Real Madrid arrive at Anfield with a healthy 3-1 lead, but with Liverpool desperate to get back into this game, Jake Pearson is predicting plenty of goals.
Football betting tips: Liverpool v Real Madrid (agg: 1-3)
1pt Over 3.5 Goals at 8/5 (Betfair Sportsbook)
How do you solve a problem like Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool?
It is difficult to know where to start with last year’s champions of England, given their defeat to Real Madrid was sandwiched between a ruthless 3-0 victory over Arsenal, and a brave performance against Aston Villa 2-1, showing plenty of character to win the latter having been a goal down.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has been at the centre of Liverpool’s highs and lows over the last couple of weeks, firstly being left out of the England squad, then having a torrid time in Madrid, before eventually scoring the winner to take his side within three points of the top four on Saturday.
He remains suspect when facing his own goal however, and this could be an area that Real choose to exploit, just as they did in the first leg.
Real Madrid were impressive in their 3-1 victory over the Reds last week, and they backed that up with a 2-1 win over Barcelona in El Clasico on Saturday evening.
That victory saw them briefly lead the way in La Liga, before Atletico Madrid’s draw with Real Betis put Diego Simeone’s side back on top by a point.
Real Madrid played the first leg of this tie without their preferred centre-half pairing, Sergio Ramos missing out through a calf injury, while Rafael Varane had to isolate after testing positive for Covid-19. Both those players are again absent, as is their starting right back from that game, Lucas Vazquez, who has been ruled out of the match with a knee injury.
This means Real are without three of their starting back four, and though Nacho and Eder Militao did a fine job last week, they will likely come under much more pressure this time around, and there could be joy to be had for Liverpool in that respect.
At the other end of the pitch though, Real Madrid obviously pose a huge threat.
Zinedine Zidane’s side are not the highest-scoring team in La Liga, that honour goes to Barcelona, but they have only played three domestic matches this term in which they have not found the back of the net, as well as getting themselves on the scoresheet in all but one of their Champions League fixtures this season.
It is a big ask for Liverpool to stop Real Madrid from scoring, but first on the agenda for Jurgen Klopp’s side will be getting a goal or two for themselves, and as Liverpool flood men forward in search of goals, they will leave gaps for the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric to exploit with their exquisite passing.
Market movers
As the week has progressed, the big price movements have been in the goals markets, with punters expecting to see plenty of goals in this fixture.
Over 3.5 was initially priced up at around the 7/4 mark when the opening prices were released for this match, but plenty of firms have now trimmed anything close to that price, with some going as short as 11/8.
That leaves a price of 8/5 with Betfair about OVER 3.5 GOALS landing in this fixture very appealing, and with the attacking propensity of these two teams, that is the selection we are siding with in this game.
Liverpool v Real Madrid best bets and score prediction
- Over 3.5 Goals at 8/5 (Betfair Sportsbook)
Score prediction: Liverpool 2-2 Real Madrid (Sky Bet odds: 11/1)
Odds correct at 1700 BST (12/04/21)
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