Champions League Returns To Anfield

Tonight is the first European Night under the lights of the season at Anfield and the Reds are hosting Dutch Giants, Ajax. 

The Reds started their Champions League campaign with a 4-1 loss away at Napoli last Wednesday, it was one of the worst starts that Liverpool have had to a Champions League group stage in years. They will aim to reboot there form tonight and try to climb back up the group to keep their chances alive of going into the Knockout Stages. 

Ajax started their Champions League campaign with a 4-0 home win against Rangers. They looked a strong side and now sit top of the group only after 1 game. 

I think tonight will be a good chance for Liverpool to show that they are back, they need to make a statement to other teams and to the fans that they have picked themselves up. 

My prediction with the form we are in would be a draw. I can’t see anything more due to how we played the other week. I hope I’m wrong because it would be amazing to get back out there and start to win. 

UCL is Back

The Reds will start their 22/23 Champions League campaign away in Naples against a strong Napoli team who currently sit 2nd in Serie A after 5 games. 

Liverpool haven’t had the best start to the season, winning only 2 of the first 6 games in the Premier League. They have been struck with lots of injuries including Thiago, Jota, Jones and Naby Keita all being out for the start of the season. However, Thiago and Jota have made there way back to first team training and they will both be available tonight. 

Hopefully, both the players will be in the starting 11. I believe that dropping Nuñez and Henderson for the two would help improve the performance tonight. Also bringing in Tsimikas for Robertson would help the team a bit, giving these players breaks would individually improve them. 

Looking at the game tonight, I believe that it won’t be easy due to the form we are in compared to the form that Napoli are in, but I believe we will get the three points. Hopefully, Thiago coming back into the team would give us the upper hand and help the team perform better. 

Transfer Deadline Day: Arthur

Today is transfer deadline day and Liverpool will push to make one more signing to increase the squad depth and strengthen the midfield. The Reds are very close to signing Juventus midfielder Arthur. 

Arthur is a 26 year old, Brazilian midfielder, currently playing at Italian club Juventus. Prior to Juve, Arthur was playing in Spain at the European giants, Barcelona where he made a total of 48 appearances, scoring 3 goals in his 2 seasons at the club. 

In his time at Juventus, he has played 42 games for the club in the last 2 seasons scoring just 1 goal. However, he isn’t an attacking midfielder so goals are not his main strength. 

Arthur is capable of playing as a deep-lying playmaker, central midfielder, box to box midfielder, and occasionally also as a holding midfielder. His agility, technical ability, dribbling and movement allows him to create space and control the flow of play in midfield, whilst his exceptional vision, playmaking ability, and precise passing allow him to retain possession, create chances, and make decisive passes for teammates.

As a very versatile midfielder, he would be an amazing fit into the midfield at Liverpool and it would fix the injury problems for the season. He is also very similar in his style of play to Thiago which would be good for when Thiago is injured. 

However, Arthur seems to have a big injury record which would not be good for the team and the problems that are trying to be fixed. If he keeps fit though, he looks to be a good player and maybe even a player to sign on a permanent basis next season.