Liverpool vs Bologna LIVE: Champions League team news, line-ups as Darwin Nunez starts at Anfield
Arne Slot’s side look to build on their impressive 3-1 win over AC Milan at the San Siro in their European opener
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Liverpool host Bologna at Anfield on Wednesday night in the second match of their 2024/25 Champions League season.
The Reds began their European campaign in an impressive manner, easily beating AC Milan 3-1 at the San Siro in what will be one of their most difficult fixtures of the competition’s new league phase.
However, with teams including Real Madrid and German champions Bayer Leverkusen to come, Arne Slot will be keen to get what could be an important three points in his first European night at Anfield.
Bologna have lost both a manager and some key players since qualifying for the competition last season, and they currently languishing in 13th place in Serie A with just seven points, having drawn their opening Champions League match 0-0 with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Follow all the latest build-up, team news and updates below, as well as the reaction to the evening’s other Champions League matches:
Liverpool v Bologna head-to-head
These two sides have never previously met in a competitive fixture.
The Reds currently sit 12th in the Champions League’s new league phase table, though they have played a game less than many teams. In the Premier League, Slot’s side sit top of the league with 15 points, one above both Arsenal and Manchester City.
Bologna are seven-time winners of Serie A and finished fourth last season, though they are struggling in 13th this season, with just seven points. They have lost several key personnel since last season, including manager Thiago Motta (who moved to Juventus) and Manchester United signing Joshua Zirkzee.
The unintended effect of the new Champions League - and why Liverpool can benefit
Heading into the first few weeks of the new Premier League season, one of the most frequent questions aimed Arne Slot’s way was that of rotation. At Feyenoord, he candidly explained, there was little reason to switch up his first team too much; fewer league games, one fewer domestic cup to navigate and more difficulty in reaching the latter stages of Europe. His final campaign at the Eredivisie side saw Slot’s team play only 48 matches - and that included the Johan Cruyff Shield, the Dutch season-opener, and going the distance to win the KNVB Cup.
A few weeks later and the new Liverpool boss has shown a deft hand at altering his lineup without, so far, dramatically reducing the quality on show; while the performance against West Ham was somewhat stutteringafter nine changes, so too was the win over Wolves with a regular first XI in place.
League Cup aside, Slot has shown an early preference for making a couple of switches, keeping the bulk of his starters in situ and letting others find form and push for places two or three at a time. Cody Gakpowas perhaps the first to stake his claim; more recently, Curtis Jones has done likewise.
The unintended effect of the new Champions League - and why Liverpool can benefit
The Reds are top of the Premier League at this early stage and could quickly look sorted in Europe too
Liverpool team news
Liverpool made one change, with Darwin Nunez starting against Bologna and Diogo Jota on the bench.
Liverpool XI: Alisson, Van Dijk, Konate, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Mac Allister, Salah, Robertson, Gravenberch, Alexander-Arnold
Subs: Jaros, Kelleher, Gomez, Endo, Jones, Gakpo, Jota, Tsimikas, Quansah, Morton, Bradley, Nyoni
Team news
The line-ups will be announced in just under 10 minutes, but here’s a reminder of the early team news.
The Reds have Alisson back and have three potential absentees as a result. Harvey Elliott is definitely out, while Federico Chiesa has suffered a muscular injury that could rule him out until the international break. Darwin Nunez, who missed the weekend game through illness, is the other doubt.
Lewis Ferguson, Oussama El Azzouzi and Tommaso Pobega are the three likely absentees for Bologna.
Liverpool suffer Federico Chiesa injury blow - but another forward set to return
Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa has suffered an injury blow that denies him a first Champions League night at Anfield and could rule him out until the international break.
The Italy international has a muscular problem that means he will sit out Wednesday’s game against Bologna and makes him a doubt for Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
Manager Arne Slot believes it will be a particular blow for Chiesa, a £10m summer signing from Juventus, to miss a match against against a team from his home country.
Liverpool suffer Chiesa injury blow - but another forward set to return
Diogo Jota missed training but is available if needed as the Reds host Bologna in the Champions League
Arsenal’s impressive win over PSG shows the Champions League has surrendered its competitive edge
A “big Champions League night” that ended up being quite a nice run-out for Arsenal. Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain looked less a sportswashing project and more a youth project. The level of superiority in this 2-0 win is again to Arsenal’s credit, but should also be a worry for Uefa.
This was one of the big-name fixtures that the new Champions League was sold on – more games between the best, more fixtures, more, more, more – and yet it didn’t really feel like either side treated it as a match of much consequence. It was a world away, say, from 2000-01 when Lyon came to North London and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal absolutely knew they had to do something.
If it is by now becoming tedious to read about these issues, it is worth remembering that such themes only arise because very little of consequence happens on the pitch. Here, in just the second of eight games, Arsenal got the win that already puts them more than halfway to the top 24.
How the Champions League surrendered its competitive edge
Arsenal 2-0 PSG: Despite being a big game between big teams, Arsenal cruised to victory against PSG in a match that lacked tension
Prediction & odds
Odds
Liverpool 1/6
Draw 6/1
Bologna 14/1
Prediction
The Reds to record another home victory against a side struggling to match their own exploits of last term.
Liverpool 2-0 Bologna.
Predicted line-ups
LIV - Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Jones, Gakpo, Jota
BOL - Skorupski, Posch, Beukema, Lucumi, Lykogiannis, Freuler, Aebischer, Urbanski, Orsolini, Castro, Ndoye
Team news
The Reds have Alisson back and have only two potential absentees as a result - Harvey Elliott, who is definitely out, and Darwin Nunez, who missed the weekend game through illness.
Lewis Ferguson, Oussama El Azzouzi and Tommaso Pobega are the three likely absentees for Bologna.
Is Liverpool vs Bologna on TV tonight? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch Champions League fixture
When is the match?
The match kicks off at 8pm BST on Wednesday 2 October at Anfield.
Where can I watch it?
All Champions League games are shown on TNT Sports in the UK. This game is on TNT Sports 2 and can be streamed for subscribers on the discovery+ app.
You can purchase a TNT Sports subscription via discovery+ here, for only £30.99 per month.
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