Liverpool make it to the Champions League final – with a touch of stress – but their key assets are fast losing Fantasy appeal regardless.
An extraordinary semi-final tie with Roma was, to all intents and purposes, won in the first leg, with the result confirmed early in the second, thanks to away goals from Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum.
That didn’t stop the match finishing 4-2 to the Italians, and the aggregate score reading 7-6 to the Reds, as a last-minute (and incredibly harsh) penalty decision given for a handball by substitute Ragnar Klavan kept the contest captivating to its final seconds.
Jurgen Klopp’s side will now face Real Madrid in the final, a full 13 days after the end of the domestic season.
That mini-break, and the fact that Liverpool are yet to nail down Champions League football for next season, should keep rotation off Klopp’s agenda.
But the team’s lack of a Double Gameweek 37 means many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers have already seen enough.
Their two most popular players, Mohamed Salah (57.6%) and Roberto Firmino (37.0%), are the top two transfers-out heading into the penultimate Gameweek of the season, with a combined quarter of a million owners selling the pair on.
Neither impressed in Rome last night, with Firmino unusually profligate in possession, although he did set up Mane’s opener.
As for Salah, he was frequently caught offside and gave the impression of a man trying too hard to add to his 43 goals for the season.
The Egyptian has now gone scoreless in back-to-back matches for only the second time since the middle of October.
He’s failed to score in three straight matches just the once, and Sunday’s trip to Chelsea will be a tough fixture to avoid a repeat of that run.
Klopp has consistently stated that he will not rotate his side unduly until a top-four finish is confirmed, and he maintained that stance even in the immediate aftermath of last night’s result.
“Chelsea at the weekend is an unbelievably important game for us. I give the boys tonight; it’s cool, they don’t drink alcohol, but they will stay a little bit longer awake and then we recover tomorrow…We have two very important Premier League games then let’s go there (the final) and try our best.”
That doesn’t look like being enough to stem sales in the pair or, indeed, other key members of the side.
Left-back Andrew Robertson, who had an excellent match in Rome, is in the top four for transfers out, with Mane at six and both Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold also in the top 30.
The young right-back, in particular, had a tough time of it in Rome, though with Joe Gomez sidelined and Nathanial Clyne still edging back to fitness, Alexander-Arnold will still be expected to be on duty at Stamford Bridge.
Liverpool’s superior goal difference means that a draw with Chelsea will effectively guarantee them Champions League football for next season, which would make Gameweek 38’s home match with Brighton a dead rubber.
Fantasy managers are clearly not keen to wait that long, with Double Gameweek 37 players from both Manchester clubs, Spurs and, pending tonight’s Europa League result, Arsenal offering more clear-cut points potential than Klopp’s troops.
Those unwilling, or unable, to sell on their Liverpool assets can at least find some comfort in Chelsea’s poor defensive record of late.
The Blues’ clean sheet at Swansea City in Gameweek 36 was their first in eight league matches, and they haven’t managed a home shut-out since Gameweek 27.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have failed to score away from home only three times – and in six league matches in total – all season, although two of those blanks have come in the past four Gameweeks.
