AS Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan knows just how unlikely his side was to draw Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League semifinals.
“I wasn’t happy with the draw, because in my view Liverpool were the toughest team out of the three,” Nainggolan told Belgian publication HLN (transcripts via Liverpool Echo). “It’s not that they have more quality than Real Madrid or Bayern, but they put a lot of hard work in and have nothing to lose. Real and Bayern might’ve underestimated Roma, but Liverpool are warriors, a bit like us.”
Obviously, the top storyline here Tuesday night is Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah, who was purchased from Roma this summer for £29.7 million. It’s proven to be the ultimate bargain as Salah scored his 31st Premier League goal in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against West Brom this past weekend, equalling Luis Suarez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Alan Shearer for the most Premier League goals scored in a 38-game season.
The just crowned PFA Player of the Year has three games remaining to break the tie and own the record for himself. Tuesday night, he’ll welcome his former AS Roma teammates to Anfield, with the chance to face his former mates for the first time ever.
Looking at the fitness situation for Liverpool, they will be without key midfielders Adam Lallana and Emre Can. In the back line, defender Joel Matip is out, but Dejan Lovren should be back and Joe Gomez has a chance to feature.
Manager/Player Press conferences: coming tomorrow
Liverpool Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Odds via Bet Fair: Liverpool to qualify: 2/5 AS Roma to qualify: 9/5
Prediction: Liverpool 3, AS Roma 2
As always, feel free to post to your own Liverpool starting XI predictions, as well as your 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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