Holders Liverpool and Chelsea face do-or-die fixtures in the Champions League on Tuesday as they look to book knockout places on the final day of group play.
The Reds head to Salzburg on top of Group E, but defeat to the Austrians coupled with a win for second-placed Napoli over eliminated Genk will see Jurgen Klopp’s manne head to the Europa League.
And after a first clean sheet in 15 games in a 3-0 win over Bournemouth this past weekend, Klopp has demanded another defensive shutout.
LIVE with Jordan Henderson and Jürgen Klopp to preview tomorrow's meet with Salzburg 🔴🎙️ https://t.co/Aq0iXtJWaS
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 9, 2019
He says of the clean sheet: “I forgot how it feels, to be honest! It’s great, we should have them more often.
“It was the most-used word in the dressing room by the boys – ‘clean sheet, clean sheet, clean sheet’.
“Obviously everybody was desperate for that, now we have it so let’s have it more often.
“The next game where a clean sheet would be useful is already around the corner, against Salzburg.”
Blues boss Frank Lampard, meanwhile, is desperate for a big night at Stamford Bridge when they tackle Lille.
Even though the French side are already out of Europe, Chelsea have lost two of their last three games and they must better Valencia’s result at Ajax to advance to the last 16 from Group H.
DESPERATE: Frank Lampard. Picture: Andy Rain/EPA.
And Lampard says: “It is a knockout game. It’s not easy with a lot of games. We have to keep fighting.”
In team news, defender Toni Rudiger is fit again, coming for injured Fikayo Tomori (hip), while Olivier Giroud is out injured too.
Tuesday’s Champions League fixtures:
Napoli v Genk, RB Salzburg v Liverpool (both 7.55pm), Borussia Dortmund v Slavia Prague, Lyon v RB Leipzig, Benfica v Zenit St. Petersburg, Chelsea v Lille, Ajax v Valencia, Inter Milan v Barcelona (all 10pm).