Liverpool v Real Madrid predictions

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 8pm Tuesday

Best bet

Liverpool
1pt 13-10 general

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Team news

Liverpool
Thiago Alcantara, Ibrahima Konate, Arthur and Luis Diaz remain unavailable while Darwin Nunez is a doubt.

Real Madrid
Ferland Mendy, Toni Kroos and Aurelien Tchouameni are all unavailable. Karim Benzema is a doubt but has travelled with the squad.

Match preview

Liverpool's 1-0 loss to Real Madrid in last season's Champions League final was a massive blow from which they have never fully recovered, but there have been more positive signs from Jurgen Klopp's side in recent weeks and they can complete the first part of a revenge mission by defeating Los Blancos at Anfield.

The Reds were out of luck against Real at the Stade de France in May 2022, where they lost the game despite winning the shot count 24 to four.

But their high-intensity front-foot style has been lost for large parts of this season and many factors have contributed to the drop in performance.

Sadio Mane was the only player in Liverpool's Champions League final team to leave them in the summer and it would be fair to say that his loss has been keenly felt.

Darwin Nunez - battling a shoulder injury picked up in Saturday's 2-0 win at Newcastle - never looked a like-for-like replacement and his debut season on Merseyside has featured highs and lows.

However, the bigger issue has been the injuries to Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota which removed two key attacking players from the squad for a huge chunk of the season.

To make matters worse Roberto Firmino has suffered an injury-interrupted campaign and Mo Salah is having his least productive season since joining in 2017.

Salah has performed better in the last two matches, scoring the opener in a 2-0 success over Everton and laying on the assist for Cody Gakpo's goal at Newcastle. And there were other major positives as Jota and Firmino got some much-needed game time and Virgil Van Dijk completed a full match for the first time since a six-week layoff.

After the Tyneside triumph, Klopp suggested it was too soon to proclaim that Liverpool are back to their best.

However, Liverpool are clearly in better shape than a couple of weeks ago and, with the help of a noisy home crowd, they may have enough to defeat the holders.

Real were crowned Club World Cup champions this month after a 5-3 victory over Al-Hilal but their season remains in the balance.

They trail Barcelona by eight points in La Liga and, although they finished top of Champions League Group F they had some dodgy moments, drawing 1-1 at Shakhtar Donetsk and losing 3-2 at RB Leipzig.

Carlo Ancelotti's side have suffered three losses on their La Liga travels, including a 1-0 defeat to Mallorca earlier this month, and remain heavily reliant on veteran midfielder Luka Modric and centre-forward Karim Benzema, who has shrugged aside his injury-enforced absence from the World Cup to score ten goals in his last 11 appearances.

Real remain dangerous but they face a tough task against a Liverpool side on an upward trajectory and may struggle to avoid a first-leg loss.

Key stat

Liverpool have won seven of their last nine Champions League home games

Probable teams

Liverpool (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson, Fabinho, Bajcetic; Salah, Gakpo, Jota.
Subs: Kelleher, Tsimikas, Milner, Firmino, Elliott, Matip, Keita, Phillips, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Nunez.

Real Madrid (4-3-3): Courtois; Carvalhal, Militao, Rudiger, Alaba; Modric, Camavinga, Ceballos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Lunin, Rodrygo, Nacho, Asensio, Vallejo, Lopez, Hazard, Rodriguez, Odriozola.