Due to travel restrictions in Germany, RB Leipzig welcome Liverpool to the Puskas Arena, Hungary, for the first leg of their Last 16 tie in 2020-21 UEFA Champions League.
RB Leipzig survived a tense showdown in December to nick the final qualification spot in Group H ahead of Manchester United, whereas Liverpool progressed as Group D winners to earn second leg home advantage in this tie.
Team News
Marcel Sabitzer could be amongst a host of changes for RB Leipzig after several regulars were left on the bench for Friday’s home win over Augsburg in Bundesliga.
Emil Forsberg, Konrad Laimer, Benjamin Henrichs (knee), Dominik Szoboszlai (adductor) and Justin Kluivert (ankle) are ruled out.
Liverpool could be without James Milner after the ex England international suffered a hamstring injury in Saturday’s defeat at Leicester.
Caoimhin Kelleher and Ben Davies missed Saturday’s trip with knocks making them doubts for this match, whilst Divock Origi is unlikely to feature due to a hamstring injury.
Fabinho (muscle), Joel Matip (ankle), Naby Keita (muscle), Diogo Jota, Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dijk (all knee) remain sidelined.
Stat Attack
- This is RB Leipzig’s first-ever meeting against Liverpool in all competitions.
- RB Leipzig have lost just one of four previous meetings against English opposition in UEFA competitions (W3, L1), whilst netting six goals across two home games against English clubs.
- Liverpool have failed to lose any of their last five away trips against German opposition (W3, D2), albeit keeping just one clean sheet during those five away games.
- Three of RB Leipzig’s seven home goals in Champions League this season have come from Angelino.
- Mohamed Salah has scored in his last two away Champions League appearances for Liverpool.
Prediction
With this game taking place on neutral ground, this will be an interesting encounter for RB Leipzig who like to play a high pressing game, which should provide them with confidence coming into this game despite keeping just one clean sheet in Europe this season.
Liverpool might be struggling domestically at present but this is a huge opportunity to avoid dragging that form into their European adventures, although they must show more sharpness up front than they did at Leicester and avoid leaving too many gaps for the opposition to race into.
If Jurgen Klopp’s Reds do that and build on their confident attacking intent, this should be a difficult game for Leipzig because Liverpool will certainly be looking to find goals here to put less pressure on them in the second leg next month.
Should they fail to make those improvements and Leipzig are on song, this could be a rough evening but I think we are guaranteed goals either way, especially given Liverpool’s record against German opposition minus defensive aspect.
Prediction: RB Leipzig 1-1 Liverpool
Result: RB Leipzig 0-2 Liverpool
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