Liverpool hoping for famous Anfield night against Bayern Munich

On Tuesday night Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool welcome German giants Bayern Munich to Anfield.

Coming under intense pressure to deliver silverware to the Allianz Arena, Niko Kovac has had a mixed start to life at Bayern. Their league form has been inconsistent and at time of writing the Bundesliga champions are five points off Borussia Dortmund at the top.

Image result for arjen robben borussia dortmund

Champions League heartbreak for Klopp as Robben snatches the winner – Image courtesy of The Mirror

Klopp will know his opposition well, having locked horns with Bayern on numerous occasions during his seven years in charge at Dortmund.

The 51-year-old has painful memories of Bayern. His Dortmund side lost out to the Bavarians in the 2013 Champions League final where Arjen Robben netted the winner in a 2-1 victory.

Despite his side being the favourites, Klopp has refused to underestimate the German giants:

“Have you ever looked at the team they have or how they are in shape now? So we will be ready for Champions League and a very, very tough game.”

The last meeting between the two sides came back in 2003, where a Michael Owen double inspired Liverpool in a 3-2 win in the UEFA Super Cup final. The two European heavyweights have shared the stage sporadically, with Liverpool winning three out of the four meetings.

Liverpool are still be without Joe Gomez who recently underwent a successful surgery after suffering a fractured leg. Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain remains a long term absentee after an ACL knee Injury occurred during the semi-final stage of the competition last year.

“If we get to the semi-final (of the Champions League) I think he (Chamberlain) is available. Maybe the quarter-final, I’m not 100 percent sure but he still needs time, that’s how it is. I wait for the green light of the medical department.”

Chamberlain hasn’t featured since sustaining an ACL injury against Roma last season – Image courtesy The Independent

The bigger worry for Liverpool is they are without arguably their best player of the in Virgil van Dijk, who is banned for the first leg after picking up three yellow cards in the group stages.

Fellow centre-back Dejan Lovren is in a race to be fit for the tie after nursing a hamstring injury and missed training on Monday alongside Roberto Firmino, who has a virus.

Bayern Munich’s injury list continues to mount up, too. Midfielder Corentin Tolisso is still out of action after suffering an ACL injury in September. French winger Kinglsey Coman is currently sidelined after experiencing a tendon issue in their 3-2 win against Augsburg on Friday, which is likely to rule him out of both legs.

Jerome Boateng is also set to miss the clash with stomach flu. Thomas Muller is suspended after being sent off in the previous fixture against Ajax.

Liverpool welcome Bayern Munich in the round of 16 on Tuesday in a 8pm GMT kick off.