Atalanta vs Liverpool
Atalanta was a devotee of the goddess Artemis. She was known as a fleet footed huntress and devout virgin. In order to win her hand in marriage potential suitors had to outrun her and if they failed they were slain. Many tried and failed until along came good old Hippomenes who used three irresistible solid gold apples to distract her during the race which he then won along with her hand in marriage. A woman distracted by valuable baubles eh? Some things never change. Although some say that she allowed herself to be distracted because she wanted him to win. As I said some things never change;-) Anyway we knew all that, of course, but what you scholars of Greek mythology might not have known is that there is also an Italian football club named after her and what’s more Liverpool are playing them in the Champion’s League on Tuesday evening.
Atalanta are from the Bergamo region of Italy and are a very old club. So old that they are called Atalanta BC. They currently sit in fourth place in the league but have already lost a couple of times this season. They have though, done well in the Champion’s League, convincingly beating Mid and drawing with Ajax. So they will be no push over and Klopp has even likened them to Leeds United which is quite a compliment. Players to watch out for : All those in red as well as Ilicic an attacker, Hateboer their right back and De Roon a charging midfielder.
The good news for Liverpool is that Matip and Keita are back in training and might be available for the game. Matip in particular is known to get up to speed quickly after injury. Dog knows he has had plenty of practice though Keita is catching up fast in that regard. Alcantara is not yet training so almost certainly won’t be available. People are making the case for Shaq and Jota to start because of Jota’s impact in recent games and Shaq’s impact against West ‘aaaam, I just think coming on and making an impact as a sub is one thing, starting is another. Although, of the two, Jota is the more likely one to start. I thought Shaq showed signs that he may have had one too many Tunnock’s tea cakes during his lay off. From what I saw of him in that game I wouldn’t fancy his chances in a foot race with Atalanta or, for that matter, even Harry Maguire (pictured below) who fortunately is already married. His pass to Jota for the winning goal shows just what he could bring to the table. but I am still not sure Klopp sees him as anything other than a good option off the bench.
Despite the game against City at the weekend I think Klopp will still go strong for this game. Team: Alisson, TAA, Matip, Gomez. Robbo. Hendo. Gini, Keita, Mane, Firmino, Salah.
Come on you reds let’s make this game the stuff of legend
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