Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid – Betting Tips and UCL Preview

Liverpool will host the second leg of this Champions League Round of 16 tie having lost the opening leg 1-0 at Atletico Madrid. It will be a difficult task for the Reds in overturning that first-leg deficit, but the last time they faced a Spanish team at Anfield, the reigning champions beat Barcelona 4-0 in last season’s semi-finals after losing 3-0 in the Camp Nou. Accompanied by another partisan and boisterous home crowd, Jurgen Klopp will be hoping for another heroic performance from his players and will Atletico be able to cope with the atmosphere and pressure on Merseyside?

Ahead of this fixture, a 2-1 Premier League home win against Bournemouth on Saturday allowed Liverpool to end an uncharacteristic losing sequence of two matches with five goals conceded and none scored. Yet only Napoli and Arsenal have avoided defeat at Anfield this season where the Reds have won their last eleven competitive matches. No team has prevented Klopp’s players from scoring on home soil this term, but Liverpool will need to score at least twice and probably without conceding to avoid extra-time and progress into the quarter-finals. It will be a concern that the Reds have won their last two home matches via 2-1 and 3-2 scorelines which if repeated in this game would ensure elimination for Liverpool.

For Atletico Madrid, scoring an away goal could be priceless in this second leg. Yet the away form of the Spanish team has been rather suspect this year with no wins recorded and defeats suffered at both Eibar and Real Madrid without finding the net. However, it will be a concern for Diego Simeone that his players have registered just one clean sheet on their travels since late October and those defensive worries could be exploited by a generally potent home attack. In support of Atletico, they have scored at least once in each of their last six competitive fixtures.

Team News

Nathaniel Clyne (knee), Allison Becker (hip) and Xherdan Shaqiri (calf) will be sidelined for Liverpool while Jordan Henderson (hamstring) is doubtful. Andy Robertson should return after missing the weekend action with a minor leg muscle injury.

Prediction

In all three Champions League home ties this season, Liverpool have conceded at least once, with their 4-3 win against RB Salzburg proving that the home defence can be vulnerable at times. Yet the Reds have become a formidable outfit at Anfield this term with Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Leicester losing at the venue but each of those away teams scoring a goal. Visitors Atletico Madrid failed to score only at Juventus in their six Champions League group fixtures, and so it may be a good idea to select a Liverpool win with Both Teams scoring priced at 11/4 with Bet365, as a decent bet.

A second pick is for Over 2.5 goals to be Scored offered at Evens by Bet365. In all five Premier League matches played at Anfield this year, Liverpool have scored at least twice but nine goals conceded in their last five competitive games will be a concern. For Atletico, netting ten times in their previous six fixtures will offer hope that they can score at least one away goal on Merseyside, while expensive Summer purchase Joao Felix has netted in two of their last three matches after a previous barren sequence in front of goal.