After drawing 3-3 with Brighton over the weekend, Liverpool will need to have a short memory hosting Rangers with a chance to enter the driver’s seat for qualifying from Group A in the Champions League. The Liverpool defense has struggled, allowing five goals in their two UCL matches so far, but they improved after allowing four in their opening match against Napoli. The Reds have also struggled to defend in Premier League play, allowing nine goals in seven matches, but their attack has been coming to life.
One of the main reasons behind that is Roberto Firmino who has five Premier League goals and three assists and he’ll be needed to see off Rangers. Darwin Nunez has struggled to adapt to Jurgen Klopp’s system meaning that Liverpool have gone to leaning on old reliable to get the job done. Diogo Jota’s return to health will give the team another option as well but Firmino will give the team a strong attacking presence versus a struggling Rangers team.
Since the Old Firm loss to Celtic, Rangers have lost both of their Champions League matches and also struggled to see off Dundee United in league play. They had the help of an early red card to cost past Hearts over the weekend but Gerard Gallant has struggled to settle on his best side. Already changing his goalkeeper instilling Allan McGregor between the sticks and sitting James Sands Rangers won’t have a settled side trying to defend Liverpool.
Here’s our storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch and odds
- Date: Tuesday, Oct. 4 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Anfield — Liverpool, England
- TV and live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Liverpool -650; Draw +700; Rangers +1600 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Featured Game | Liverpool vs. Rangers
Team news
Liverpool: The injury bug won’t stay away from the Reds. While Ibrahima Konate is on the way back, Andrew Robertson won’t be available so Klopp will need to have Konstatinos Tsimikas play even more minutes. A rotational player last season, the Greek leff-back has started a game every three days or so since playing for the national team in Nations League and has already logged 280 minutes for Liverpool this season in only seven appearances. While he filled in a lot last season, fitness will need to be monitored as Liverpool will have games coming every 3-4 days through October and depending on the state of Robertson, Tsimikas can’t be risked in all of them. That flank could give Rangers an area of the pitch to target. Calvin Ramsay could eventually offer depth at full-back as he’s back in training but he’ll get minutes with the youth sides to get up to speed.
Rangers: Mostly dealing with long-term injuries, defender John Souttar will be among the biggest misses for the team. Americans will be watching to see if Malik Tillman can earn a start in midfield. After a strong start to the season that saw him collect two goals and two assists in all competitions, Tillman has been coming off of the bench since mid-September. Being only 20, Tillman has talent but how he improves his game to bounce back from benchings like this will be critical to his development.
Prediction
Rangers will put up a fight but they won’t be able to stop an in-form Firmino from picking them apart. Pick: Liverpool 3, Rangers 1
