By David 
Honestly? Trying to predict these lineups makes my head spin worse than trying to assemble IKEA furniture blindfolded. Kicked things off like always – fired up the laptop, cracked my knuckles, and dove straight into the rumor mill. Mistake number one right there. Twitter was buzzing louder than a swarm of angry bees. Everyone suddenly had “inside sources” claiming Kjaer was definitely out, or Diaz was starting for sure. Fell for that hook, line, and sinker.
Decided I needed something solid. Started scanning the official club sites, squinting at their injury reports like I was deciphering ancient hieroglyphics. Saw Tonali’s name listed for Milan with a niggle. Thought, “Aha! Bench for him.” Wrote that down confidently. Then found the pre-match press conference snippets – Jurgen Klopp winking and grinning, talking about “having options.” Options for what? Made me toss half my notes straight into the trash.
Shifted tactics. Pulled up their last few games side-by-side. Tried playing armchair manager. Thought, “Okay, Milan’s defense was leaky against Bologna, gotta drop someone… but who?” Stared at player names until they blurred together. Pioli’s choices are harder to predict than British weather. One minute Giroud starts, next minute he’s resting. Utter chaos.
Hit the forums next. Giant error. Everyone and their dog had an opinion, backed by zero facts. Saw ten comments screaming that Salah was “100% benched,” then ten more screaming he was “definitely starting.” Completely useless. Got sucked into arguments I instantly regretted. Wasted a good hour down that rabbit hole feeling dumber by the minute.
Panicked as my self-imposed deadline crawled closer. Started second-guessing every single player choice. Had Origi in the XI, scratched him out. Put in Tomori, crossed him out too. My notebook page looked like a toddler attacked it with a red pen. Thought about formations. 4-3-3? 4-2-3-1? What shape is Klopp even feeling today? Might have just pulled formations out of a hat.
Finally just went “screw it.” Made my best guess, slapped it together. It looked something like this…
My Final (Haphazard) Guess
- AC Milan: Some dude in goal, Theo the fast fullback, Kjaer & Tomori at back (maybe?), Tonali & Bennacer doing the midfield thing, Leao and Giroud attacking.
- Liverpool: Ali in net, VVD bossing the back, Tsimikas covering left, Fabinho sitting deep, Henderson doing his captain stuff, Salah starting despite forum rumors (gut feeling), Gakpo or Jota up top (coin flip!).
Am I confident? Not one bit. By the end, my brain felt like mush. Honestly, half this stuff feels plucked from thin air. Managers love tossing in last-minute curveballs just to ruin folks like me. Probably be dead wrong on five players at least. Why do I keep doing this?
