On the latest episode of the Blood Red podcast, RB Leipzig defender Angelino has been sharing his thoughts on the upcoming clash with Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s side came away from the first leg of the last-16 Champions League tie with a 2-0 advantage, thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
The second leg is set to take place on Wednesday evening, and former Manchester City man Angelino has outlined some potential weaknesses for the Bundesliga side to exploit.
One of Liverpool’s biggest strengths is the attacking ability of full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, but the Spaniard thinks the England international could leave some gaps to take advantage of.
He said: “I think we did quite well in the game. I mean, we were a few times behind their full-backs, their technique on the ball is really good, you know, Arnold with the ball is unbelievable, but he’s too offensive. But that’s his best.
“So, we have to exploit the weakness, and hopefully, we can get a few more chances like we did in the first game. We just have to put them away. That was our mistake, that we didn’t put them away.”
TIF Thoughts on Alexander-Arnold…
Alexander-Arnold is one of the most exciting young English players coming through right now and has been sensational for Liverpool since joining the first-team setup.
There’s no doubting that the right-back is more comfortable going forward and attacking than he is defending, and the absence of Virgil van Dijk appears to have exposed his defensive fragilities more than usual this season.
If Leipzig are to find a way back into this last-16 tie, then getting in behind Alexander-Arnold could be the way to go, however, they need to be equally as prepared to deal with whatever the youngster offers in the final third as Julian Nagelsmann’s men look to overcome their deficit.