Four INCREDIBLE players Richard Hughes will be watching very CLOSELY against RB Leipzig

Liverpool face RB Leipzig on Wednesday evening in a UEFA Champions League encounter that, due to Jurgen Klopp, now has a real edge.

Klopp's appointment as Red Bull’s Global Head of Soccer from January was seen by some fans as damaging to his Anfield legacy, but the positive spin is that Liverpool would now be in a favourable position in any negotiations with players on Red Bull’s books.

With that in mind, we have identified four players that sporting director Richard Hughes should be looking out for on his scouting trip in eastern Germany.

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Castello Lukeba

Any left-sided centre-back is going to be on Hughes’ radar given the contract status of Virgil van Dijk, but Castello Lukeba has certainly earned his plaudits.

The Frenchman has been a key aspect of Leipzig only shipping two league goals this season, averaging 1.86 tackles per 90 minutes compared to Van Dijk’s 0.5. Whilst this points to Lukeba needing to tackle more often than the Liverpool captain, who does a lot of his defensive work via perfect positioning, his tackling success rate of 57.1% outranks Van Dijk’s 50%, showing him to be highly effective in duels.

The Leipzig defender also averages 0.68 progressive carries per 90 to Van Dijk’s 0.13, indicating a technical confidence that could certainly be worked with by Arne Slot in a similar manner to what we’ve seen from Ibrahima Konate this season.

Benjamin Šeško

Despite only having scored twice in the league this season - adding three more in their Champions League losses - Benjamin Šeško profiles as a raw, impressive striker.

The Slovenian's first goal against Juventus sums him up perfectly; sprinting across his defender and using his entire range to collect the ball before firing it off the underside of the bar. His goal against Atletico Madrid also displays the other aspect of his game, driving through midfield with the ball before capitalising on a rebound to head home.

At around six feet five inches tall, he cuts an intimidating figure, but to lean on an old adage here, he has great feet for a big man. In Slot’s system he would be perfect at dragging men out of position and away from Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and co. as well as providing a physical threat that Liverpool currently lack up front.

Loïs Openda

Šeško’s partner at the heart of Leipzig’s attack, Openda is a much more new-age striker in the Diogo Jota mould, displaying clinical finishing and off-the-ball running that ensures he is well positioned to take advantage.

The Belgian averages 2.26 progressive carries per 90, similar to Jota’s 2.36, but holds a higher 1.77 shot-creating actions per 90 (the Liverpool forward has 1.27), which suggests he is required to be more creative.

For Šeško’s aforementioned first goal against Juventus, Openda clips the ball deftly to where his strike partner wants to receive it and lets the Slovenian do the rest. He could provide a similar goalscoring threat to Jota through the middle, while also creating more opportunities for the other Liverpool attackers.

Xavi Simons

The so-called ‘golden boy’ of Leipzig’s team, Simons is a dynamic playmaker who demands the ball and often does something positive with it. He has typically occupied an attacking midfield role in the past but has mainly been situated out on the left for Leipzig this season.

This is displayed through his 6.32 progressive passes per 90 this season (compared to Luis Diaz’s 3.27 and Dominik Szoboszlai’s 4.0), and his 4.12 shot-creating actions per 90. He would present a different proposition out on the wing with his tendency to cut inside, but would also give Liverpool a truly creative option in a more central midfield area, even whilst sacrificing some of Szoboszlai’s physicality.

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