Liverpool vs Rangers LIVE: Champions League team news, line-ups and more tonight

10/04/2022

Klopp on Liverpool’s shaky defence

Liverpool have been uncharacteristically poor at defending their own goal this season and have conceded in every home game bar their 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth.

It’s a problem that manager Jurgen Klopp has so far been unable to solve and the German says his team need to ‘go back to the basics’.

“When you spot a problem and think you have the solution, you expect [it] to be instant.” said Klopp, “That’s never the case in football.

“Defending is an art and it worked for us really well for a long time. But with it not working, you realise you have to go back to the basics.

“We can’t always start anew. If we can help the boys with ways to defend differently, we have to do that.”

Liverpool vs Rangers

The Champions League is back at Anfield as Liverpool welcome Rangers for a Group A clash. Kick off begins at 8pm and we’ll bring you all the build-up and team news beforehand.

Van Bronckhorst on facing Liverpool

Rangers boss, Giovanni van Brockhorst, says that Liverpool will be the ‘strongest side’ his team has faced when they clash with Jurgen Klopp’s men in the Champions League tonight.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” he said. “This is a team who have been in three finals in five years and is one of the best in Europe. If you look at the ones we’ve faced, this is probably the strongest side.

“They didn’t have a good result on Saturday but they have quality players and a fantastic coach so we’re preparing for the best Liverpool we can face.”

Rangers have been beaten heavily in both Group A matches so far but van Bronckhorst believes his men can be a threat to Liverpool and added that there are “things to exploit” in Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Jurgen Klopp urges Liverpool improvement but says confidence the big factor in poor results

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists even greats like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are not immune from confidence issues as he seeks to find a solution to his side’s inconsistency.

Saturday’s 3-3 draw at home to Brighton, having gone from 2-0 down to 3-2 up, was an example of the wider malaise which is affecting the team.

Klopp is remaining patient but knows Tuesday’s Champions League tie at home to Rangers has become a key game having already lost once in Group A.

“People can ask how could it happen that these players are not full of confidence?” said the German.

Klopp urges Liverpool improvement but says confidence behind poor form

The Reds have been inconsistent this term and drew at home once more at the weekend

Liverpool vs Rangers early team news

Andy Robertson is likely to miss the game for Liverpool as he continues to recover from an injury that also forced him out of last month’s Nations League games for Scotland.

But, Ibrahima Konate trained with the squad on Monday and could feature but Naby Keita, Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were not involved in the session and are set for more time on the sidelines.

For Rangers James Sands will be absent following his red card against Napoli and Tom Lawrence is out for the forseeable future after picking up a new injury in training. Manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst says he is not expecting Lawrence back anytime soon and it will be until after the World Cup before he’s back in the squad.

The good news is that Ben Davies is available despite being replaced at half-time in the weekend win at Hearts.

Liverpool vs Rangers

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Champions League clash between Liverpool vs Rangers.

It’s an all British affair at Anfield as Jurgen Klopp’s Reds look to kick themselves into gear after a lacklustre start to the season. Liverpool are currently ninth in the Premier League table and come into tonight’s match on the back of a 3-3 draw against Brighton on Saturday. In the Champions League, Klopp’s men sit second in Group A and could really do with a picking up three points this evening as a confidence booster.

Rangers on the other hand are thriving in the Scottish Premiership with only Celtic above them in the table. They battered Hearts 4-0 at the weekend and have built up some momentum over the last couple of games. Whether they are ready to face Liverpool is another matter. Their return to Europe’s top competition has so far been a shambles with heavy defeats to Ajax (4-0) and Napoli (3-0) souring the joy felt at making it back into the Champions League proper.

That sour taste will be banished though if they can pull one over Liverpool away from home. It is a good time to visit Anfield with the Reds only keeping one clean sheet in five games here this season and with Klopp’s men lacking confidence there may be a chance for the Gers to pull off a special European victory.

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