Liverpool v Real Madrid predictions: Madrid can finish the job at Anfield

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Liverpool v Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 2, 8pm Wednesday

Best bet

Real Madrid
1pt 13-5 Betfair, Betfred

Team news

Liverpool
Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Jordan Henderson are out.

Real Madrid
Lucas Vazquez's injury adds to the defensive woes for Real with Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal and Raphael Varane also out. Eden Hazard is still crocked.

Match preview

Liverpool produced one of the greatest comebacks in the rich history of the Champions League just two years ago to see off one Spanish giant – but don't expect a repeat when they cross swords with another.

The cheers of delirious Reds fans echoed across Merseyside long into that night of all European nights in May 2019 when Jurgen Klopp's side stormed to an incredible 4-0 win over Barcelona to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit and move into the final.

Two years on and something similar is required if Liverpool are to make it through to the semis. This time Real Madrid are the team hoping to withstand the assault that Lionel Messi's Barca couldn't.

But where the Kop was once rocking, an immovable force sucking the ball into the net and draining Barca of all hope, now there is nothing more than tumbleweed. The Anfield effect is very much a thing of the past in times of empty stands and it is a situation Real Madrid can exploit.

The Spanish champions, buoyed by Saturday's 2-1 win in El Clasico which, temporarily at least, took them back to the top of La Liga, are the value bet.

Liverpool need a 2-0 win, exactly the result they got against Leipzig in the previous round. However, you have to go back to December 6 for the previous time the Reds won a home game by a two-goal margin.

Jurgen Klopp's side have lost any sense of invincibility at home. Saturday's wholly unconvincing 2-1 success over a limited Aston Villa was their first domestic win at Anfield since before Christmas.

They have looked an entirely different team since the day Virgil van Dijk limped out of action, injuries have hurt them elsewhere, the form of players who all excelled at the same time last season has started to dip and the front three are passing up far more chances than they ever have before.

Real Madrid have also had key men missing at the back yet they are on a 13-game unbeaten run, have won six in a row and boast the one thing Liverpool do not, namely a world-class and influential midfield three – Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro – who can control this tie.

Real, thoroughly deserved 3-1 winners of the first leg which they took thanks to a brace from Vinicius Junior either side of an effort from Marco Asensio, have goals in them. They have not failed to find the net in any of their last 17 games and have bagged at least a brace in each of their last six.

Zidane is cute enough to know an away goal would transform this tie and spark panic in the home ranks. Don't expect Real Madrid to simply sit back and invite wave after wave of Liverpool attacks.

Key stat

Liverpool have not scored a first-half goal in their last nine home games, dating back to December 27.

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