Mohamed Salah could be in contention to start when Liverpool travel to face Belgium side Genk on Wednesday.
The Egyptian International was absent from the Liverpool squad for Sunday’s 1-1 draw away to Man Utd. After the game, Manager Jürgen Klopp told Sky Sports that Salah might be fit for the game in Genk. “There was pretty much no chance for today, maybe for Wednesday we have to see.” Having Salah back would be a major boost for the European Champions; he is the clubs second highest scorer in Champions League history and already has two goals in the competition this season, both coming in the last match.
The Reds will be looking to make it successive wins in the Champions League when they travel to the Luminus Arena. In the last game the Reds were 3-0 up at half time against Red Bull Salzburg but a second half fight-back from the Austrians saw them bring the game back to 3-3, before Mo Salah managed to find the winner which saw Liverpool win 4-3. Klopp’s side will also be looking to end a slump in form away from home in the Champions’ League group stages. They have lost their last 4 away games in the group stage including all three last season, their last win away at this stage in the competition came over just two years ago when they thrashed Maribor 7-0.
As for Genk, they are looking for a first win in this season’s group stage. Felice Mazzù’s side were handed a thumping 6-2 defeat in their first game of the group by Salzburg but earned a respectable 0-0 draw against Napoli in their next game. The current Belgian champions have played more Champions league matches without a win (14) than any other side currently participating in the competition. They have also never won a game in the Champions League proper. This will be the third time that the current Belgian champions have faced an English side. In 2011, they played Chelsea twice in the group stage, holding them to a 1-1 draw at home before getting beaten 5-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool have no new injury concerns ahead of the game. Joel Matip played 90 minutes on Sunday having been injured since the end of September and Alisson Becker made his return to the starting eleven. He had not featured since sustaining a calf injury during the first league game of the season. Xherdan Shaqiri will not be featuring in the game however after picking up an injury during Liverpool’s 2-0 away win to MK Dons in the League Cup.
Liverpool have an excellent record against teams from Belgium (W10/D2/L1). One of the clubs most famous nights came against a Belgium side in Club Brugge when they secured their second European Cup back in 1978, beating them 1-0 at Wembley. This will also be the first time both sides have faced each other.
The game will kick off at 8PM BST.
(Pic by Дмитрий Голубович, under creative commons)
