Coach Carlo Ancelotti has several decisions to make regarding his team selection ahead of Real Madrid’s crucial Champions League match against Premier League club Liverpool on Wednesday.

Those worries mainly stemmed from the surprises he had in store in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Leganés on Sunday evening, where Ancelotti made a formation change that looked more like a 4-2-3-1 than the traditional 4-3 of the team. -3. That included the use of Dani Ceballos and Arda Güler, with neither player starting in the past two months. Both players excelled and may have played themselves into contention.

The other twist to the team selection was the decision to deploy Vinícius Júnior as a central striker, with Kylian Mbappé taking his place on the left. That experiment could continue at Anfield after the Frenchman appeared on the scoresheet at the Estadio Municipal de Butarque on Sunday.

Now Ancelotti must choose whether to continue these changes and continue with these inventions, or return to his usual methods of overcoming Arne Slot’s Liverpool. Los Blancos have now scored seven goals without reply in back-to-back wins after back-to-back defeats and come into this match at Anfield full of confidence.

The match takes place on matchday five of the UEFA Champions League group stage and starts at 8pm local time (GMT) at Anfield. Current league leaders Liverpool, who have won all four of their matches so far, will face reigning champions Real Madrid.

Team news of Real Madrid vs. Liverpool

Two players could return for this match after a spell on the sidelines due to injury, although coach Carlo Ancelotti did not appear to be overly optimistic about their availability, as he said after Sunday’s win over Leganés. The coach said: ‘Lucas and Tchouameni… we don’t know, but we will try to get them back… We will see if Lucas and Tchouameni can recover. If not, we will make decisions.”

Their likely absence means Fede Valverde will continue at right-back, as he did against Osasuna and Leganés, while 21-year-old defender Raúl Asencio will start only his third game for the first team in central defense alongside Antonio Rüdiger.

Elsewhere, long-term injuries to Éder Militão, David Alaba and Dani Carvajal have ruled them out, while Rodrygo Goes is also out due to a muscle injury that has prevented him from training.

No players have been suspended for Real Madrid, although they might do well to be cautious. Vinícius Júnior, Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modrić are all one yellow card away from being suspended, which would see them miss the trip to Bergamo to face Atalanta in Italy in two weeks.

Expected line-up of Real Madrid vs. Liverpool

Real Madrid’s expected line-up against Liverpool: Thibaut Courtois; Fede Valverde, Raúl Asencio, Antonio Rüdiger, Fran García; Eduardo Camavinga, Jude Bellingham, Luka Modrić; Brahim Diaz, Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappé.

Despite the success of the 4-2-3-1 shape against Leganés, Ancelotti appears to be returning to his tried and tested 4-3-3 system against Liverpool. This means a return to the usual structure and also changes in the selection.

In midfield, Luka Modrić will return after being rested against Leganés and could start as captain after only coming on as a late substitute for the La Liga match.

In attack, Brahim Díaz comes into the flank. The Moroccan international scored five goals in two games for his country during the international break, following up on his first assist since August against Osasuna before the international break. His good recent form is likely to put him ahead of young Turkish star Arda Güler.