance last time out against Borussia Dortmund.
His defensive heroics helped Liverpool earn a 1-1 draw away in Germany, but Sakho will need to put in an equally excellent showing if we’re to progress to the Europa League semi-finals tonight.
“The fans are the 12th man,” he began.
“They help us always and give us the courage to fight more. We will make them proud.
“I think we played a good game [in Dortmund] but now it will be a different challenge and the most important [thing] is to achieve our objective.
“We try to go to the next stage in this cup.”
Naturally, Sakho reckons the fact we’re playing at Anfield will give us a specific advantage, with Dortmund facing foreign surroundings and a wall of red noise.
“I think it’s like when you go to eat at your friend’s house and you don’t feel the same as when you eat in your proper place! It’s a different feeling,” he continued.
“It’s normal for them to feel different, it’s our stadium, our place, and we will feel more confidence because we know the stadium better than that.”
A week ago, Sakho made one fantastic block and was solid throughout, keeping the world-class Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang quiet. The striker has 37 goals so far this term, but Liverpool will need to pay equal attention to Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, his creative counterparts.