The Warm-up: A night for heroes as Anfield awaits

The sort of night every player of dreams - the sort of night every fan lives for.

On Tuesday night at Anfield, Roma and Liverpool will walk out at Anfield to begin an eagerly-anticipated Champions League semi-final clash. Perhaps few expected either side to go this far at the beginning of the competition but, with a place in Kiev now tantalisingly within reach, which side will rise to the occasion and write a new chapter in their club's history?

The pre-match reading

• Eusebio Di Francesco's pre-match press conference
• Qatar Airways become Roma's Main Global Partner
• S quad list: 22 players make England trip
• Roma players pay respects at Hillsborough Memorial
• Gallery: Players get first look at Anfield

The path here

Roma topped a group that featured Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Qarabag to get to the knockout stages - before ousting Shakhtar Donetsk (2-2 on aggregate) and Barcelona (4-4 on aggregate) on the away goals rule.

Liverpool, meanwhile, waltzed through a group that included Sevilla, Spartak Moscow and Maribor to reach the last-16 - where they then hammered Porto to move into the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, they beat Manchester City home and away to clinch a 5-2 aggregate victory over the newly-crowned Premier League champions.

The form guide

The Giallorossi come into this meeting on the back of three wins from their last five games - losing to Fiorentina and drawing to Lazio, while beating Barcelona (3-0), Genoa (2-1) and SPAL (3-0).

Liverpool, in fact, have an identical run over the same span of games - beating Manchester City in both legs of their Champions League quarter-final, while drawing with their own local rivals, Everton, 0-0.

Their last outing saw them held to a 2-2 draw at West Brom, a week after beating Bournemouth 3-0 in their most recent game at Anfield.

Team news

Roma boss Eusebio Di Francesco has almost a full squad to choose from - with Rick Karsdorp and Gregoire Defrel the two long-term absentees.

Full-back Jonathan Silva is also not eligible for this phase of the competition after representing Sporting Lisbon in the group stages.

Liverpool have defender Nathaniel Clyne back in training, although he is unlikely to be thrown back into the starting line-up on such a big occasion.

Trent Alexander-Arnold will likely play in his place, while the likes of Dejan Lovren, Andrew Robertson, Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could all come back in after being rested at the weekend.

Captain Jordan Henderson is also available after being suspended for the last Champions League game against Manchester City.

The view from both sides

Eusebio Di Francesco: “We’re up against different opposition, who don’t wait around and are very aggressive. They’ve got the ability to play the ball forwards quickly, so drawn-out spells in possession could favour them.

"We’re here to exploit their weaknesses and avoid falling into traps. It will be a different game to the one in Ferrara, but that wasn’t the first time we’ve played high up the pitch. We’ve been working on these tactics for a long time. I want to see the same mental strength tomorrow.”

Jurgen Klopp: “Most people in the football world thought the last four would be Bayern, Barcelona, Real Madrid and City. Barcelona are not here because of Rome and City are not here because of us. We both deserve to be here. Maybe a lot of people think the real final should be Real Madrid v Bayern Munich but that will not happen because they are in the other semi, so one of us will go through.

“That is a big chance for both of us but a big job to do. We are both in a good moment. Anyone who watched Roma in the last few weeks can see they are flying with different lineups. They made seven or eight changes in the last game and still won comfortably.

“We really feel the opportunity. It is a big thing. We came here with not a lot of expectation. We only came here expecting to win the games. People ask me if I feel pressure. No. I only feel opportunity. I am really happy to be here and to have another big night at Anfield.”

Opposition danger man

MOHAMED SALAH

Who else could it be? The former Roma man, the recently-announced PFA Premier League Player of the Year, Salah has 40 goals already for his new club and has made himself an instant Merseyside idol.

The Giallorossi, of course, will know his skills well, having seen him blossom as an attacking force in two seasons in the Italian capital. And they will know how vital he is to his side's attacking potency, and what nullifying his threat could mean for the overall direction of the match.

The familiarity - on both sides of the head-to-head clash - adds an interesting wrinkle. Will Salah be affected by all the attention on him, or will he be emboldened? Will Roma's defenders dig on previous training ground experiences when going up against the Egyptian winger, or will they find his game has moved on considerably in the past year?

With all eyes on Salah, inevitably his individual performance could have a significant impact on this first leg tie.

Roma's one to watch

DANIELE DE ROSSI

Rested for not one but both of Roma's last two matches, it is immediately clear how important Eusebio Di Francesco sees Daniele De Rossi to his side's hopes of putting in a strong first leg display.

De Rossi rolled back the years and delivered one of his finest performances for the club in the victory over Barcelona earlier in the month, dictating play from deep and opening up the pitch with his probing passing. At Anfield his task might err slightly more towards the defensive - breaking up Reds forays forward - but if he can marshal that task well, and feed possession to his teammates in the right areas, the former Italy man has the ability to slowly sway the course of the contest.

Beyond all that, of course, his leadership and experience on such a big stage could prove vital to helping some of his more callow teammates rise to the occasion.

Possible line-ups

Eusebio Di Francesco revealed in his pre-match press conference that one of Cengiz Under and Patrik Schick will start at Anfield - with the two fighting 50-50 for a place in the XI.

Beyond that it remains to be seen how the coach sees the game, and whether he feels the 4-3-3 he has deployed for large parts of the season or the 3-4-3 he used to such effect against Barcelona will be most effective.

Jurgen Klopp seems to have settled on his preferred starting XI in recent weeks, with Lorius Karius, Dejan Lovren, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Virgil van Dijk among those to have cemented their status since the turn of the New Year.

The attack, of course, remains almost guaranteed: with Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Salah providing one of the most athletic, hard-working and dangerous tridents in European football.