Liverpool open their UEFA Champions League campaign at Anfield on Wednesday night, as they host Atlético Madrid in the league phase opener for both clubs -- the exact same fixture to open the clubs Champions League campaign last season as well.
In that clash, Liverpool won 3-2, with goals from Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and an injury time winner from Virgil van Dijk, while Marcos Llorente scored twice for Atlético Madrid in that game as they had equalised the game at 2-2, after being 2-0 down.
Both teams haven't really been at their best to start their respective league seasons, with Liverpool only winning one game out of three, even though they haven't lost a game so far yet. However, that win came in their last game, which they won 2-0 against Ipswich Town, with a brace from Alexander Isak.
Atlético, meanwhile, have won two games out of four, but they come into this game now on the back of a thumping 3-0 away loss to Athletic Club, as a second-half blitz from the hosts in Bilbao saw Diego Simeone's side slump to their first loss of the season.
Here's everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch:
The match will be available to watch on TNT Sports 1/HBO Max in the UK, CBS/Paramount+ in the U.S., SonyLiv in India, and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates here.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
UK BST: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 8 p.m.
U.S. ET: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 3 p.m.
India IST: Thursday, Sept. 10, 12:30 a.m.
Australia AEST: Thursday, Sept. 10, 5 a.m.
Venue: Anfield, Liverpool
Referee: Davide Massa (Italy)
VAR: Marco Di Bello (Italy)
Injury and Team News
Liverpool
Hugo Ekitike, F: achilles, OUT
Giovanni Leoni, D: knee, OUT
Conor Bradley, D: knee, OUT
Joe Gomez, D: muscle, OUT
Vitezslav Jaros, G: knee, OUT
Atletico Madrid
Arnau Ortiz, F: suspended, OUT
Alexander Sorloth, F: muscle, OUT
Expected Lineups
Liverpool
Alisson Becker
Ronald Araújo | Jérémy Jacquet | Virgil van Dijk | Milos Kerkez
Dominik Szoboszlai | Alexis Mac Allister
Víctor Muñoz | Florian Wirtz | Cody Gakpo
Alexander Isak
Atletico Madrid
Jan Oblak
Marcos Llorente | Marc Pubill | Dávid Hancko | Alejandro Grimaldo
Giuliano Simeone | Pablo Barrios | Morten Hjulmand | Ademola Lookman
Álex Baena | Lee Kang-In
Talking Points
Can Ipswich win prove launchpad for Liverpool's season?
There was a lot of good for Liverpool in that Friday night win against Ipswich at Portman Road. Chief among the good was Alexander Isak scoring twice. The Swede struggled in his first season at Anfield, mostly down to a spate of injuries that never let him really develop a rhythm after his move from Newcastle United.
Now, Isak has three goals in three to start the season in the Premier League, with his brace against Ipswich following a goal against Nottingham Forest at Anfield the week before.
There were also impressive performances from Cody Gakpo on the left wing and Ronald Araujo at right-back, as Liverpool kept their first clean-sheet of the season. New signing Bradley Barcola did play a fairly bright 25-minute cameo at Portman Road, so it will be interesting to see whether he takes Víctor Muñoz's place in the Liverpool lineup?
Atlético seek end to run of losses against Liverpool
Atlético had eliminated Liverpool from the Champions League in the 2019-20 season, but since then, they've lost all three games that they've played against Liverpool. They lost both home and away in the group stage in the 2021-22 season, and also lost in the league phase last season.
Simeone's men haven't really had a convincing start to the season, but they will see this as an opportunity to set that recent record against Liverpool right, particularly with Andoni Iraola's side still in their infancy in terms of adapting to the manager's demands on them.
Of course, Simeone has his own issues to deal with, not least the situation around Julián Álvarez. After the drama surrounding a potential move away to Barcelona during the transfer window, Alvarez hasn't started a league game yet, but he remains one of Atlético's best players, and his availability will only improve their chances of beating Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday night.
