Liverpool vs Bayern Munich Predictions

Liverpool’s blistering attacking play saw them smash goalscoring records left, right and centre as they romped their way to the Champions League final last season, and while they succumbed to the experience of Real Madrid in the end it was an enormously successful season overall.

Jurgen Klopp is aiming for silverware this season though, and they come into this Champions League knockout tie as the Premier League leaders. Some have said that this might take some of their focus off the Champions League, but to say that they won’t be giving it their all in the biggest club competition in world football would surely be a mistake.

Their group stage campaign wasn’t an overwhelming success though. They actually lost half of their games in an admittedly tough group that contained PSG and Napoli, but their 3 wins was enough to edge them through over the Serie A side. Really though, it was their away form that let them down – Liverpool managed to beat PSG, Napoli, and Red Star Belgrade at Anfield, but then lost all 3 games and only scored 1 goal in the reverse fixtures.

This puts extra emphasis on this first leg tie, and Klopp will be hoping to put some breathing room between Liverpool and Bayern Munich before an undoubtedly tough trip to the Allianz Arena next month.

Bayern Munich aren’t having the greatest season in their history though. The dominants of German football come into the latter stages of the season lagging behind Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga table, although the gap has now narrowed to just 2 points and their form is improving drastically.

Most of their struggles are due to early season poor form. Their 3-2 win over Augsburg on Friday made it 10 wins from their last 15 competitive games, but a 4-1 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen earlier this month shows that they aren’t quite the force they once were.

This will be a big test for Liverpool, of course, but we think they’ll get a good result under their belts at Anfield on Tuesday. Their early elimination from the FA Cup gave them a rare weekend off this week, and a fresh Liverpool lineup will be looking to make it 11 wins from their last 12 competitive games at home.

The absence of influential centre back Virgil van Dijk will be felt at the back for Liverpool as he serves his suspension, but they’re facing a rather depleted Bayern Munich attack who will have to make do without Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben. With Joel Matip, Andrew Robertson, and Trent Alexander-Arnold all set to line up at the back, it’s hardly a weak defensive lineup for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

They have lost just 1 of their competitive home games this term and have won 82% of them, so backing a home win here looks a great choice alongside a 2-1 correct score prediction.