Benfica have some impactful team news ahead of tonight’s fixture with Liverpool. It could mean one particular Red gets the nod.
Benfica will be without Rafa Silva against Liverpool tonight, per A Bola. Nélson Veríssimo confirmed as much and they’ll now need to cope without their most creative player.
Rafa isn’t just their second-top goalscorer, after all, but has an incredible 17 assists across the Primeira Liga and Champions League. No one else in the Benfica squad has more than five.
So considering the fixture at Anfield is one they must win by at least two goals, this is a significant blow to their chances. Liverpool, on the other hand, can perhaps afford to relax a little and make one particular rotational change.
Liverpool vs Benfica
Now, the chances of Liverpool ‘relaxing’ and taking things easy are nill, of course. It’s still a Champions League quarter-final and no one can afford to slip here.
But the fact is, Liverpool played an intense Premier League game against Manchester City on Sunday. They then have yet another game against City this weekend in the FA Cup. They will want to rotate wherever they can and Rafa’s injury gives them a chance to do so.
Rafa primarily lines up as a right-sided player, after all, and his absence perhaps allows Liverpool to rest Andy Robertson here and go with Kostas Tsimikas. The Greek left-back has only featured six times in 2022 but this is a wonderful opportunity to use him in a big game. He’s been in fantastic form, for one, and the Reds can trust him.
It’s rotation that gives Robertson a week’s rest ahead of the FA Cup semi-final, keeps Tsimikas playing, and really shouldn’t affect things too much. Liverpool are enormous favourites to progress – and Rafa being out simply lowers the pressure on their left flank.
With all of that in mind, Tsimikas, surely, is someone to step in here.
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