PSG vs Liverpool Predictions

• Nine of Paris Saint-Germain’s last 14 matches have featured at least four goals
• PSG have kept just two clean sheets in their last nine home matches
• Liverpool scored at least twice in nine of their last 12 road outings

Entertaining clash looks on the cards

Both Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool enjoy such a stranglehold on their domestic leagues that continental dominance is moving further up the agenda and that should make for an entertaining first leg of their Champions League knockout tie in the French capital on Wednesday.

The Reds demonstrated that European football was far from a distraction as they won seven of their league-stage matches, with their only loss, a 3-2 defeat at PSV Eindhoven, coming in their final match when manager Arne Slot elected to field a team packed with fringe players.

The last few weeks have not been completely plain-sailing for the Reds after they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship Plymouth but, generally, when Slot has selected his stars, they have got the job down and with the team finding at least two goals in all but three of their last 12 away matches, we should see a high-scoring encounter.

Reds away record has not been faultless

PSG are head and shoulders above anyone else in French football – they have won 19 and drawn five of their 24 Ligue 1 matches and got their act together in the Champions league after claiming just one point from their opening three league-stage matches against PSV, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich.

So while Liverpool have been freescoring on the road, PSG are more than capable of holding their own and, with the Reds having won just three of their last nine games on their travels, a 2-2 draw may be of interest to those looking for a correct-score bet.

Dembele can lead home charge

If PSG are going to give themselves a chance of improving upon a record that has seen them eliminated at this stage of the tournament in five of the last eight seasons, then Ousmane Dembele is likely to be at the forefront of the effort.

The France striker has scored six goals in this season’s competition, starting with the first that spurred the Parisians on to recover from a two-goal deficit to beat Manchester City 4-2.

He netted a hat-trick in PSG’s final league-stage game against Stuttgart and then a brace in the 3-0 first-leg victory in the playoff against Brest, and should also benefit from the confidence he has gleaned from scoring 13 goals in his last nine Ligue 1 outings.