Who: Liverpool vs Galatasaray
Contents: UEFA Champions League last 16, second leg
Location: Anfield, Liverpool, England
Date and time: Wednesday 8pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: Get everything ready on Al Jazeera Sports from 17:00 GMT ahead of the live text commentary stream.
Liverpool’s English Premier League (EPL) title defense may be in tatters this season, but the football club still has a chance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League if they can produce another memorable night at Anfield.
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Turkiye’s Galatasaray have a narrow 1-0 lead after the first leg, but a home comeback is far from guaranteed given the Reds’ woes this season.
Al Jazeera Sports details a great night for Liverpool and their hapless manager Arn Slott.
Liverpool’s EPL bid to qualify for the Champions League suffers setback
Dominik Szoboszlai believes Liverpool are “running out of time” to push for a Champions League place in the Premier League table after dropping points again late in the game.
The Hungarian captain said he understood why many fans left Anfield early, and urged them to stand by Slott, who had done so before Richarlison’s 90th-minute goal on Sunday to take struggling Tottenham to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League.
Many players still inside booed when the final whistle blew as reigning Premier League champions Liverpool missed the chance to move ahead of Aston Villa into fourth place.
They moved up one place and earned a point against Chelsea, but conceding a goal after the 90th minute for the eighth time this season was costly.
Asked why Liverpool kept dropping points late on, Szoboszlai said: “That’s a good question. If I knew the answer, I would be the first to go to the team and tell them.”
“A few weeks ago we said to each other, ‘Guys, we don’t have that much time to get this right, so we have to wake up and start moving in the direction we want to play in the Champions League next season,'” added the Hungary captain, whose first-half free-kick gave Liverpool the lead against Spurs.
“It’s a little boring to say this, but we don’t have time and we need to find a solution.”
Liverpool fans need support from their team
Szoboszlai admitted after taking his fourth free-kick of the season against Spurs that Liverpool didn’t give the crowd much cheer. However, his early sending off was noticed by the players and he urged them to wait and see.
“I’m not saying they don’t have the right to leave the stadium. They can leave if they want,” he said. “We need them, and they should know this. Without them, we are one less.”
“In difficult times, it is normal for us to come together more, because that is what we need and we need each other.
“We want to make them happy. It’s not like we do it on purpose. Last year it was fun to watch every game. But this year maybe it’s not as fun, you can certainly imagine.”
“I don’t think it helps us either that people start going home after 80 minutes. It doesn’t help us at all. Stick with us.”
What happened in the first leg between Liverpool and Galatasaray?
Mario Lemina’s early header sealed Galatasaray’s 1-0 victory at home in what was a spectacular match, with both goals abandoned in the closing stages.
Despite Liverpool’s early pressure, Victor Osimhen nodded his corner-back across goal before Lemina dived home to put the Turkish team ahead after seven minutes.
The hosts maintained their momentum after the early goal, with Giorgi Mamadashvili making some great saves in the Liverpool goal.
Shortly after the hour mark, Osimhen smashed the ball into an open net, but Liverpool escaped with Baris Alper Yilmaz being offside in the build-up.
In the 70th minute, Liverpool forced the ball over the line and into the net after a scramble for the goal. However, the attempt was ruled out after a VAR review and the ball appeared to hit Ibrahima Konate’s hand before rebounding.
direct confrontation
This is the seventh time the two sides have played against each other, with Galatasaray winning three times.
Liverpool won only one of those games.
liverpool team news
Liverpool are still without Alexander Isak, Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Wataru Endo, all of whom are battling injuries.
Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Ibrahima Konate were on the bench against Tottenham but are expected to return to the squad.
Galatasaray team news
Enes Buyuk is still sidelined with injury, while Metehan Bartac, Gökdeniz Grups and Renat Naga have all been left out of the club’s Champions League squad and are ineligible to play.
Defender Davinson Sanchez is suspended.
Liverpool’s expected starting lineup
Alison. Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkes. Mac Allister, Gravenbirch. Salah, Szoboszlei, Wirtz. Equitique
Galatasaray’s expected starting lineup
Kakil. Sarai, Shingo, Bardakuchi, Jacobs. Torreira, Remina. Yilmaz, Sarah, Lang. Osimhen
