Champions League: Liverpool look to put Roma to the sword
What's the story
Liverpool will host AS Roma in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday. The Reds put in a phenomenal performance against Premier League champions Manchester City, beating them twice to make it to the semis, while AS Roma staged a dramatic comeback against Barcelona. Now 180 minutes of football will decide which team makes it to the final in Kiev.
Rampant
Free scoring Liverpool will be hard to contain
Liverpool have been one of the most rampant sides in Europe this season. Their font three comprising of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah have been on a free-scoring run. The addition of Virgil van Dijk to the back, post the January transfer window, has also sorted out their defensive woes. At Anfield, Liverpool will be a tough team to beat.
Hard to beat
Tactically astute Roma will have a gameplan
But we are not taking anything away from AS Roma. After all, they knocked out Lionel Messi's Barcelona from the Champions League. In Dzeko, they have enough firepower to cause problems for Liverpool's defense and a crucial away goal is what the Italians will be eyeing. At home, Roma are hard to beat, you can ask Barcelona and Shakhtar about it.
Vengence
Roma look to avenge 1984 loss
This is Liverpool's 10th appearance in the last four of Europe's prestigious competition. It is also their first semi-final since 2007/2008 season. Before this, Roma had reached this stage of the competition just once in 1984. Liverpool and Roma met once in the 1984 European Cup final in which the Reds managed to beat the Italians at their own backyard.
Flying high
Liverpool are the only unbeaten team in the Champions League
Liverpool have always managed to outscore their opposition this season. The Reds have scored 33 goals in this season's Champions League while conceding just 7. Liverpool are also the only unbeaten side in the competition so far. Roma have scored just 15 goals in their 10 games so far, and have won just 5 of them drawing two and losing three.
Modus Operandi
For Roma away goal, for Liverpool plenty of goals
Roma will be wary of the fact that it's not going to be easy to keep Mo Salah quite at Anfield. The modus operandi will be to bag the crucial away goal and then wait for the Reds to visit the Stadio Olimpico. Liverpool know that beating Roma at home won't be easy, hence they will have to score as many as possible.