Dubai Super Cup: Liverpool duel embattled Lyon

The football spotlight will turn to Dubai on Sunday when English Premier League heavyweights Liverpool take on embattled French outfit Lyon in the second match of the Dubai Super Cup 2022.

Lyon, who suffered a 3-0 defeat to Arsenal, another Premier League powerhouse on Thursday, will be hoping to pick themselves up and deliver a superior performance in their final game of the four-match tournament.

Liverpool, one of the most decorated clubs in England having won 19 League titles, 8 FA Cups, and a record 9 League Cups, will be without the services of several star players who are currently on duty with the national team at the Qatar World Cup.

Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho, Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, and Ibrahima Konate, are key members of Gareth Southgate’s English squad.

However, Liverpool will be hoping to use Sunday’s match to keep their momentum ticking before they return to the UK where they face six-time champions Manchester City in the English Football League (EFL) on December 23.

Before coming to Dubai the Reds posted back-to-back victories over Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur following defeats to Nottingham Forrest and Leeds United.

A positive performance against Lyon will help take the attention away from the management issues that the Anfield club has been embroiled in including a possible sale.

American consortium Fenway Sports Group, who have owned Liverpool since 2010, announced in November that they were open to offers.

Jurgen Klopp's men will be looking for some early Christmas cheer by winning the Super Cup, a well-position mini-tournament run under the banner of the Dubai Sports Council with matches played during the Fifa World Cup off-days.

Liverpool brings strong form to the Al Maktoum Stadium having won eight of their last 10 competitive fixtures to secure a sixth-place position in the Premiership race.

Liverpool, who also face Italian legends AC Milan in their second and final Dubai Super Cup encounter on December 16, will be looking to test themselves against their French rivals who will doubtless be more determined to leave Dubai with some bragging rights.

Although Lyon was convincingly beaten by current Premier League leaders Arsenal in their Dubai Super Cup opener on Thursday, they can draw inspiration from the fact that they did no concede any goals in the second half of the game.

However, one of the biggest concerns for Lyon’s celebrated coach, Laurent Blanc, will be to devise a better strategy for the mandatory penalty shootout, which is held at the end of every Super Cup match.

Lyon’s penalty takes were in abysmal form allowing Arsenal’s third-choice goalkeeper Karl Hein to thwart four attempts on his goal including a half-hearted attempt at a Panenka (scoop kick) by Rayan Cherki.

Liverpool and Lyon have previously only met twice in the 2008-09 Champions League group stage, where the Les Gones rallied late for a 2-1 victory at Anfield before a 1-1 in the return game at Parc Olympique Lyonnais in France.

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