Kuyt puts Fenerbahçe before his Liverpool memories
Fenerbahçe need a response after taking only two points from their opening three Champions League matches, while Liverpool arrive with a perfect record in the league phase. Dirk Kuyt's appointment as interim coach gives the occasion a personal dimension, with both sides also carrying significant injury absences.
Kuyt has been clear about where the attention must belong. Liverpool made him a familiar figure at Anfield, and his three years at Fenerbahçe gave him another club to call home. Yet, with the two sides about to meet, he has insisted that his own story is secondary. The task now is to give Fenerbahçe the response their European campaign needs.
Liverpool's stronger European form makes them favourites, but Fenerbahçe's scoring consistency and home record when striking first should keep the contest open.
They have taken only two points from their first three league-phase matches, including a heavy defeat at Aston Villa. But their difficulty has not been finding the net: Fenerbahçe have scored in 17 of their 19 matches this season, with Vedat Muriqi leading the way on eight goals. Liverpool's European start has been far more convincing, with three wins and 12 goals. Only Paris Saint-Germain have scored more in the competition.
There is another reason this reunion carries weight. Liverpool have won only one of their eight away matches against Turkish opposition, drawing one and losing six. That victory came at Trabzonspor in 2010, when Kuyt scored the late winner. He knows what this fixture means to the club he once represented, but Fenerbahçe will need more than the occasion itself. They have never lost a home Champions League match in which they scored first, a record that gives their opening spell particular importance.
