Champions League
2024-11-27 - Liverpool vs Real Madrid
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League Group Stage
Wednesday 27th November 2024 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV
Liverpool
While rivals like Manchester City and Arsenal have stumbled when not playing at their best, Liverpool have opened up a big lead at the top of the Premier League table thanks to finding the results when perhaps under-performing. They were given plenty of help by Southampton's defending on Sunday, but the momentum is firmly behind Arne Slot's team ahead of a very big eight days for the team.
The English Champions will be visiting Anfield on Sunday in the Premier League, but the focus during the week will be a big Champions League game against the defending European Champions. We are at the halfway mark of the Group Stage and Liverpool are the only team that have won all four fixtures played, and likely a couple of wins away from ensuring they earn one of the top eight finishing places.
Liverpool were trailing early in the second half at St Mary's, but fought back for a 2-3 win and secured their fifth victory in succession in all competitions. They will now be aiming for an 8th win in a row at Anfield in all competitions as Arne Slot's team continue on their positive run to open this season.
Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota are expected to miss out. The former two players are hoping to be able to take the field against Manchester City on Sunday.
Real Madrid
The signing of Kylian Mbappe came with much fanfare, but finding him a place in the Real Madrid line up without impacting the rest of the team has been a challenge for Carlo Ancelotti. Despite guiding Real Madrid to their latest European Cup success at the end of last season, the veteran Italian manager is under some pressure after the inconsistent performances both domestically and in Europe this time around.
All of the top clubs will have been aiming for a top eight finish in this first season of the new-look Champions League Group Stage, but Real Madrid are a disappointing 18th in the standings at halfway. They do have 6 points on the board, but the pressure is on the Spanish club to at least win three of their remaining four fixtures if they are going to avoid having to negotiate a Play Off tie early next year.
Real Madrid have won consecutive fixtures against Osasuna and Leganes since the back to back defeats to Barcelona and AC Milan. The side were also beaten 1-0 at Lille in the Champions League, but Real Madrid have bounced back to win 2 away games in a row in all competitions.
Eder Militao could be a big loss for Real Madrid over the next several months, while a number of other squad members are not expected to travel for this Match Day 5 fixture.
Head to Head
Real Madrid and Liverpool have met eleven times previously with the first being Liverpool's win in the 1981 European Cup Final.
Since then, it is Real Madrid who have gotten the better of Liverpool more often than not and they beat The Reds in the 2018 and 2022 Champions League Finals.
Real Madrid have eliminated Liverpool in each of the latter's last 3 Champions League seasons and the defending Champions won 2-5 at Anfield when the clubs met in the Last 16 of the 2023 tournament.
Prediction
You simply cannot ignore the fact that Liverpool have a very big English Premier League game coming up on Sunday and that may be the focus having begun the Champions League Group Stage with four wins out of four.
Arne Slot may choose to make some rotations after the tougher than expected win at St Mary's this past weekend, but Liverpool are at home and the glamour match with Real Madrid will be one that the fans will want the team to take very seriously.
At the moment it has felt like the little moments are breaking Liverpool's way and that momentum can be tough to stop. They have won plenty of football matches in different ways and Real Madrid have been inconsistent early in the season.
Real Madrid have looked a little better with Kylian Mbappe playing in a more natural wide position, but they are still a work in progress. Manager Carlo Ancelotti has been under some pressure to help the team perform better and back to back Champions League defeats have been very disappointing.
Stopping that run at Anfield will be very tough and the edge has to be with Liverpool, despite the game against Manchester City likely being a distraction. Ultimately this is a fixture against the European Champions and that deserves respect of its own and Liverpool's current form suggests they can put a winning performance on the board.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Liverpool 2-1 Real Madrid
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Liverpool - 0.25 Asian Handicap at 1.65 with SportBet.One
