Jurgen Klopp’s side dominated the first leg 3-1 at the Estadio da Luz and are seeking to set up a final four meeting with Villarreal.
Team News
liverpool
- Despite their grueling schedule, Jurgen Klopp is working with a completely healthy squad at the moment, with Fabinho’s head injury in the first leg not significant enough to keep him out of the match against Man City.
- Due to Klopp’s plenty of choices, Takumi Minamino, Harvey Elliott, Divock Origi, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were all left out of the team for Sunday, and Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota would miss the first leg of the semi-final if booked here.
- With both players starting – and scoring – at the Etihad, Klopp may opt to reintroduce Roberto Firmino and Luis Diaz into the starting lineup alongside Mohamed Salah, who needs one more goal to surpass Steven Gerrard as Liverpool’s all-time Champions League goal scorer with 15.
Benfica
- Benfica are also training with the most of their big-hitters, with the exception of cruciate ligament casualty Lucas Verissimo, who, along with striker Rodrigo Pinho, is out for the long term, and Rafa Silva.
- Following a domestic ban, the Benfica manager will have Jan Vertonghen back at his disposal, and the ex-Tottenham Hotspur defender should reclaim his proper place in defense alongside Nicolas Otamendi.
- Verissimo should recall Gilberto, Alex Grimaldo, Julian Weigl, and Goncalo Ramos to the first XI at Anfield after resting several of his experienced players over the weekend.
Prediction Analysis
While Benfica always has a goal threat moving forward with Nunez and only needs to go all-out attack to make the semi-finals, a Liverpool side with no injuries and plenty of offensive options of their own should be too strong once again.
Klopp’s side will be able to save some energy for their next FA Cup semi-final and Premier League duties if they score a couple of expected goals, and we don’t expect Benfica to surprise us at Anfield.
Our prediction is Liverpool 2-1 Benfica (Liverpool win 5-2 on aggregate)
Possible Lineup
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Keita, Fabinho, Jones; Salah, Firmino, Diaz;
Benfica: Vlachodimos; Gilberto, Vertonghen, Otamendi, Grimaldo; Goncalves, Weigl, Taarabt, Everton; Ramos, Nunez.