The knockout stages of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League continue this week and on Wednesday the 10th of March we have the second leg of the Round of 16 tie between Liverpool and RB Leipzig.
This game will be played at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, rather than Anfield due to COVID-19 protocols.
Liverpool come into this game with a 2 goal cushion from the first leg, which was also played in Budapest. The Reds can thank Leipzig for their generosity as it was mainly due to errors by the German club that led to the victory for Liverpool.
However, since the victory in the Champions League Liverpool have been struggling and they have lost 3 of their last 4 matches, all of which have come in the Premier League. The only victory came away against Sheffield United and all 3 defeats were at home.
In the Champions League, Liverpool are undefeated in 6 of their last 7 games. Home form shows just two victories from their last 5 Champions League fixtures, against Midtjylland and Ajax.
Trends show in Liverpool's last 5 home Champions League games there have been under 2.5 goals scored. Liverpool have failed to score more than 2 goals in each of their last 6 home Champions League matches.
RB Leipzig will be extremely disappointed with their performance in the first leg and hope to turn things around by scoring a couple of away goals in this game.
Their form has been much superior following the first leg of this tie. Leipzig have kept the pressure on Bundesliga favourites Bayern Munich by winning all 4 of their league fixtures.
Leipzig have defeated Hertha Berlin and Freiburg away plus Borussia Monchengladbach and Wolfsburg at home. However, the Germans have been somewhat inconsistent in the Champions League and they have won 4 and lost 4 of their last 8 games in the competition.
Away form shows they have picked up 2 victories from their last 5 Champions League matches on the road.
Leipzig have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 3 away Champions League games and have failed to score in 2 of those matches.
Team news and Liverpool continue without Jordan Henderson, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez, and Virgil Van Dijk. They also have doubts over the fitness of Roberto Firmino, Ozan Kabak, and Caoimhin Kelleher.
Leipzig have injury problems of their own with Willi Orban, Marcel Halstenberg, Marcel Sabitzer, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Konrad Laimer unlikely to play any part in the game. They also have doubts over the fitness of Angeliño.
Leipzig have to go for goals in this match and that could fall nicely into the hand of Liverpool.
The English club have been in poor form but still have the ability to hit the Germans on the counter-attack and win the match, with under 2.5 goals scored.