Why Liverpool should fear Club World Cup final opponents Flamengo – ‘It’s the best South American team for years’, says Tim Vickery

Liverpool have been warned their Club World Cup final against Flamengo will not be a walk in the park, as they aim to be crowned champions for the first time in their history.

South American football correspondent Tim Vickery says the Rio de Janeiro-based outfit are ‘the best team to come out of South America for some time’ and insists they can hurt the Reds – especially if Virgil van Dijk is missing again.

Jurgen Klopp’s side scraped past Mexican club Monterrey to book their final place in Qatar, with Roberto Firmino coming off the bench to score an injury-time winner in a 2-1 victory.

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The German boss was forced to make changes to his back-line, with captain Jordan Henderson playing as a makeshift centre-back in place of Virgil van Dijk, who pulled out of the game with illness.

As a result, Monterrey enjoyed some unexpected freedom going forward as the Reds struggled without their Dutch lynchpin, and Klopp has admitted he could miss the final, too.

If Van Dijk is indeed missing, Vickery says Liverpool should be wary about Flamengo’s on-fire strike duo Gabriel Barbosa and Bruno Henrique – the Brazilian league’s Golden and Silver Boot winners with 25 and 21 goals respectively.

He also sent the Premier League side another warning about losing this game, which would make it four Club World Cup appearances without victory.

The two clubs have history – Flamengo beat a Liverpool side managed by the great Bob Paisley in Toyko back in 1981, and their supporters still chant about it to this day.

A song often heard sung from the Estadio da Gavea terraces roughly translates to: 'In December 1981 we ran circles around the Englishmen, 3-0 over Liverpool, It left a mark in history.'

And talkSPORT’s man in South America says they will never stop signing about this game if they secure another historic win.

Ahead of the match – which is LIVE on talkSPORT 2 – Vickery said: “Flamengo are a huge club. They’re the most popular club in a massive country and you can count their supporters in the tens of millions.

“They’ve also probably got the best team to come out of South America for some time.

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“They’ve got some money behind them and they pulled of a masterstroke when they appointed Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus in the middle of the year. He’s implanted a European model of play with a high defensive line, allowing the front four to really fire together.

“There’s a lot of attention on Gabriel Barbosa, the so-called 'Gabigol', he’s very left-footed though.

“To my mind the most dangerous threat they have is his strike partner - Bruno Henrique. He’s more complete, dribbles like a winger and has the penalty area presence of a centre-forward. He was involved in all three of their goals against Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the semi-final.

“If Virgil van dijk is not fit and Liverpool’s defence is the shambles it was against Monterrey, then Flamengo are in the game.

“But the big question comes at the other end of the field – can Flamengo defend against a full-strength Liverpool attack?

“How will Flamengo’s high defensive line cope against speed, talent, quality and intensity they’ve never faced so far? It’s noticeable that they’ve struggled with teams push up against them.

“This is Flamengo’s dream. They’re still signing about beating Liverpool in the final of the old Intercontinental Cup back in 1981. If they win they will never stop signing.

“But so much of that depends on that big question – can they defend against Salah, Mane and Firmino?”

Tune in for LIVE commentary of the Club World Cup final on talkSPORT 2 this Saturday at 5:30pm