LIVERPOOL COULD FACE Mexican side Monterrey or Qatari club Al Sadd, coached by Xavi Hernandez, in their first match at the Fifa Club World Cup in December after Monday’s draw for the tournament.
As European champions, Liverpool will enter the competition in the semi-finals with a match against CONCACAF Champions League winners Monterrey, Al Sadd or minnows Hienghene Sport of New Caledonia.
Earlier this year, Barcelona and Spain great Xavi took over as coach at Al Sadd, who are competing at the Club World Cup as champions of the host nation.
They will play Oceania representatives Hienghene Sport on Wednesday, 11 December, with the winner going on to face Monterrey three days later.
The winners of that match will then meet Liverpool on 18 December, while the as-yet unknown Copa Libertadores winners will enter in the other semi-final.
They will face either the Asian champions or African champions Esperance Tunis on 17 December.
The final will be played on 21 December. Liverpool lost to Sao Paulo in Japan in the final when they last took part in the competition in 2005.
Former Ireland performance analyst and current coaching wizard of OZ Eoin Toolan joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to predict Ireland’s World Cup, break down every pool, and call the overall winners.
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
