Liverpool will travel to Benfica for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-finals and Jurgen Klopp’s men will be hoping to pick up a positive result on their travels.
The Reds have the opportunity of winning the Champions League as well as the Premier League this season and they will be desperate to grind out a win here.
Benfica have been quite inconsistent when it comes to the domestic form but they have done well in the European competitions and the home side are no pushovers.
Benfica have what it takes to pull off an upset here and it remains to be seen whether the Reds can step up and get the job done.
On paper, Liverpool are certainly the better side and they have an exceptional spot at their disposal. Klopp has one of the best attacking units in world football and the likes of Diogo Jota are in red hot form right now.
Meanwhile, former Porto star Luis Diaz will also be hoping to make his mark against Benfica this week and it remains to be seen whether the Colombian is handed a start in the first leg.
However, the Reds have been warned by the former Manchester City defender and Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards that they cannot afford to underestimate their Champions league quarter-finals opposition.
Richards believes that Liverpool fans have every right to be happy with the draw but they will have to be careful of the Benfica striker Darwin Nunez who has been in exceptional form this season.
He said: “Liverpool fans will have been delighted at how the Champions League draw panned out but let me provide a word of warning.
“Darwin Nunez has caught my eye all year and he came up trumps for Benfica once again, to send them into the last eight.
“Nunez scored his 26th goal of the season and is only 22. He is tall, strong, he runs in behind and knows how to finish.
“He’s scored against Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Ajax so far — don’t discount him doing the same against Liverpool.”
The 22-year-old has scored 26 goals for Benfica and he has the potential to torment the Liverpool defence.
Nunez has made his mark against the likes of Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Ajax this season and there is no reason why he cannot score against the Reds.
Liverpool have been in impressive form defensively and they have kept 10 clean sheets in the last 13 matches across all competitions. It remains to be seen whether they can put up a similar performance here and grind out a clean sheet.
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