Liverpool’s biggest concern in Champions League KO stages

Liverpool defeated Salzburg in their own backyard to book a place in the KO stages of the Champions League.

Winning the group would help them avoid several big teams in the Round of 16 but they might still end up facing one of Real Madrid (will finish second) and Dortmund (finished second) and Atletico Madrid (currently second).

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Going into the knock-out stages of the competition, in my view, Liverpool’s biggest concern is their defense, especially at Anfield.

Last season, Klopp’s strong back-line at home played a vital role in helping them book a place in the final. PSG scored two goals on Match Day 1 but after that, the likes of Red Star Belgrade, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Porto and Barcelona could not even score a single goal at Anfield.

In the current campaign, the European Champions have not kept a single clean sheet at Anfield, which is not a huge concern in the Premier League. However, in the KO stages of the Champions League, a single away goal is of massive importance and at times, it is enough to kill the tie.

We conceded 5 goals at home in the group stages, 3 of them were netted by RB Salzburg. Even last night, we were opened up by the Austrian side on few occasions but top goalkeeping by Alisson and couple of great tackles from Robertson mainly helped us keep our first clean sheet of the competition.

Therefore, the Reds should improve and be solid at the back to amplify their chances of defending the Champions League crown.

Looking at the positives, it must be remembered that Liverpool have not lost a single two legged European tie under the management of Jurgen Klopp and this season, we are the only remaining unbeaten team in the continent’s top five leagues.