Xabi Alonso's long-awaited Liverpool homecoming is scheduled for Tuesday evening, when the Spaniard's Bayer Leverkusen side head to Anfield for a mouthwatering Champions League clash.
The Reds are a perfect three-for-three in the embryonic stages of the 2024-25 European competition, but their sixth-placed German counterparts can leapfrog them in the 36-team table with victory on Merseyside.
Match preview
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Mere minutes after Jurgen Klopp dropped his resignation bombshell in January, Liverpool fans were rolling out the red carpet for former midfield maestro Alonso to take the Anfield reins, only for the Leverkusen boss to snub not one, not two, but three of his former teams to stay with the Bundesliga Invincibles.
As Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid came to terms with Alonso's decision, the Anfield hierarchy put a big-money contract down on the table for Arne Slot, whose start to life on Merseyside has gone better than even he could have surely anticipated.
AC Milan, Bologna and RB Leipzig have all succumbed to Liverpool's superiority in the early phase of the 2024-25 Champions League; Darwin Nunez's solitary strike was enough for a 1-0 win over the latter in October, leaving Liverpool only trailing Aston Villa in the UCL rankings.
However, Liverpool arguably produced their worst 45 minutes of football under Slot in Saturday's Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion, but a second-half revival saw Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah cancel out Ferdi Kadioglu's strike in an incredibly hard-fought 2-1 win.
With Manchester City and Arsenal both slipping up away from home in gameweek 10, Liverpool have now assumed control of the Premier League title race - sitting two points clear of the reigning champions at the top of the standings after their 10th win from their last 11 games under Slot.
Records are tumbling at the feet of the ever-composed Dutchman, who has now masterminded five straight home victories - with at least two goals on each occasion - and they can now win each of their opening four games of a Champions League season for just the second time after doing so in 2021-22.
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Replicating the scarcely believable feats of 2023-24 was always going to be an extremely tall order for Alonso's Leverkusen, who came within 90 minutes of a tremendous treble last season before succumbing to an Ademola Lookman masterclass in the Europa League final.
The Bundesliga Invincibles are very much on the right track in the top tier of European football this season, though, taking seven points from their first nine games courtesy of wins over Feyenoord and AC Milan, and an admittedly disappointing draw with Ligue 1 outfit Brest on matchday three.
Die Werkself have made a habit of playing out one-pointers this season, making it three draws from their last four games on Friday as they played out a goalless Bundesliga affair with Stuttgart, leaving them seven points behind revitalised leaders Bayern Munich.
That drab draw did extend Leverkusen's unbeaten run in all competitions to a respectable 11 games, though, and Alonso's men are yet to suffer their first road defeat of the season, winning each of their first four away from home in 2024-25 and sharing the points in each of their last three.
Tuesday's tantalising tie will see Liverpool and Leverkusen reunite for the first time since the 2004-05 edition, when the Reds eased to a pair of 3-1 victories in the last 16 en route to a mesmerising title lift, although Alonso did not feature in either leg against his future employers due to a broken ankle.
Team News
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Everything that could go wrong for Liverpool in the first half of Saturday's game with Brighton did go wrong, as key defender Ibrahima Konate was withdrawn at half time due to an arm injury, which left him in severe pain as he used his shirt as a makeshift sling.
However, the defender has made a rapid recovery and will be in the squad on Tuesday, but Alisson Becker (hamstring), Harvey Elliott (foot), Federico Chiesa (fitness) and Diogo Jota (abdominal) will watch on from the sidelines.
Overtaking Robbie Fowler into eighth place in the all-time Premier League scoring charts on Saturday, Salah could now become the first player in 21 years to score in six straight Champions League home games for an English club, after Ruud van Nistelrooy did so for Manchester United in 2023.
Konate was not the only French defender to succumb to an injury last time out, as Leverkusen wing-back Nordi Mukiele hurt his thigh in the draw with Stuttgart and is now expected to remain out until after the international break.
Mukiele joins Amine Adli (broken leg) and Jeanuel Belocian (foot) in the Leverkusen infirmary, while Martin Terrier was also unavailable for Friday's Bundesliga game and has not made the journey to England either.
Nevertheless, Alonso can bring Jonas Hofmann into the final third as Frimpong covers for Mukiele on the right, while attacking stalwart Florian Wirtz bids to become the third 21 or under player - after Erling Haaland and Manor Solomon - to score in each of his first three Champions League appearances on the road.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Jones, Diaz; Nunez
Bayer Leverkusen possible starting lineup:
Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Xhaka, Garcia, Grimaldo; Hofmann, Wirtz; Boniface
We say: Liverpool 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Liverpool may still be enjoying a golden streak of results under Slot, but not a single one of their victories from the start of October has been truly emphatic, and the inevitable fatigue may have been setting in against Brighton if the first 45 was anything to go by.
As a result, a Leverkusen side who have been the stalemate specialists in 2024-25 can end their hosts' perfect start to the Champions League season, even if Alonso's men are not the same irrepressible force they once were.
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Ben Knapton
