After being beaten 3-0 by Barcelona on Wednesday last week, Liverpool have a huge mountain to climb this coming Tuesday as they welcome Barca at Anfield.
The Reds need to repeat Roma’s incredible heroics from 2018 when they roared back from a 4-1 loss at Barca to knock them out in last season’s quarter-finals.
The Italians went on to the next round, losing to Liverpool as they raced to the final in Kyiv. Can the Reds repeat that run, or are we going to see another La Liga winner in the Champions League?
While the Reds have a wide margin to fill, their incredible performance in the first leg was way better than the result suggested.
Barcelona have won just five of their last 18 away Champions League knockout ties. They haven’t lost on the road this term in the competition, but there have been underwhelming results at Inter and Lyon.
Their last defeat was that loss to Roma last year, while the Catalans are fighting against history to claim a win in this trip.
Barcelona have won two away Champions League games in England this season, winning 4-2 at Spurs and 1-0 at Manchester United – no side has ever won three away games in England in a major European competition in a single season.
Liverpool are unbeaten in 19 home matches in all competitions, only enjoying a longer run once under Jürgen Klopp – a run of 25 between January 2016 and January 2017.
They have won their last six on the spin, scoring 20 in that time. They’ve won 16 of their 18 league games at Anfield, while they’ve won six of their last seven at home in the Champions League.
The Reds also have a lot of European pedigree backing them up here. In all European competition, Liverpool have only lost one of their 18 home semi-finals at Anfield, losing 0-1 against Leeds United in the 1970-71 Fairs Cup.
Liverpool’s home record does suggest they’ll do well here, especially against a Barca side who have won just four of their last 12 trips in this competition.
The hosts showed that they can match Barca during periods of the first leg, while home advantage should spur on Liverpool. We think that the hosts are well priced as they look to make a comeback.
While we see the hosts falling short of Roma’s heroics last year, we’re backing them for a win. A home victory and a 2-1 final score are our picks for this clash.