Arne Slot will have three Liverpool players desperate to send a message in his Bologna XI
Liverpool welcome the Italian side to Anfield for their Champions League clash on Wednesday evening, with Reds boss Arne Slot experiencing a home European game for the first time in his new job
It won't be a 'magical European night' at Anfield. Those come far later in the competition and when there is much more jeopardy involved. But for Arne Slot Wednesday evening will be a special occasion.
The Dutchman's relative lack of experience in the Champions League was held up by many as a reason to doubt his credentials to succeed Jurgen Klopp in the summer, but a win away at the San Siro was a decent start.
Slot, who only had one Champions League campaign to speak of at former club Feyenoord, now comes up against Italian opposition again in the form of Bologna, and it promises to be an interesting night for all involved.
For Slot it will be a first Anfield experience in continental competition, while for Bologna it will be a key test to see if they can live with this level of opposition having been stripped for parts in the summer - when Riccardo Calafiori joined Arsenal, Joshua Zirkzee left for Manchester United and most importantly manager Thiago Motta joined Juventus.
And as Slot embraces rotating his Liverpool team it promises to be a key night for some of his squad members too.
In defence there is likely to be at least one change, with one of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate primed for a rest, as either Jarell Quansah or Joe Gomez come in at centre-back. Van Dijk is probably the one who is due for the break having played every minute of every game bar the Carabao Cup win over West Ham, when Gomez did well in his absence.
In midfield there have been a couple of encouraging displays from Curtis Jones of late and he deserves a start too, perhaps in place of Dominik Szoboszlai who was substituted in the win at Wolves and could do with a rest.
Then attack is the area of the pitch in which we are most likely to see a change, with Diogo Jota missing training after sustaining a blow to his foot in the win at his former club Wolves, a match for which Darwin Nunez was absent for with illness. Slot has confirmed that Jota has been passed fit, but it could be that Nunez comes in for him anyway.
The Uruguayan has returned to training and looks set to start, while rotation between Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo could well continue on the left. Regardless of that, it will be a big night for Gomez, Jones and Nunez should they all get the nod.
Liverpool predicted XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Gomez, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Jones, Gakpo; Nunez.
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