Champions League group winners will not want Liverpool due to Salah, Mane and Firmino, says Rio Ferdinand

Former Manchester United defender believes Liverpool are the team to avoid in the Champions League last-16 draw

Rio Ferdinand has picked out Liverpool as the side no one will want to face in the Champions League last 16 after the Anfield outfit booked their place with a nail-biting 1-0 victory over Napoli.

Jurgen Klopp’s side may have progressed from their group for the second consecutive season, but they made it difficult for themselves by not finding a second goal against the Italian side on Tuesday night despite numerous chances to do so.

Had Napoli found an equaliser, Liverpool would have been heading for the Europa League.

But with progression secured, Klopp’s side can look forward to the knockout stages, and while they will likely face one of Europe’s big-guns after only managing second in the group behind Paris Saint-Germain, former England and Manchester United captain Ferdinand believes it will be the opposition who fears playing Liverpool rather than the other way around.

“Jurgen sounded more pleased with the way that they played and they nullified a Napoli team who have got goals in them and they didn't really create much,” Ferdinand said on BT Sport.

“They started playing out of character which is a fantastic achievement. The tenacity with which they play with is unrivalled in Europe at the moment.

“They are aggressive, on the front foot and their attention to detail is something to behold but when you've got Mo Salah, (Sadio) Mane and (Roberto) Firmino backing it up this is a team you wouldn't want to come out of the hat and have to play against.”

Liverpool do not yet know who they can or will face, with the second half of Champions League groups still to be determined on Wednesday evening. However, they do know that they will only face group winners, and of those they cannot face PSG given they came from the same group or a club from their own league, meaning that likely Group F winner Manchester City are off-limits as well as Manchester United if they are able to topple Juventus on the final group-stage match-day.

As such, Klopp at least knows that Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and Porto are all options after topping Groups A, B and C respectively, while Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Juventus are currently the individual favourites to top Groups E, G and H.