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Liverpool will be without Virgil van Dijk for the first leg of their Champions League tie with Bayern Munich, opening the door for Dejan Lovren to shine.

The Chalkboard

Van Dijk has been key for Jurgen Klopp since his arrival at Anfield back in January, but, thanks to a yellow card picked up at home to Napoli, will not be able to feature in the first leg against the reigning Bundesliga champions.

The 27-year-old’s tackle on Dries Mertens saw the yellow card brandished, as his follow through caught the Belgium international’s ankle despite initially winning the ball.

It was the Dutchman’s third booking of the group stage, after being entered into the ref’s notebook in both fixtures against Paris Saint-Germain, and as such he is suspended for the Reds’ next Champions League affair.

Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are expected to be out for the next six weeks, and while they should have returned for the first leg in February, a lack of game time may mean that both aren’t risked, meaning Lovren becomes the only obvious option for Klopp to turn to in his hour of need.

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Lovren’s perfect chance

Lovren is far from the ideal central defender and is not Liverpool’s best by a mile, but the Croatian should relish coming up against Bayern Munich.

The 6 foot 2 defender will be able to rely on his strength far more against someone like Robert Lewandowski rather than his lack of pace against the likes of Neymar or Kylian Mbappe, who can blast the opponent out of their way with their pace and trickery.

The speed in Bayern’s attack comes from the wings so as long as Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman stay fit, which hasn’t been the case of late for the Frenchman, and they will be wrapped up by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Roberston.

An actually favourable draw

When you look at who Liverpool could have faced in the Round of 16, Bayern Munich is actually a favourable option that Klopp can exploit.

Your Borussia Dortmund’s, Barcelona’s and Real Madrid’s would have presented far greater challenges for the German manager to counter with his tactics than his former-foe will, who have been struggling to cement consistent form this season.