Liverpool star Mohamed Salah will aim to upset some familiar faces when he lines up for the Reds against former club Roma in the Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday.
The newly crowned PFA Player of the Year comes up against his old employers at Anfield, and will aim to emulate a club goalscoring feat achieved by Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard in Europe's premier competition.
Roma proved their pedigree by producing a sensational second-leg comeback to down heavyweights Barcelona in the quarter-finals, with Edin Dzeko's prowess perhaps key to improving their away-day woes in Europe.
Below we take a look at the pick of the Opta stats ahead of a crunch last-four first leg on Merseyside.
7 – Mohamed Salah is the seventh different Liverpool player to win the PFA Player of the Year award.Mohamed Salah - 2018Luis Suarez - 2014Steven Gerrard - 2006John Barnes - 1988Ian Rush - 1984Kenny Dalglish - 1983Terry McDermott – 1980Esteemed. April 22, 2018
Liverpool v Roma
- Liverpool are yet to lose to Roma in the European Cup/Champions League in three meetings (W1 D2), with one of those draws in the 1984 final, which Liverpool won 4-2 on penalties at the Stadio Olimpico.
- Roma are appearing in their first European semi-final for 27 years, when they faced Brondby in the UEFA Cup in 1990-91. Their only previous European Cup/Champions League semi-final was in 1983-84, when they eliminated Dundee United to face Liverpool in the final.
- This is Liverpool's 10th appearance in the semi-final of the European Cup/Champions League – they have progressed to the final on seven of the previous nine occasions, losing only in 1964-65 against Inter and in 2007-08 against Chelsea.
- However, the Reds have not won the first leg of a European semi-final in any of their last seven attempts (D3 L4), since a 4-0 win over Panathinaikos in the European Cup in 1984-85.
Mohamed Salah for Liverpool this season: 41 goals46 gamesApril 22, 2018
- The Reds have scored 33 goals in this season's competition, the most by an English team in a single Champions League campaign.
- Salah has scored in each of his last four Champions League starts for Liverpool – the only Reds player to score in five consecutively was Gerrard between October 2007 and February 2008.
- Two of the three men to have had a hand in at least 10 goals in the Champions League this season are Liverpool players – Roberto Firmino (eight goals and four assists) and Salah (eight goals and two assists).
- Roma have won just one of their last 14 away Champions League games (D5 L8), a 2-1 victory at Qarabag earlier this season.
- Roma are also without a clean sheet in their last 26 away Champions League matches; the second longest run in the competition's history behind only Celtic, who went 30 away matches without one between 2001 and 2016.
- Dzeko has been involved in six of Roma's last eight away Champions League goals (five goals, one assist) and the Bosnian has scored two goals in his last three starts at Anfield against Liverpool (both for Man City in January 2012 and March 2015).
Who will be Roma's key player against Liverpool? April 22, 2018
