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Red Bull Salzburg v Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp prepared for 'final'


European champions Liverpool need a point at Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday to be sure of a place in the Champions League last 16.

Liverpool are top of Group E and will guarantee finishing in that position with a win.

Salzburg, who lost 4-3 at Anfield in October, need to win to progress to the knockout stages.

“Everybody knows it’s a final and we’re prepared – Salzburg has to win against us,” said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

“We are not a typical Champions League winner, we’re still ambitious like crazy, we will go for everything and run for our lives.

“It’s not that I expect us to go through, I expect us to play the best game we can play.”

Reds midfielder Adam Lallana misses out through injury, but central defender Dejan Lovren and midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum are both in the 19-man squad.

Liverpool, who beat Tottenham 2-0 in last season’s final in June, could have qualified with a game to spare if they had beaten Napoli in their last Champions League match, but the Italian side held them to a 1-1 draw at Anfield.

If the Reds lose to Salzburg, they will need Genk to take points off Napoli or Klopp’s side will drop down to the Europa League.

There is one scenario where Liverpool will still qualify if they lose, but they need to score four away goals or more and only lose by one goal (eg a 5-4 defeat)

Lovren went off just before half-time in Saturday’s 3-0 win at Bournemouth but trained on Monday, while Wijnaldum, who missed the game against the Cherries, has also travelled.

When these two teams met in October, goals from Sadio Mane, Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool a 3-0 lead after 36 minutes.

However, the Austrians fought back to make it 3-3, although Salah then scored again to seal a 4-3 victory.

Salzburg, top of the Austrian Bundesliga, have scored 87 goals in 24 games in all competitions this season, 28 of which have come from 19-year-old Norwegian Erling Braut Haaland in only 21 appearances.

Match facts

Head-to-head

  • This will be the second competitive meeting between Red Bull Salzburg and Liverpool, following their game at Anfield on matchday two in which the Reds won 4-3, despite leading 3-0 after 36 minutes.

Red Bull Salzburg

  • Salzburg have lost four of their five matches against English opposition in all European competition, conceding at least twice in every match (13 in total). At home, Salzburg drew 2-2 with Blackburn in September 2006 (Uefa Cup) and lost 0-2 to Man City in September 2010 (Europa League).
  • Salzburg have won 15 and lost one of their last 20 home games in European competition (including qualifiers), with that defeat coming last time out on home soil versus Napoli.
  • Striker Erling Braut Haaland has scored in all five of his Champions League games so far, scoring eight goals and averaging a goal every 37 minutes. No player has ever scored in their first six appearances in the competition.
  • Only Tottenham (17) and Bayern Munich (21) have scored more goals than Salzburg (16) this season. Since 2003-04, the most goals scored by a side in the group stage to be eliminated is 16 scored by Chelsea in the 2012-13 campaign – they went on to win the Europa League.

Liverpool

  • Liverpool have won five of their seven games against Austrian sides in all European competitions (drew one, lost one), losing only to Grazer AK in a Champions League qualifier in August 2004.
  • Liverpool have only won two of their last 11 Champions League away group stage games (drew three, lost six), losing four of the last five (won one). The Reds last won consecutive away group games in the competition back in September 2008 under Rafael Benitez.
  • Neither Liverpool or Salzburg has kept a Champions League clean sheet this season. The Reds could become only the second reigning champion to fail to keep a clean sheet in their first six matches of the following campaign, after Real Madrid in 2016-17 (first 10 games).
  • Since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, the two players with the most Champions League assists are Liverpool duo Roberto Firmino and James Milner with 11 each.
  • Liverpool conceded three goals from five shots on target on matchday two against Salzburg; the most goals they have conceded against an opponent in the Champions League group stage is five, against Galatasaray in 2006-07 and Sevilla in 2017-18.





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