Jurgen Klopp is very wary of the threat posed to Liverpool by Inter ahead of their Champions League last-16 second leg, but he has been boosted by positive injury news.
The Reds head into the second leg at Anfield 2-0 up thanks to a commendable win in San Siro last month, even if the scoreline flattered them.
Klopp suggested the two-goal advantage is somewhat precarious, however, claiming it to be the most overturned scoreline in football.
But only once in Champions League history has a team ever lost the first leg of a knockout tie by two or more goals at home and still gone on to progress, with Manchester United doing so against Paris Saint-Germain at this stage three years ago.
That is the only such example in 41 previous instances of the scenario, meaning that, despite Klopp's concerns, Liverpool are in a very strong position.
Klopp is not risking complacency, though, reminding his team that Inter will not be on Merseyside as "tourists".
Asked what he feels the main danger is ahead of Tuesday's second leg, Klopp told reporters: "It's a danger everyone knows about: it's a lead that gets turned over the most in the history of football I think.
"You can't have a team at half-time that thinks they are already through. Then you are on the wrong path.
"It's a much better result than we expected if I'm honest. The game didn't look like we would win it 2-0 for most of it. It is a tough tie and was a really difficult game.
"We knew they had quality but now we know they have real quality. They will show up here after winning their last game 5-0. Yes, against bottom of the table, but still really impressive. [Lautaro] Martinez scored [a hat-trick], [Edin] Dzeko scored, [Robin] Gosens is back.
"I'm really happy [Nicolo] Barella isn't playing because he set up three or four chances. That's a really good, experienced team who don't come here as tourists.
"They want to chase the game and that's what we want to do, we're not a team that defends results. We want to attack the game, so let's see what we can do."
Liverpool's cause should be aided by the likely returns of at least two important players, with Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip back in contention following brief absences through injury.
"All trained yesterday, fully," Klopp said of them and Roberto Firmino. "Not sure what we make of that yet exactly to be honest, we have to see how they react.
"Thiago was only a week out so should be fine but I have to wait for it. Joel was only three or four days so is fine.
"Firmino was a bit longer, [Sunday was his] first session so we will see. It might make sense to give him a few more days as we don't train fully today as it's MD-1, and Bobby might need more intense work."
Despite Klopp's apparent concerns about the scoreline, the omens are good for Liverpool.
They have kept more home clean sheets in the competition since the start of 2017-18 than any other team (15 in 24) – that is 63 per cent, the best proportion of shutouts of all clubs to play at least 10 home games in the Champions League in that period.
Foden matches Messi and Haaland feat with 50th league goal under Guardiola
Phil Foden equalled the feats of Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland when he scored his 50th league goal as Manchester City stormed into a 3-0 lead against Brighton.
Foden scored twice in the first half at the Amex Stadium on Thursday, setting Pep Guardiola's team on the way to a potentially pivotal win in the Premier League title race.
The England international's first, which came after Kevin De Bruyne's excellent diving header, came as his free-kick deflected in off the unfortunate Pascal Gross.
It was that goal that marked Foden's 50th in league football, with all of those coming under Guardiola.
That makes Foden just the third player to score 50 league goals under Guardiola while aged 23 or younger, after City team-mate Haaland and Barcelona great Messi.
Foden netted his 51st Premier League goal soon after, drilling in after City capitalised on some slack Brighton play.
Arne Slot wants to join Liverpool, 'confident' agreement will be struck
Arne Slot has confirmed he wants to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and is confident the Reds will reach an agreement with his current club Feyenoord.
Klopp confirmed this would be his final season at Anfield in January, and though former midfielder Xabi Alonso was immediately linked with the post, he remains committed to Bayer Leverkusen.
Sporting CP's Ruben Amorim was another name linked with the Reds, but on Wednesday, widespread reports suggested an approach had been made for Slot.
Slot delivered Feyenoord's 16th Eredivisie title – and just their second since the turn of the century – in 2022-23, also leading the Dutch giants to KNVB Cup glory on Sunday.
Speaking ahead of his team's trip to Go Ahead Eagles on Thursday, Slot – who has previously been linked with Tottenham and Leeds United – confirmed talks between the clubs are ongoing.
"The clubs are negotiating, I am waiting on the outcome. It's no secret I want to go to Liverpool. My decision is clear," Slot told ESPN.
"I am waiting for the clubs to reach an agreement and I'm confident that will happen."
Slot's Feyenoord have become known for their high-octane, possession-based approach. Prior to Thursday's match, he had a 64.4 per cent win ratio from 146 games in charge, winning 94, drawing 29 and losing just 23.
Feyenoord have scored 329 goals under the 45-year-old, who previously coached SC Cambuur and AZ Alkmaar, averaging 2.2 per game. In the Eredivisie, they have averaged 2.13 points per match since he took charge in 2021.
Feyenoord appear destined to lose their Eredivisie crown to PSV this season, with Peter Bosz's team only losing one of their 31 games this term, surpassing 100 goals for the campaign by routing Heerenveen 8-0 on Thursday.
Carragher says Liverpool may need to move on from Salah and Nunez
Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool's next manager has a big decision to make regarding Mohamed Salah's future, adding the Reds definitely need to move on from Darwin Nunez.
Liverpool's title hopes suffered a potentially fatal blow at Goodison Park on Wednesday, as goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin handed Everton a memorable 2-0 win.
The defeat – Liverpool's first at Goodison since 2010 – means they are three points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal and one clear of Manchester City, who have two games in hand.
Jurgen Klopp now looks likely to end his final season at the helm with just February's EFL Cup triumph to show for his efforts, with Carragher declaring Liverpool's title hopes to be over on Wednesday.
He also believes Klopp's successor – which could be Feyenoord's Arne Slot if reports are to be believed – may need to shake up Liverpool's frontline.
"Mo Salah is Liverpool's goalscorer and he's gone off the boil. That's shone a light on others," Carragher told Sky Sports.
"There is a real discussion for the new manager about what the future holds for Mo Salah – it's the first time we've asked that question. He only has a year to go on his deal.
"He's looked a shadow of himself for a lot of this season but especially since he's come back from injury. He is Liverpool's legend, superstar, one of the all-time greats, but he's been so far off it."
Salah has 17 Premier League goals this season, but 14 of those came before he went to the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt in January.
Prior to that tournament, Salah boasted a shot conversion rate of 21.54 per cent for 2023-24, netting with 14 of his 65 total attempts in the competition. Since returning, he has only converted 8.57 per cent of his 35 efforts.
Salah's strike partner Nunez has also come in for criticism, with only Erling Haaland (30) missing more big chances than the Uruguayan's 26 this term. Haaland has, however, converted 34.78 per cent of his big chances to Nunez's 18.75 per cent.
Carragher does not believe Nunez is capable of further improvement after two up-and-down campaigns on Merseyside, saying: "I think I'm at the stage with Nunez where I'm not sure there's a question to ask.
"You want him to do well because he gives everything, he causes trouble, he gets the odd goal.
"But after two years, when Liverpool are going for the title or in big games, you need your man to score at Old Trafford or at Goodison Park. This is the business end, the time to win.
"He's ground to a halt. After two years there's going to be no improvement in him. This is what he is.
"He can cause trouble but he's erratic with his finishing – it's not enough to win you trophies so there's a big decision to be made on him. It's not acceptable when you're going for a title."
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