The Champions League is upon us once more and Arne Slot’s Liverpool will mark their return to the beloved tournament in their impending evening tie with AC Milan.
Things have changed a little since the Reds last experienced the competition’s anthem – for starters, the group stage is dead and UEFA have instead implemented a new league format with 36 participating outfits.
The Merseysiders will now play eight games in the league phase with the top eight clubs automatically qualifying for the knockout stage in the round of 16.
Any club finishing between 9th and 24th will then be forced to face each other in a two-legged knockout tie to secure their spot in the next round.
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
The Merseysiders will be looking to put their appalling 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest aside and secure an immediate reaction in Milan.
READ MORE: Miguel Delaney drops bombshell Liverpool transfer news that will concern fans
READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano shares Liverpool contract update he’s now hearing out of Anfield
Liverpool vs AC Milan predicted lineup
Alisson Becker naturally holds on to his spot in the starting lineup ahead of a centre-back partnership we expect will consist of Virgil van Dijk and Jarell Quansah.
It’ll most likely be the usual suspects in the middle of the park, with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai entering the pitch.
Up top, we can foresee Darwin Nunez being given the nod to come in against Paulo Fonseca’s side with support on the wings from Luis Diaz and Mo Salah.
We’ll have to wait for a full debut from summer signing Federico Chiesa, as noted in Arne Slot’s pre-match presser (via The Standard): “So I don’t think you should expect him to start but he will make some minutes if we needed him. But the first time with us, I don’t expect him to start with us. He’s had some training time and too early to play 90 mins but hopefully some minutes in the upcoming fixture.”
EOTK’s lineup: Alisson Becker, Andy Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Jarell Quansah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Mo Salah
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions