Game Thread: Roma v Liverpool

Behind all the transfer talk and ACLs snapping in the breeze lurks something serious; real, actual, meaningful football matches. We’re a mere 15 or 16 days away from Roma’s Champions League qualifying campaign, with the start of the Serie A season just past that horizon, and to date, Roma’s squad—the ones that haven’t wilted under the American sun—have barely faced live competition, unless you count James Pallotta joining them in training the other day.

Nope, the powers that be decided friendlies against such luminaries as Terek, Liverpool, and later the Montreal Impact, are proper tuneups for a competition that can, has and will determine the financial health of the club. Wonderful.

Liverpool was unjustly lumped in that sad list, but let’s face it, the Reds haven’t exactly been Premiership favorites lately. Nevertheless, fans in St. Louis are being treated to a rematch of the 1984 European Cup final in less than an hour.

Kickoff: 7:35PM CST/1:35AM BST (Monday/Tuesday) from the Busch Stadium, St Louis, Missouri.

Television: LFCTV (UK); ESPN2 (USA); Sony ESPN (India); HyppTV (Malaysia); other listings for the game can be found at LiveSoccerTV

Online: LFCTV Go (Worldwide)

We don’t normally invest too much into preseason friendlies, but considering what we just mentioned, Roma have ample motivation to give it their all tonight.