Champions League | League Stage

Oct 23, 2024 at 8pm UK

Red Bull Arena

RB Leipzig vs Liverpool

Match preview

Arne Slot's Liverpool revolution shows no signs of slowing down. The Reds passed one of the toughest tests of their Premier League title credentials on Sunday, when the Dutchman won the battle of the newly-baptised Premier League bosses with Enzo Maresca.

A coolly taken Mohamed Salah penalty and a slightly off-target Curtis Jones effort meant that Nicolas Jackson's impressive finish was nothing more than a consolation for Chelsea. Liverpool re-established their one-point lead over Manchester City at the Premier League summit and made it 10 wins from 11 under Slot's guidance.

Two of those wins came against Italian teams in Europe. Liverpool beat AC Milan 3-1 and then won 2-0 against Bologna on matchday two. They were lucky at times and could have done with a better performance from the Rossoblu.

They've got some tough games coming up, like Sunday's match against title rivals Arsenal. It's going to be a tough battle. But right now, the Merseyside powerhouses are on a high. They're currently sitting in fifth place in the 36-team UCL table and they're chasing an eighth successive victory in all competitions.

What's more, the Reds have won all five of their away games under Klopp so far. They've kept three clean sheets and only conceded two goals. They haven't been beaten by a German side on the road in the Champions League since the 2001-02 season.

That run includes a 2-0 win over Leipzig at the Red Bull Arena in February 2021, when Klopp was in the Liverpool dugout. But the German will soon be assisting operations for Wednesday's hosts instead after agreeing to become Red Bull's new Global Head of Soccer from January.

Marco Rose's team could really do with some inspiration from the 2019 Champions League winner right now. Their 2024-25 record is two defeats from two European games, even if they were against some tough opponents in Atletico Madrid and Juventus.

The Red Bull team did well to keep both games close. They only lost to Atlético Madrid on a last-minute goal from José Giménez. However, they did lose 3-2 to Juventus, despite leading 2-0 against 10 men. Dusan Vlahović scored two goals for Juventus.

That evening, Juve lost key defender Bremer to injury after just seven minutes and saw goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio sent off approaching the final 30. Despite this, they still managed to score twice more with a numerical disadvantage as Leipzig suffered a truly calamitous collapse.

Things have been looking up for Rose's side since then. They've won two Bundesliga games in a row against Mainz 05 and Heidenheim, and they've kept a clean sheet in both. But they could become the first team ever to lose three straight Champions League games despite scoring the opening goal in all of them.

Recent Performance

RB Leipzig Champions League form:LL

RB Leipzig form (all competitions):LDWLWW

Liverpool Champions League form:WW

Liverpool form (all competitions):WWWWWW

Injuries and suspensions

RB Leipzig

22 David Raum

24 Xaver Schlager

20 Assan Ouédraogo

Liverpool

1 Alisson

19 Harvey Elliott

Possible starting lineups

RB Leipzig possible starting lineup:

Gulacsi; Orban, Klostermann, Lukeba; Geertruida, Haidara, Vermeeren, Nusa; Simons; Sesko, Openda

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Kelleher; Gomez, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Jones, Diaz; Nunez