Real Madrid are two-thirds done with their decisive week as they have so far done perfectly after beating Liverpool 3-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals before coming out victorious against Barcelona in the second Clasico of La Liga. Now, they are aiming to get the job done against Liverpool as they visit Anfield for what will surely be a difficult night for all involved.
Goalkeeper
He will be irritated to have conceded in the first-leg but Thibaut Courtois still had a massive match against Liverpool and will be hoping for more of the same. The Belgian has been in the form of his life this season and it doesn’t seem like that will end anytime soon.
Defenders
With the unfortunate news that Lucas Vazquez will miss the remainder of the season through injury after he was taken off against Barcelona, Zinedine Zidane will need to amend his thoughts a little and all signs point to the manager still going for a 4-3-3 formation with Alvaro Odriozola given a very rare chance to prove himself once again. The Spaniard hasn’t had many opportunities this season but this could be one of his final chances to show Zidane that he has what it takes to play for this team.
In the center, we will witness the partnership of Eder Militao and Nacho Fernandez once again after they both successfully came out with two wins in the previous two matches. On the left, Ferland Mendy will take his place as left-back.
Midfield
It’s no secret that Real Madrid have the best midfield trio in Europe at the moment but there could be a surprise from the manager on the night. Carlos Casemiro will be taking his place as the defensive midfielder on the night with Toni Kroos in front of him hoping to replicate the form we saw from him during the past two matches particularly in the first leg of this tie.
However, standing alongside the German midfielder could potentially be Federico Valverde, who started ahead of Marco Asensio during El Clasico and could be chosen to start instead of Luka Modric this time around.
Modric looked tired and played the full 90 minutes against Barcelona and therefore, Valverde could be picked this time around as Zidane will want to secure his team defensively while still having a starting eleven strong enough to go forward. The Uruguayan may also be given direction to assist Odriozola defensively, which we saw happening for a bit in El Clasico.
Forwards
There is no reason to think that things will be different when it comes to the front three that we saw in the last game between these two teams. Marco Asensio was rested for 60 minutes in El Clasico and should be fresh enough to make it back to the starting eleven while Vinicius Junior will take his place on the opposite flank as he’ll want to add to the two goals he scored against Liverpool in the first-leg. Up front, Karim Benzema will start and he’ll want to get his name on the score sheet at some point after failing to find the back of the net during the first leg.
Full Predicted Lineup
Thibaut Courtois, Alvaro Odriozola, Nacho Fernandez, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, Carlos Casemiro, Toni Kroos, Federico Valverde, Marco Asensio, Vinicius Junior, Karim Benzema