Kevin Kilbane expects Liverpool to see off Roma in their Champions League semi-final but believes the Italian side will present a ‘challenge’ they have yet to face this season.
Jurgen Klopp’s side will play the Serie A outfit over two legs as they bid to advance to their first Champions League final since 2007.
Speaking on Saturday’s Off The Ball, Kilbane believes Liverpool will have too much for the Italian club but should prepare themselves for an aerial challenge.
“Liverpool could beat any of those three remaining sides at Anfield,” Kilbane told OTB.
“You’ve got to be blunt – and you’ve got to be honest – it certainly won’t be taken lightly, but it’s the best draw they could have got.
“And where they are this season and the players they’ve got throughout that side, Liverpool can get at them and hurt them badly.
“Roma get a lot of crosses into the box and they’re very good from set-pieces, which is something Liverpool struggle on.
“Perhaps it’s slightly different with [Virgil] van Dijk – we know that. That’s how they’re going to try to hurt Liverpool. They may be a little more direct than the other sides they could have played against.
“They like to sit off a bit and try to play on the counter-attack, which is very much how Liverpool like to play themselves. How will Liverpool play when they dominate possession?
“We’ve seen it in the last couple of years when Liverpool dominate the ball and sides drop deep against them, they have difficulties breaking them down.
“Not necessarily this season, particularly in the last three or four months, but they have done historically over the past few years.
“There’s maybe challenges Liverpool haven’t faced this season. They’re not going to have a side that comes at them. They’re not going to be a side that’s going to say: ‘we’re going to beat you in this first-leg at Anfield’.
“It’s up to Liverpool to try and suck them out and perhaps play a different level of football. But it is the best draw and I think Liverpool will win it over two legs.”
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