It’s great to be a member of the Liverpool FC community right now, as these are high times indeed. The Reds are now through to their eighth all time UEFA Champions League final, as they just won the highest scoring semi-final tie ever. In this triumph, Liverpool’s front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah became the highest scoring triad in UCL history; with still a game to go yet!
Most importantly, during the on pitch celebration, Reds players paid homage to Sean Cox, the supporter who needs them more than any other right now. It was a class act by the team, and anybody with knowledge of his struggle is pulling for him.
Turning towards the less serious concerns, Liverpool have some domestic goals to accomplish in addition to their quest for European glory. A win on Sunday over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge could clinch their spot in the top four, and with it a guaranteed return to UCL next season.
Taking all three points in the weekend’s blockbuster fixture also essentially eliminates the hosts from top four contention, and could relegate them to the Europa League next campaign.
Let’s take a look at who will probably be in Jurgen Klopp’s first team.
The Sports Bank’s Liverpool FC Starting XI Prediction
LW – Sadio Mane CF- Roberto Firmino RW- Mohamed Salah
MF – James Milner MF- Giorgino Wijnaldum MF- Jordan Henderson
LB- Andrew Robertson CB – Virgil van Dijk CB – Dejan Lovren RB- Trent Alexander-Arnold
GK- Loris Karius
Jurgen Klopp press conference video, notable quotables: Go to this link
Antonio Conte press conference video, notable quotables: go to this link
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Injury, Fitness, Team News for both sides: go to this link
Betting Odds: Chelsea win: 23/20 Liverpool FC win: 9/4 Draw: 5/2
Prediction: Chelsea 4, Liverpool FC 3
As always, feel free to post your own starting XIs and/or final score predictions in the comments section below.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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