Liverpool host Roma at Anfield in the first-leg of the UCL semi-final. They will be hoping to become the first English team to reach the prestigious final of UCL since Chelsea won it in 2012. There is a lot of excitement in the air for the Reds and the fans as they prepare for the most important match of the season so far.

Let’s see what line up can Jurgen Klopp select for the semi-final.

GK – Loris Karius

3. Jack Butland

Liverpool have been criticized for their poor goalkeeping performance with Simon Mignolet struggling in the squad. Klopp may be tempted to buy Jack Butland. He is one of the positives for the struggling Stoke City. Jack Butland may consider a switch to Liverpool in hopes of performing well in the Premier League and securing his place as No. 1 goalkeeper for England for the 2018 World Cup.

Expected Value – £30m 

5. The Club Is Willing To Forget His Past

Salah’s time at Chelsea was not the proudest time of his career with the Egyptian struggling to make his spot in the starting XI. He made only 19 appearances scoring only two goals after which he was sent out on a loan to Fiorentina. However he made his comeback while in Italy playing for Roma scoring 15 goals and contributing 13 assists in 29 Serie A appearances as Roma finished second in the Italian top flight. Liverpool appear to be impressed by the season he has had in Italy and are willing to work on his future.

4. The Transfer Fee Represents His Worth

Liverpool signed Salah for £35 million which only represents the player’s worth in his peak performance considering he scored 19 goals in 41 appearances for Roma in all competitions. It is also worth remembering people raised their eyebrows at Mane’s £30m transfer fee last summer.

3. Better Than Other Liverpool Targets

Liverpool’s pursuit of signing a winger of the squad goes back to last season. Liverpool reportedly had a €13 million bid for Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic rejected in August turns out it was for the good and finally they managed to sign a better winger than their targets of the last summer.

2. Effective Strategy For Philippe Coutinho

Towards the end of the last season it was visible that Philippe Coutinho fared well playing in the middle of the park. Klopp hinted that Coutinho may take the role of a Central Midfield next season while he played most of the season as left forward. Arrival of Salah means he will be playing as Left Forward giving Coutinho the strategic edge to play as Central Midfield which was
highly effective in a game against West Ham back in April.

1. A Klopp Kind Of Player

Aside from Sadio Mane Liverpool were seriously lacking in pace upfront. We have seen Klopp’s attacking style of play worked well when Mane used his pace to move past defenders and scoring past the last line of defence. Salah’s acceleration will give Liverpool a great advantage on the counter attack. “Perhaps only [Lionel] Messi is faster than him with the ball at one’s feet,” former Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella said of Salah. Klopp will be delighted with the speed Salah has to offer.