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Champions League | Group Stage
Sep 17, 2019 at 8pm UK
 
LL

2-0

Mertens (82' pen.), Llorente (92')
FT(HT: 0-0)

How Liverpool could line up against Napoli

:Headline: How Liverpool could line up against Napoli: ID:371567: from db_amp
Ahead of Tuesday's Champions League clash between Napoli and Liverpool, Sports Mole looks at how the holders could line up in Italy.

Four months after capturing the trophy and five months after being beaten by Barcelona in their last Champions League away game, Liverpool return to the competition on Tuesday night when they travel to familiar opponents Napoli.

The Reds traded 1-0 wins with Carlo Ancelotti's charges last season, each match going with home advantage - although Liverpool had keeper Alisson Becker to thank for a late save in the match at Anfield that kept them from crashing out before the knockout stages.

This is a meeting between the runners-up in the Premier League and Serie A, with Napoli keen to leapfrog Juventus this season and Liverpool making a perfect winning start to their domestic campaign as they look to dethrone Manchester City.

Meetings between these two tend to be tight affairs, with Liverpool's visit to Naples before last season, in the 2010-11 Europa League, ending goalless.

Here, Sports Mole looks at how Liverpool could line up for their Champions League opener.



Out: Alisson Becker (calf), Nathaniel Clyne (knee)
Doubtful: Naby Keita (hip), Divock Origi (ankle)

> Click here for Liverpool's latest injury and suspension news ahead of this match

Ancelotti might raise one of his wry smiles at the absence of Alisson, the man who played a huge part in denying his side a place in the Champions League knockout stages last season.

The Brazil keeper produced that heroic late save as Liverpool beat Napoli 1-0 at Anfield in their final group stage match, when an equaliser would have sent the visitors through.

The Reds have been without Alisson since their opening match of the Premier League season, when he suffered a calf injury while taking a goal kick.

Coach Jurgen Klopp has admitted that the exact date of Alisson's return is uncertain, and that the stopper still cannot put pressure on the affected calf.

Elsewhere, Guinea midfielder Naby Keita continues to sit out with the hip issue that has troubled him since pre-season, although Klopp says he is much closer to returning than Alisson.

Right-back Nathaniel Clyne is not expected to return from a knee injury sustained in pre-season until next year, but the international break was a positive one for Liverpool.

Klopp's preferred attacking trio, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, are free of the injury issues that affected all three during the latter stages of Liverpool's victorious run in Europe last season, although Origi suffered an ankle injury during the weekend win over Newcastle United.

Mane and Salah had the luxury of a break in the absence of Senegal and Egypt fixtures from the schedule. Given that the number of Liverpool players not making international appearances could be counted on one hand, Klopp decided to give both an extended break over the period.

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