John Aldridge sends strong message ahead of Rangers v Liverpool
Former Liverpool player and club icon, John Aldridge has suggested that the Reds can’t afford to slip up against Rangers in the Champions League.
The Gers are yet to pick up a point from their opening three games, and Aldridge wants the Reds to knock the Bears away, and then focus on Manchester City ahead of a big week.
Liverpool have been very inconsistent with their form, and they are missing some key players as well through injuries.
“Rangers is the first one. They can’t slip up. No slip ups. They can’t let Ajax get back into it. We have to go to Rangers and get three points. Draw away at Ajax and then we’re alright, we’ll qualify,” wrote Aldridge for the Liverpool Echo.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re first or second, Napoli are a great side. Just qualify. Get Rangers out of the way then you worry about City.
“They’re a different class but we did them in the Community Shield. Some people don’t see it but that was no friendly. They were desperate to win it as much as we were. On our day we can beat them but we’re going to have to change things around massively.”
Tough
The Bears have already suffered a 2-0 defeat against Liverpool in their previous game.
They need to put up a good fight in the reverse fixture on Wednesday, but it will be a very tough game.
Rangers are a different beast at Ibrox, especially in European games, and Van Bronckhorst hopes that the crowd factor can inspire them to a massive result.
On top of that, Liverpool are missing quite a few players for this game, and that is something Rangers can exploit.
For instance, Trent Alexander-Arnold won’t be available for this game, and Jurgen Klopp is likely to use Joe Gomez.
While Gomez is a good defender, he doesn’t offer the same quality in right-back areas. So, they could put pressure on him from the beginning.
Liverpool have already admitted that the title race is over for them. They are likely to take the Champions League more seriously, and reaching the knock-out stage is their next step.
If the Gers players stick to their system and play their best football, there is a high chance that they might beat the Reds as well.
In other Rangers news, Ross Wilson may have played a blinder for Rangers after a shocking development in October that will leave many Gers fans surprised.