Key events
3 min: Salah and Jota combine crisply down the inside-right channel and the ball breaks to Nunez, just inside the Rangers box. He sends a snapshot towards the top right. McGregor parries well. Corner. Van Dijk – formerly of Celtic – launches himself at a header but can’t send anything goalwards. Rangers clear their lines.
1 min: Liverpool quickly snaffle possession and give all of their defenders an early touch of the ball.
Rangers get the ball rolling. They’re kicking towards the Kop in this first half. Anfield is jumping.
Before kick off, a minute of silence in memory for the souls lost in Indonesia last weekend. Perfectly observed.
The teams are out! Liverpool in socialist red, Rangers royal blue. Anfield very much the metaphorical cauldron. One of those European nights under the lights, everyone giving it plenty. The punters in the away section are certainly up for this, and give You’ll Never Walk Alone – popular in the east end of Glasgow as well – the pantomime bird. Sir Alex Ferguson, formerly of Rangers and Manchester United, is in the stand, and may also be partial. A quick blast of Zadok the Priest (Version) – also loudly spattered with abuse – and we’ll be off in a minute. Ready? Aye! Aye ready for a battle of Britain!
Jurgen Klopp talks to BT. “We expect a really tough game. They have a counter-attacking threat, are compact. We will see how deep they defend. That is our job to do tonight. We thought we have to change a little bit so that’s what we did formation wise. Let’s see how it works out. There is never a perfect time, or a wrong time, but we had to change anyway. We play so many games now we can’t just push the boys through. We will use them all. I know it is easy when you are winning all the time, but we have to do it in this moment and that’s why we decided to do it.”
Gio van Bronckhorst speaks to BT Sport. “It’s a stage on which we want to perform. A big game for us. It’s big for the players to be playing at Anfield. I played here only once in my career, so to be playing here is a good moment. Liverpool have a very attacking XI so we have to be ready. Don’t give a lot of space away in our own half, and try to find moments to be dangerous when we have the ball. They played the same the last 25 minutes against Ajax, so it probably will be the same set-up. Their striking ability is very threatening. Čolak is in a good moment but for this game we opted for Alfredo.”
Pre-match reading.
Team news: Núñez and Morelos start
Liverpool make three changes to the side that began the 3-3 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon. Diogo Jota, Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez return to the starting XI as Jurgen Klopp changes his formation to a 4-2-3-1. Fabinho, Roberto Firmino and Fabio Carvalho drop to the bench.
Rangers make four changes to the XI named to start the 4-0 win at Tynecastle on Saturday. Alfredo Morelos, Steven Davis, Leon King and Malik Tillman step up; Ryan Jack, Scott Arfield, Rabbi Matondo and Antonio Čolak take their places on the bench. Ryan Kent and Ben Davies both return to their old stomping ground, having between them played a grand total of 57 minutes for Liverpool. (For the record, Kent clocked all of those up in a 2-2 FA Cup draw at Exeter City in January 2016.)
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Henderson, Thiago, Salah, Jota, Diaz, Nunez.
Subs: Gomez, Fabinho, Konate, Milner, Firmino, Adrian, Elliott, Ramsay, Carvalho, Bajcetic, Phillips, Kelleher.
Rangers: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Davies, King, Barisic, Tillman, Lundstram, Davis, Kent, Morelos.
Subs: Yilmaz, Jack, Colak, Matondo, Kamara, Scott Wright, McCrorie, Sakala, McLaughlin, Arfield, Devine.
Referee: Clement Turpin (France).
Preamble
Liverpool first played Rangers in October 1892, when the club was a mere 125 days old. The bouncing baby boys were trounced 6-1. The two famous old clubs have played each other nine times since then, the latest another win for the Gers in 2011 thanks to a Fabio Aurelio own goal … but all ten games have been friendlies. This is the first time they’ve met in serious competition. History tonight, then, right here!
The hosts aren’t in the best of nick. They could easily have been on the end of a thrashing at the hands of Brighton last weekend, the final score at Anfield of 3-3 seriously flattering Jurgen Klopp’s side. They’re already well off the pace in the Premier League, and have already had their Eurotrousers handed back to them, neatly pressed and laundered, by Napoli. They could seriously do with a result tonight to restore some of their shredded confidence.
Rangers by contrast have recovered some of their poise after a rocky spell. Consecutive 4-0 thrashings by Celtic and Ajax put Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s men in a dark place, and while a 3-0 home defeat to Napoli doesn’t look great on paper, Rangers competed well when they still had 11 men on the pitch. Subsequent domestic wins over Dundee United and Hearts have restored a little morale, and tonight may play with the insouciance of men gifted a free shot, with few expecting them to come away from Anfield with anything, despite the travails of the hosts. Kick off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!