Slot must now unleash Liverpool’s “special” talent

It’s the most fear-inducing fixture of the season. Of any season. Real Madrid will meet Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, with Anfield desperate for revenge against the Spanish giants.

Liverpool’s track record against the La Liga and Champions League holders is, admittedly, not great. Across eight recent meetings, the Reds have been beaten seven times and drawn once, with that goalless affair merely the second leg of a quarter-finals tie that had already seen a 3-1 loss inflicted.

Arne Slot’s Liverpool, however, stand as good a chance as any iteration from the past decade in ending the hoodoo and continuing their perfect start to the Champions League campaign, with four victories claimed from as many group stage matches.

Los Blancos, conversely, have lost two of their opening matches in Europe’s elite competition and will be desperate to claw their way back into the ascendency with a statement win on Merseyside.

The visitors are nursing a host of injuries to key players, but Liverpool have some absences of their own to contend with.

Liverpool team news

First, the negatives. Alisson Becker is not yet ready to return from his injury layoff, but then Liverpool have a more-than-able deputy in Caoimhin Kelleher. Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota’s continued absences will weaken the Reds’ frontline too.

Left-back Kostas Tsimikas has picked up a knock in training so Andy Robertson will retain his starting role despite flattering to deceive against Southampton on Sunday. Trent Alexander-Arnold, however, has trained and could play a part.

In any case, it’s not like Real don’t have issues of their own. Namely, Vinicius Junior has picked up a hamstring injury and faces several weeks out. Carlo Ancelotti will put Kylian Mbappe in his favoured left wing role though, so there’s a debate to be had if that area of the field is actually weakened.

Liverpool will look to exploit the absence though, and while Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez should form two parts of the attacking triptych, and though Luis Diaz would love to start, Cody Gakpo could retain his berth, especially since he could serve the visitors with a reminder of Vini due to his style of play.

Cody Gakpo is Slot’s own Vinicius Junior

According to FBref, Real Madrid’s Brazilian sensation is one of Gakpo’s most tactically similar players, albeit the 24-year-old is operating at a higher level than Liverpool’s Dutch forward.

Both left-sided players capable of performing in a central striking role, Gakpo’s fluency and tactical intelligence have seen him go from strength to strength under his compatriot Slot this season, only posting six goals and two assists across 18 matches in all competitions but receiving just nine starts.

Conversely, Vini has obliterated Spanish and Champions League grounds over the past several months, claiming 12 goals and eight assists from 18 matches.

Gakpo’s dynamism, his protean attacking threat, could provide the Anfield spectacle with the Vini-esque figure to set it alight. Once hailed for his “special skill set” by former Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders, the Netherlands international has the talent and big-game aura to step up and make the affair his own from the left.

Like Vinicius Jr., Gakpo’s blend of technical soundness and fast pace could exploit the Madrid side’s lack of options at right-back. Dani Carvajal is out for the season with an ACL injury and Fede Valverde played there in a makeshift role during the 3-0 victory over Leganes at the weekend, scoring and producing the kind of creative display that would cause problems.

However, he’ll have to contend with issues of his own, should he be pitted against Gakpo. As it is, Lucas Vasquez, 33, would be the defensively-sounded choice, but even so, this is hardly ideal for the away team.

Mbappe will pose a real threat, and you can’t shake the feeling this might be the match he targets to make his true introduction to life in Real white, but Slot’s frontline is as good as it gets.