Liverpool travel to Russia on Tuesday as they take on Spartak Moscow at the Otkrytie Arena in their second Champions League Group E clash.
The Reds were held to a 2-2 draw with Sevilla at Anfield in their opening fixture two weeks ago while Russian Premier League champions Spartak drew 1-1 away to Maribor.
We take a look at three key battles which will form the foundation of an intriguing battle.
Congested traffic moves quicker than the Spartak left-back and up against the frightening pace of Salah, Kombarov could be flattened.
In fact, both flanks pitch Liverpool’s greatest strength against the host’s most obvious weakness and the Egyptian in particular has been the brightest spot despite dark days so far in this campaign.
Salah has five goals in eight games to completely dispel the notion he could struggle to adapt to English football after his miserable spell with Chelsea.
The combination of Kombarov’s positional vacancy and Salah’s quickness could be where the game is won and lost for either side.
Neither one of the Liverpool centre-back pairing of Lovren and Joel Matip are in form but the former has been repeatedly chastised for a series of individual errors so far this season.
Indeed, Liverpool are only bettered by Man City for restricting sides to the fewest shots in the Premier League but Lovren’s anxiety has spread leading to mistakes like the one which resulted in Sevilla’s opener last time out in Europe.
It’s not just his hesitancy under the high ball and the unconvincing nature he clears danger that is a concern but his positional sense is shocking at times.
While Adriano isn’t quite the mobile target man we saw at Shakhtar Donetsk, the 30-year-old still has devastating ability and his physical prowess will mean he’s a genuine threat from set-pieces. If Liverpool’s defensive deficiencies rear their head again, Adriano will prosper and Jurgen Klopp best hope his attacking talents get them out of that potential hole once again.
Back and front lines will be under the microscope, of course, but with Spartak likely adopting a 4-2-3-1, the shield in front of the defence will come in the form of Brazilian Fernando.
With captain Denis Glushakov unlikely to feature, the transition from the back, where the host’s will likely find themselves for most of the opening stages, to the front will come through the tidy Fernando.
Henderson will be the man to operate in the corresponding deeper role for the Reds and the two pivots on opposite sides will dictate how this game is played. The Liverpool skipper rediscovered his finest form against Leicester at the weekend and will be looking to build on that momentum after a flurry of criticism in recent weeks.
