It’s a massive week for both northwest England giants and bitter rivals Liverpool and Manchester United. They’ll meet for the second and final time in Premier League play on Sunday at Old Trafford. First however comes huge clashes in other competitions. United travel to Chelsea, in a rematch of last season’s FA Cup final.
The winner at Stamford Bridge gets a berth in the semi-final. Meanwhile Liverpool host Bayern Munich in a round of 16 UEFA Champions League clash, and they will do potentially without the services of Roberto Firmino. When you factor in the selection crisis that Reds boss Jurgen Klopp currently has to deal with in the back, and Liverpool have a lot to contend with right now.
They have plenty to focus on today and tomorrow, without the need to look ahead to the massive weekend fixture.
“Game by game, you cannot think about it in a different way,” the German said at a news conference today.
“If you ask Manchester United when they face Chelsea if they already think about our game, I don’t think so. “We have had only tough months in this season. There was not one month where you thought: ‘Oh good, only these opponents.’ It’s always tough and we have to be ready for that.”
“We have to be focused 100 percent on the game tomorrow night, otherwise we don’t have a chance. That’s absolutely sure.”
Bayern Munich at Liverpool FC UEFA Champions League Round of 16 FYIs
Kickoff: Tuesday, February 19, 8PM local, Anfield
Liverpool Starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Injury Report for both teams: go to this link
Odds via Odds Checker: Liverpool 21/20, Draw 14/5, Bayern Munich 47/17
Odds to win UCL via Skybet: Liverpool 8/1, Bayern Munich 14/1
Google Result Probability: Liverpool 48% Draw 26% Bayern Munich 26%
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.