Liverpool meet Porto at Anfield in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Quarter Final, having won this tie last season at the Last 16 stage en route to defeat in the final by Real Madrid.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesLiverpool are expected to have Adam Lallana and Georgino Wijnaldum available after the midfield duo recovered from a respective knock and back injury.
Andrew Robertson however is suspended after picking up a late booking against Bayern Munich in the previous round.
Joe Gomez is still sidelined with a leg injury with Jurgen Klopp keen not to rush him back within the next fortnight.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain meanwhile is on course to potentially feature in the second leg if he continues to make progress in his recovery.
Porto will be without the experienced Pepe and Hector Herrera as the pair serve one match bans.
Alex Telles is also a doubt with questions over his match fitness.
Stat Attack
- Liverpool are yet to lose against Porto, having won and draw three apiece from six previous meetings.
- Porto have scored just twice in this fixture with both goals coming in the group stage of the 2007-08 Champions League season.
- Liverpool have progressed from four of their last five Quarter Final ties in this competition, only failing to do so in 2008-09 when they lost to Chelsea 7-5 on aggregate.
Prediction
Liverpool are yet to draw consecutive games in this fixture and with this squad stronger than last season, this could well be a comfortable home win.
Porto however are yet to fail to score in a Champions League fixture this season but have kept just one clean sheet, so I am expecting a real battle here given Liverpool’s inconsistent defence.
In the end, I am going for a decent home win if Liverpool turn up and deliver another of their impressive home performances.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Porto
Result: Liverpool 2-0 Porto
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