Phil Thompson believes the mouth-watering clash between Liverpool and PSG will be a clear indicator as to how far Jurgen Klopp’s men can go in the competition.
Both sides come into the contest with perfect records in their respective domestic leagues and Thompson digests some of the key battles that may take place during the match.
"It is a tough game, you’d probably have liked Belgrade before this one, but what a great opener for the Champions League itself," Thompson told Sporting Life.
Roberto Firmino looks doubtful for the opener, which will be a big miss considering he directly contributed to 17 goals (10 goals, seven assists) in 13 games in the competition last year.
Even without Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah have still scored more combined goals with twenty than the Paris trio of Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe put together, only managing 17 between them in the Champions League last season.
Despite this, Thompson has underlined how much of a danger the opposition attack poses and is intrigued to see how each of the side’s front three face off.
"On both of their days, you would possibly look at PSG’s [front three]," Thompson said, "how good they’ve been and the more experience they’ve got at the higher level – I’m talking about Neymar for Brazil, Mbappe as a youngster and Cavani has done it for many years."
Where there is a threat in attack, the respective backlines must be alert.
Liverpool have kept three clean sheets so far, while PSG have registered two, highlighting the important match-up between attack and defence when the sides meet.
“It is a big set-up, not just for the front three of both sides but both defences and how they can cope," he continued, "It will be great for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson to see if they cope. They have had a great start, but this is an ultimate test of dealing with a front three as good as these."
Backing the defence for a clean sheet will be the Kop and the Liverpool faithful, who Thompson has praised for their support in last year’s European campaign.
"I don’t know whether many of the PSG players have played at Anfield on a European night but I am quite sure they will know," the Sky Sports pundit stated, "witness it for the good and bad of it that comes to them. It has, at the highest order, affected players at Manchester City, Roma, before them Chelsea and Real Madrid."
Odds correct at 1400 BST (18/09/18)
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