The most awaited quarter-finals of the Champions League this season did not fail to entertain as Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool put on a show to put three past a champions-elect Manchester City side in the first half our of the first leg at Anfield. The Reds will take that 3-goal advantage to Etihad this week for the second leg, where they will look to cement their place in the next round of the competition.
They played out a stress-less 0-0 draw against Everton at Goodison Park at the weekend and will hope that the energy that a 3-2 loss to local rivals Manchester United would have sapped out most of the energy that Manchester City players would have wanted to save for this crunch clash.
City lost to local rivals United after going 2-0 in the first half and have now conceded six goals in their last two games in all competitions. The atmosphere at Anfield was intimidating but they have no excuses for a poor performance n Tuesday.
City failed to even find an away-goal, giving Liverpool an advantage in this game. The visitors are already 3 goals up and a goal at Etihad will need City to score 5 unanswered goals to take them through to the next round. Pep has not lost three back to back games in his tenure in England but will need his side to score at least four goals to settle this tie.
Liverpool have been stopped from scoring just four times away from home this season, but one of those occasions was at Etihad. This game is nicely set up, with two teams still ready to attack and outscore each other. Here are the team news, predicted lineups, betting odds and predictions for this tie:
Team News:
Manchester City:
Benjamin Mendy remains the only player unavailable for this game for Pep. Sergio Aguero was back in action from the bench against United and should start against the Reds.
Expected lineup (4-3-3):
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Danilo; Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva; Sane, Sterling, Aguero
Liverpool:
The Reds will still be without the services of Joe Gomez, Adam Lallana, Joel Matip and Emre Can, who are all long-term absentees. Alberto Moreno is also suffering from a thigh injury and might miss this game while Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson will take late fitness tests but are expected to be fit enough to start. Skipper Jordan Henderson is also unavailable due to a suspension
Expected lineup (4-3-3):
Karius; TAA, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Milner, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Mane, Salah, Firmino.
Betting Odds:
Manchester City – 1/2
Draw – 17/4
Liverpool – 5/1
Predictions:
Manchester City 4-2 Liverpool
