12 Jun 2019
Liverpool have a great chance of making it to the Champions League semi-finals, after getting the plum draw against 66/1 outsiders Porto.
The first leg takes place at Anfield on Tuesday evening and Liverpool are 3/10 to take a first-leg lead to Portugal for the return leg on Wednesday, April 17.
Jurgen Klopp’s side, who are 4/1 fourth favourites to win Europe’s premier club competition, knocked out Germany’s Bayern Munich in the last 16 and now face a side that they beat 5-0 en route to last season’s final.
Sergio Conceicao’s Dragons might be a different proposition this time round, though, as they knocked AS Roma out in the last round and have tightened up considerably at the back.
A semi-final against either Manchester United or Barcelona awaits and Liverpool will hope to go one better this time round after being beaten by Real Madrid in the final last year.
Liverpool have recovered from something of a domestic blip to win their last four in the Premier League and having navigated a tricky trip to Southampton on Friday, coming away with a 3-1 win from St Mary’s, are now two points clear of Manchester City at the top. The Genting Casino Premier League title odds have Liverpool at 6/4 to win the title. Reigning Champions City have played a game less and are 1/2 to retain the title.
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Liverpool full-back Andrew Robertson’s late yellow card against Bayern means he is suspended and Adam Lallana is ruled out with a muscle problem. Defender Joe Gomez (ankle) is more likely to have a chance of playing some part than Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (thigh), who is still on the comeback trail. However, Klopp has hinted both will be rested.
With 14 goals in their last four games in all competitions, Liverpool are a threat from many positions, especially with the likes of Fabinho, Sadio Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino regularly on the scoresheet.
Salah scored the decisive second goal against Southampton last week and is 4/5 to score at any time, while Mane 17/20 to grab at least one as the Reds seek a sixth consecutive win.
Though Klopp will have more than one eye on arguably their last big test in the title run-in – facing Chelsea at home on Sunday – and with the fate of the title not yet in their own hands, he could make a few changes for this clash.
According to Klopp, Central defender Virgil van Dijk and midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum are suffering with knocks, although they should be fine to play.
Porto could be without left-back Alex Telles – the Brazilian faces a late fitness test on an ongoing hip injury.
Sergio Conceicao only has 19 players available, with three of them being goalkeepers. Key men Pepe and Hector Herrera are already ruled out of the first leg through suspension, while first team regulars Eder Militia, Otavio, and Danilo and are all just a yellow away from missing the second leg. As such, Porto are 10/1 to win the first leg at Anfield. The draw is available at 9/2.
PORTO A THREAT?
Liverpool have conceded in each of their last five outings and central defender Van Djik will have to keep a sharp eye on Moussa Marega, who has scored six goals for Porto in the Champions League this season. Marega is 7/2 to score at any time and 11/1 to score the first goal.
The hosts may have been a little leaky in recent weeks, and they were very fortunate not to have lost against Tottenham at home a couple of weeks ago, but they have not conceded in their last three games in the Champions League at Anfield. Liverpool are 4/5 to keep a clean sheet and are 19/20 to win to nil.
Late goals have been a feature of recent Liverpool wins. They scored in the last 10 minutes against Fulham, Tottenham and Southampton, although Klopp denies the flurry of late winners is down to luck as they bid for a first English title in 29 years.
But bettors will note that the odds for a goal to be scored between 76-90 minutes are short at 19/20. By then most Liverpool fans will hope that the job has already been done, so some may take a bet on the first goal being scored in minutes 1-15 at 9/5 or between the 16th to the 30th minute at odds of 13/5. The combined odds are 1/2.
Liverpool have never lost to Porto in six previous meetings and while held 0-0 at Anfield in last season’s Champions League second leg clash after winning 5-0 at the Estadio do Dragao in Portugal, they beat Porto 2-0 and 4-1 in previous clashes at Anfield. The Reds have a W3 D3 record in six meetings overall and are 1/5 to reach the semi-finals, with Porto 10/3 to go through.
Only two of the last six meetings have seen both sides score and it is 2/1 for Liverpool to win but concede.
Just two of the last six clashes have seen more than three goals scored and it is 6/5 that this trend holds firm and there will be fewer than 2.5 goals scored in total. For all the odds on this tie, click here.
