Key events
I have received some footage of Alexander Isak warming up! He’s the bloke on the far left. Yeah, that’s it, the one over there. Please, calm yourself.
Pafos had a man sent off in the 26th minute, so they’ll probably take an away point. Which they have now secured. They’re still playing in Prague, 10 minutes into stoppage time.
Of the two early Champions League kick-offs one has been pretty dull (Olympiakos 0-0 Pafos, deep into stoppage time) and the other one has been anything but (Slavia Prague, who were 2-0 up with 16 minutes to play, 2-2 Bodo/Glimt, for whom Sondre Fet has snaffled a last-minute equaliser. Fet, apparently, is Norwegian for oily.
Arne Slot suggests Isak will play 45-60 minutes today:
This was the plan all along. That’s why he wasn’t involved in the Burnley game, so he could have a few proper sessions. That’s what you do in preseason as well, you don’t start playing friendlies you start with a proper training week. That was the plan all the way.
I think for Alex No9 is by far his best position. In the past he played as a winger as well but then he started to grow more and more. Hugo could be a player who plays off the left side, not in the way Cody or Mo is playing, but he could become a second striker. But in general I think both of them are more No9s than another position.
“Seeing images of the crowd tonight really takes me back to that final game before lockdown,” writes Edan Tal. “Having a big crowd is so normal again now, it’s funny to remember that gut-wrench feeling of seeing so many people so packed brought at the time.” Yeah, that was a weird night alright. As it happens, Andy Robertson has just been asked about it on the telly:
It was a madness game. I think the next day we all went into lockdown, which was even more madness. It’s going to be another difficult game but we believe if we do the right things we can get the right result.
The teams!
The teams are in, and here they are. Isak starts in attack for Liverpool!
Liverpool: Alisson, Frimpong, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo, Isak. Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Endo, Mac Allister, Bradley, Leoni, Ngumoha, Danns, Kerkez, Ekitike.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Llorente, Le Normand, Lenglet, Galan, Simeone, Barrios, Gallagher, Gonzalez, Raspadori, Griezmann. Subs: Musso, Esquivel, Sorloth, Martin, Molina, Pubill, Seidu, Belaid, Ruggeri, Hancko, Koke.
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy).
Will Unwin is at Anfield for us tonight, and here’s his reaction:
Everyone is waiting for their first glimpse of Alexander Isak in a Liverpool shirt. The fans will be pleased to see him starting, while Arne Slot will be eager to see how long he can last. The Liverpool head coach guarantees that the £125m will not last 90 minutes against Atletico Madrid but also knows he needs a shift from the forward because a win against the Spanish side is vital in what is a difficult Champions League group stage on paper for the Reds. They will face Eintracht Frankfurt, Internazionale, Real Madrid and PSV before Christmas, so a positive start is required.
Atletico Madrid have won once in four La Liga games so far this season, so Liverpool will be confident considering their 100% Premier League record. Diego Simeone, however, will not make things easy for the English champions, making it a potentially fascinating encounter.
Hello world!
And also, happy birthday Arne Slot! But how happy will that birthday be? Well, Atletico are currently 11th in their league with five points from their first four games, while Liverpool are top of theirs with 12 points from the same number of matches, which seems promising. Plus the Spaniards have five first-team players missing through injury, three ruled out by problems picked up in Saturday’s 2-0 home win against Villarreal. Less encouraging in many ways was Diego Simeone’s almost Bondvillainesque assertion that “we have the intention of bringing the game to where we want it to go”.
Atletico’s injury list includes including their star striker, Julian Alvarez. Liverpool’s squad includes their own star striker, Alexander Isak, who is expected to start the game on the bench, is not expected to end it there, and is expected to be the myopic focus of pre-match chatter.
Talking of which, here’s Will Unwin’s report on yesterday’s pre-match chatter, from both Slot and Virgil van Dijk:
Arne Slot has said Liverpool have exceeded his expectations by winning their opening four Premier League matches but must improve as they start their Champions League campaign on Wednesday at home against Atlético Madrid.
Liverpool’s perfect start has them top but they have won each game late, becoming the first Premier League side to win four consecutive matches with goals scored after the 80th minute. The results follow the death of Diogo Jota and more than £400m of signings designed to make the squad more suited to Slot’s vision. “I think we are far above my expectations from during this summer,” Slot said.
Much more here:
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