Liverpool FC have no injury concerns right now other than central defender Giovanni Leoni, although his condition is pretty severe.
“He is not in a good place because he tore his ACL,” manager Arne Slot said. “which means he will be out around a year.”
Champions League Matchday 2 of 8
Liverpool FC at Galatasaray
Kickoff: Tue Sept 30, 8pm, Rams Park, Istanbul, Turkey
UCL Standing, Form: Liverpool FC 11th, 3 pts, +1 GD, L Galatasaray 35th, 0 pts, -4 GD, L
Liverpool Team News
“Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game, it’s very hard to take the positives. But you try to look at that, and that is that he is still so young, and he has so many years still to go after he recovers.”
So for Leoni, he won’t see real competitive action again until August 2026, at the earliest.
Having this concluded the team news, let’s move on to the lineup prediction. Hugo Ekitike, having been suspended on the weekend for the loss in the league to Crystal Palace, is the first name on the team sheet here. After all, he’s got fresh legs for this one.
Liverpool FC Starting XI Prediction vs Benfica
Alisson; Jeremie Frimpong, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones; Cody Gakpo, Florian Wirtz, Mo Salah; Hugo Ekitike
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter