Liverpool vs Bayer Leverkusen tips
Liverpool welcome German side Bayer Leverkusen and head coach Xabi Alonso back to Anfield on Tuesday night looking to keep up their 100 per cent record in the Champions League, which sees them joint-top of the table (8pm, Sport On Prime).
Alonso spent five years at Liverpool between 2004 and 2009, scoring the third goal in their dramatic Champions League final win over AC Milan in 2005. He also played in their 2-1 final defeat against the same opponents two years later.
Arne Slot’s side go into the game top of the Premier League table after they took advantage of both Arsenal and Manchester City losing on Saturday, by coming back from a goal down to beat Brighton 2-1 and go two points clear at the summit.
Given their impressive start to their Champions League campaign, Slot will be eyeing another strong performance from his team.
Betting sites have installed them as favourites at a best price 3/4 to notch another victory, while odds of 7/2 are available for the German side to secure the three points at Anfield.
Liverpool vs Bayer Leverkusen predictions: Reds to be too strong again
In the Champions League Liverpool have played three, won three, scored six and conceded just once - that coming in the opening game of the campaign against AC Milan, when they came from a goal down to win 3-1.
Since then, they have beaten Bologna 2-0 at Anfield and RB Leipzig 1-0 away, last time out.
Bayer Leverkusen have had a mixed start to their season with four wins, four draws and one defeat in the Bundesliga leaving them fourth in the table, already seven points behind the league leaders Bayern Munich.
Their only defeat came at home to RB Leipzig, back in August when they went down 3-2 despite being 2-0 up just before the break.
Leverkusen are unbeaten so far in the Champions League with wins over Feyenoord and AC Milan before drawing 1-1 against Stade Brest last time out. They actually go into the game on Tuesday with just one win in their last four matches and that came against Bundesliga 2 side SV Elversberg in the German Cup.
It’s perhaps not the best time to be playing Liverpool who have been installed as fourth favourites to win the title by football betting sites at 8/1 behind Man City 11/4, Read Madrid 10/3 and Arsenal and Barcelona at 15/2.
The German side also don’t have the best of records against Liverpool with three defeats and one win from their four meetings. Their only victory was when they won the second leg of the 2001-02 quarter-final match 4-2 to go through 4-3 on aggregate.
England has also not been a happy hunting ground for B04 who have won just one of 11 trips which was a 1-0 win over Tottenham in November 2016.
They have drawn three and lost the other seven, including on two previous visits to Anfield.
The last time they met was in 2005, on Liverpool’s way to winning the European Cup, and they secured a 3-1 win at Anfield before repeating the scoreline in Germany to go through 6-2 on aggregate.
Since the start of last season, no team have won more games (11) or scored more goals (37) in European competition than Leverkusen though.
Their only defeat came in last season’s Europa League final, when they were beaten 3-0 by Atalanta to end their 51-game unbeaten run which saw them become the first team in German history to win the Bundesliga without defeat.
Like Liverpool, they have conceded just once in the Champions League so far, but that impressive defensive form hasn’t continued into their league form where they have conceded 15 in nine games - but they have scored 20 so goals could well be on the agenda.
Liverpool have conceded just 10 goals in all competitions so far, but they have shipped three in their last two league games and with Alisson absent they do look more shaky at the back. Can Leverkusen take advantage?
We like the odds for both teams to find the net at Anfield, but the home side should have enough as they proved at the weekend in their win over Brighton to edge out an opponent in a tight game.
Liverpool vs Bayer Leverkusen prediction 1: BTTS and Liverpool to win - 2/1 Bet365
Liverpool vs Bayer Leverkusen tips: Salah and Wirtz the main threats
Mo Salah, who scored the winner for Liverpool in their win over Brighton, has scored in each of his last five Champions League appearances at Anfield with five goals.
The last player to score in six consecutive home games in the competition for an English club was Ruud van Nistelrooy, for Manchester United in April 2003.
Odds of 4/1 are available on him scoring first or last, although there is also a price of 11/10 for him to score any time that catches the eye. The 32-year-old has scored only once in three Champions League games this season, although that effort did come in the Reds’ victory over Bologna on home soil. We’re expecting Salah to be active in the final third against Leverkusen.
For the visitors, Florian Wirtz has scored three goals in three games in the Champions League this season, and seven in all competitions so far. Only two players in the competition’s history have scored in each of their first three away games while aged 21 or younger: Erling Haaland in 2019 and Manor Solomon in 2020, so he could make history on Tuesday.
You can get odds of 11/1 on him scoring first or last or 7/2 scoring any time with betting apps.
Given that we’re backing both teams to score, we like the combined price of 8/1 for both Salah and Wirtz to get on the scoresheet at Anfield.
Liverpool vs Bayer Leverkusen predictions 2: Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz to score any time - 8/1 Betway
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