Liverpool vs Manchester City: Three key battles that will decide the Champions League quarter-final

Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola's sides meet at Anfield on Wednesday night

Trent Alexander-Arnold will be up against Leroy Sané on Liverpool's right flank (Getty)

Mohamed Salah vs Aymeric Laporte / Fabian Delph

How exactly do you stop Mohamed Salah? Precious few players have answered that question this season, and Manchester City’s chances of coming through Wednesday’s first leg unscathed will rest on how they cope with the Egyptian.

City’s cause would be helped if they had a fit and natural left back to call upon, but Benjamin Mendy is still absent and his various understudies remain unconvincing.

Aymeric Laporte, naturally a left-footed centre half, could take up the role again having started there against Everton, but a minor foot problem and a few nervy moments on Saturday may make Pep Guardiola reconsider.

Fabian Delph, Mendy's usual stand-in, is fit again but has played just 135 minutes of football since coming off in January’s 4-3 defeat at Anfield. Danilo and Oleksandr Zinchenko are unlikely to be trusted.

All told, it means that Liverpool’s best player is likely to find himself up against City’s weakest link. That has to boost Jürgen Klopp’s hopes of victory.

Trent Alexander-Arnold vs Leroy Sané

On the same flank as the Salah-Laporte duel, Trent Alexander-Arnold will be tasked with shackling Leroy Sané, who comes into this match on the back of a magnificent display on the other side of Stanley Park.

If Sané picks up from where he left off against Everton on Saturday, Alexander-Arnold could be in for a chastening evening, similar to the experience he recently suffered at the hands of Marcus Rashford.

The teenage full-back is a talent but a raw one, and having successfully targeted him at the Etihad back in September, City may try to do the same again.

Alexander-Arnold can, however, rely on the unwavering support of Klopp and the Anfield crowd, who will want a West Derby-born youth product to do himself proud on the biggest night of his young career to date. Will that be enough to stop the irrepressible Sané?

Dejan Lovren vs Gabriel Jesus

It emerged on Tuesday that Joel Matip will miss both legs of the quarter final and the rest of the season with a thigh injury, meaning Dejan Lovren will take his place alongside Virgil van Dijk in the centre of Liverpool’s defence.

The news caused some hysteria on social media and, in fairness, Lovren has let himself and his team-mates down on a couple of high-profile occasions this season, noticeably when Liverpool have come up against fellow top sides.

These moments have been anomalies rather than the norm though and Lovren has matured into a more composed and controlled presence than often credited for. His most fatal errors this season have come when tested aerially, but City are unlikely to take such an approach.

In Gabriel Jesus, Lovren will be up against a technical player rather than a battering ram, and a striker still playing his way back into form after a spell on the sidelines.

Jesus is more than capable of running rings around Klopp’s backline and helping City put this tie to bed in the first leg, but Lovren and Van Dijk know that Liverpool’s defensive record at Anfield is good and a first-leg clean sheet would be extremely valuable.