Roberto Firmino
Roberto Firmino

Porto v Liverpool: Roberto Firmino wants to make Champions League opponents 'suffer' in last 16 clash


Roberto Firmino does not know if Champions League opponents Porto are afraid of Liverpool and their goalscoring threat but he hopes to make them suffer in the Estadio do Dragao.

Jurgen Klopp's side qualified unbeaten top of their group after scoring 23 goals, a record for an English club and a competition total surpassed only by Paris St Germain (25), also this season.

They travel to Portugal as 13/10 favourites with Sky Bet, with Liverpool winning 3-1 now price-boosted to odds of 20/1.

Free football betting tips and odds: FC Porto v Liverpool and Real Madrid v Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League

Nineteen of those goals came from Firmino (six), Mo Salah (five), Coutinho (five) and Sadio Mane (three) and although one of that quartet is now with Barcelona it does not make them much less of a threat.

"I don't know if Porto are going to be afraid but we are going to make their life difficult and make them suffer," said Firmino, who has 20 goals for the season in all competitions.

The last-16 draw against Porto was a kind one for Liverpool but even after their goalscoring exploits in the group stage no-one is tipping them to challenge the established Champions League order of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Juventus.

Liverpool FC news: Five reasons why Jurgen Klopp's side can go far in 2017/18 Champions League

It was put to Klopp that no-one fancied the Reds side which won in Istanbul in 2005 after scraping through the group stage with a last-gasp win over Olympiacos.

That provoked a blunt response from the German, who said: "If we are in the final then I'll say we will try to win it but that is too far off.

"I don't like talking about the round after the round you are playing, in fact I hate it.

"I only answer nicely now because I am friendly and we are in public but if someone asked me about the round after the round in private, I would leave the room."

Read more: Alex Keble backs Premier League clubs to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League

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