Given the firepower on display from both sides it’s fair to say few would have predicted a 0-0 draw in the first leg of Liverpool and Bayern Munich’s last 16 tie.
It was a result that perhaps slightly favours the Germans ahead of tonight’s match at the Allianz Arena, where they have won each of their last seven matches and lost just once all season.
Moreover, in that seven game winning streak – which began with a 5-1 victory in their last Champions League match on home soil – Niko Kovac’s side have conceded just three goals, and keeping a clean sheet will be a big priority here.
Bayern know that an away goal for Liverpool would leave them needing two to qualify, and while that’s far from an impossibility, the hosts will be wary of the Reds’ threat on the counter should they be required to open up.
That said, for the success that this season has been for Jurgen Klopp’s side – in the league in particular – the Merseysiders have been far from free-scoring on the road. In fact, Liverpool have only found the net more than once in four of their last 16 away games in all competitions, failing to score at all in their last two and just once in three European trips from the penalty spot.
Alongside their shock defeat in Belgrade, the Reds’ losses at both Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain both came without mustering so much as a shot on target from open play.
It would be a surprise if both teams didn’t approach this game with some degree of caution early on, and with that in mind we could see another low scoring game.
Odds, then, just over evens (2.02) on under 2.5 goals with Marathon Bet is certainly tempting as a result, but the price on the both teams to score market, opting for ‘NO’ is even loftier with Bet Victor (2.30). That has been the outcome in four of Bayern’s last six home games and three of Liverpool’s last four away, so is well worth considering.
For the chance of an even greater profit, a price in excess of 3 is available with a number of bookmakers on the visitors to draw another blank away from home (Liverpool to score under 0.5 goals), and it’s an outcome you can back using Bet365’s Bet Builder tool in our combination of tips.
Indeed, selecting ‘NO’ in both teams to score, under 2.5 goals and Bayern to qualify – which crucially covers either a home win in extra-time or penalties should the game end 0-0 after 90 minutes once more – comes in at 4.33.
There’s even more incentive to do so given that for tonight’s game, Bet365 will match pre-match bets up to a value of £5 with a free in-play bet of the same value.*