The dust has barely settled from their weekend match at the Emirates which saw Liverpool lose ground in the title race after conceding a late equaliser against Arsenal, but they have little time to dwell with the fixtures coming thick and fast and they turn their attention to the other major trophy they have aspirations of lifting at the end of the season. Liverpool flies out to Belgrade to take on Red Star in their 4th game in Group C, in their previous game in this competition they ended up cruising to a 4-0 win after a shaky start. They will be hoping to replicate that result in the away as another win will go a long way to seeing them progress into the knockout stages.
Jurgen Klopp has made the decision not to include Xerdan Shaqiri in the squad for this match to avoid what he referred to as "distractions". I don't know too many details about the situation but Shaqiri who's parents are Kosovar Albanians is not well liked in Serbia after he celebrated a goal while playing for Switzerland by making an eagle gesture. The eagle gesture was a nod to his Albanian heritage and seems to have upset some Serbians who were planning on a hostile welcome for him when he arrived. It's sad that in this day and age there are still such situations which carry over into sport meaning an athlete cannot travel to a country for fear of violence. But it seems that there was a possibility that this could be the case and so I think it is a good decision by Klopp to leave him out and avoid the possibillity of anything occuring.
As well as Shaqiri, Liverpool will also be without Nathaniel Clyne who has become ill and Jordan Henderson who is back in training but not quite ready for action. There is some positive news for Liverpool as Dejan Lovren is likely to recover and be available in time for the game after missing the Arsenal match and midfielder Naby Keita is set to return to action after 4 weeks out. It was against Red Star at Anfield where Klopp first used the 4-2-3-1 system and it is likely he will use it again after reverting back to it in the 2nf half against Arsenal, it will be interesting where he fits Keita in for that system with him having attributes that make him suitable for any of the 6 midfield and attacking roles.
Red Star recovered from the 4-0 defeat at Anfield well and have won all 3 of their domestic games since then scoring 7 and conceding just 1. Their domestic league may not be the strongest but they have shown in their game against Napoli earlier in the group that at home they are capable of digging in and making things difficult for even the best teams in Europe. Political issues aside the Red Star fans are some of the most passionate in Europe and are sure to get behind their team yet again, their stadium is a pretty intimidating arena when all the flares are lit and the flags are waving but I am sure the Liverpool fans will not be overly affected by that with the experience they have.