Liverpool have had a strong start in all competitions this year. On the way to this fight the Merseysides knocked out of the tournament first “Norwich” (3:0) and “Preston” (2:0), after which they beat Leicester only in a penalty shootout (4:3). The team achieved success in the opening match of the FA Cup, where Shrewsbury Town left no chances (4:1). One cannot but recall the brilliant performances of the team in the Champions League, where Jurgen Klopp’s charges set a new record. The team became the first English team that managed to win all the group stage matches of the main club tournament in Europe. In the Premier League the Reds have 12 victories and six peaceful outcomes after 20 rounds, which brought 42 points and the third position in the table. In the last three matches today’s hosts have slowed down. The Reds lost once and drew twice with Tottenham (2:2) and Chelsea (2:2). Thiago, Alexander-Arnold, Elliot, Phillips, Alisson and Origi, who has a knee injury, will not be able to play today. Salah, Mane and Keita left for Cameroon.
Bilbao came to the tournament as the current winner of that tournament. A year ago Athletic beat Real Madrid and Barcelona in turn, which brought the team this trophy. In addition, the Lions have played in the Spanish Cup finals twice in a row. The 24-time winner of the King’s Cup confidently started this tournament, where on January 6th, they beat the uncompromising Mancha (2:0). In the championship of Primera the Basques are traditionally unstable. For 21 rounds of the current championship, the “red-whites” chalked up six victories and 10 peaceful outcomes, which eventually brought 28 points and the ninth position. The indicators in the attack line look very modest, which differed less than once per game on average. In 2022 Marcelino’s charges defeated Osasuna (3:1) and drew with Alaves (0:0). Today Nunez, who has an ankle injury, will not be able to take part in the fight.
