Things are not great right now at Liverpool. The Reds, who dropped their sixth-straight home match on Sunday, in a shocking 1-0 loss to Fulham, looked all out of sorts in doing so.
The loss dropped Liverpool to eighth in the table. With a spot in the top-4 all but gone, the Reds have to focus on attempting to win the Champions League to stay in Europe’s Premier competition. They head into the second leg of their Round of 16 tie with RB Leipzig up 2-0 on aggregate. (For the Liverpool starting XI prediction go here)
Injury News
Roberto Firmino was a late scratch from Sunday’s loss to Fulham, and suffering a minor knock in training. Liverpool hope to have him available for Wednesday’s match-up.
Also missing was Ozan Kabak, who suffered an injury in Liverpool’s loss to Chelsea and missed the match with Fulham. He is expected to be ready for Wednesday night. Jordan Henderson is recovering from groin surgery. He is expected back by the end of the season, but not that soon.
Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Virgil Van Dijk are out for the season.
Back to Budapest
Normally missing a home game in the Champions League is a big disadvantage for a team. But with Liverpool’s struggles at home, it may come as a welcome sight to not play the return leg at Anfield.
Due to COVID restrictions, the game has been moved to Budapest. That was also the site for the opening leg, which Liverpool won 1-0.
Klopp backed by FSG
While the last two months have been an absolutely disaster for Jurgen Klopp and the squad, he doesn’t appear to be on the hot seat.
Reports in England say that although Klopp has admitted this stretch has been “one of the lowest points of his managerial career,” Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group still have “no doubt that he will oversee a revival in the champions fortunes.”
Betting Lines
Liverpool are narrow +143 favorites to win the second leg, with Leipzig receiving +185 odds. The odds of a draw come in at +255.