Champions League Matchday Two preview: Giants collide as Liverpool look to make amends for poor start

Matchday two in the 2022/23 Champions League group stage is set to be a cracker as some of the biggest clubs in Europe face off. Barca might fancy their chances and Liverpool look to kickstart their season.

The most important football competition in Europe is underway again. It has been a fast start for Manchester City and Barcelona, but 2022’s finalists Liverpool are showing signs of burnout. Will the break over the weekend have been enough to give them a much-needed boost ahead of a visit from Ajax?

We preview three fixtures below.

Manchester City v Dortmund

After heartbreakingly losing to Real Madrid in the semi-finals of 2021/22’s competition, Manchester City have been quick out of the blocks this term, beating Sevilla 4-0 away in their opening game.

Many have hailed the arrival of Erling Haaland as the last piece in the puzzle for Pep Guardiola’s side, which has done everything but triumph in Europe. And after his scintillating start to this season, with 12 goals in eight matches in all competitions, it is easy to see why.

The man that is the fastest and youngest player to reach 20 Champions League goals, ahead of greats Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, will lead City into the match as the 1/6 favourites and is understandably at the top of the list to score first in the tie at 7/4 and has a great chance of scoring at any time at 7/20.

Dortmund, who have had a relatively good start to the season and are currently sitting in fifth place in the Bundesliga after six games, are the major underdogs to win at the Etihad at 14/1. Despite the quality they hold across all positions on the pitch, it looks like the City machine will continue to roll on without a hitch.

A 3-0 win to City is the most likely score at 7/1, and it is hard to imagine Dortmund’s threats of Anthony Modeste and Marco Reus materialising as a significant enough challenge for the champions of England. They are 16/5 and 15/4, respectively, to score at any time.

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Liverpool v Ajax

Champions League finalists in 2022 and winners in 2019, Liverpool were always going to be strongly fancied going into the competition this season, especially with the talented signings they have brought in over the last 12 months, namely Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz. However, after a poor start in the Premier League and a shocking 4-1 defeat to Napoli, they need a quick turnaround in form.

Jurgen Klopp’s men are still firm favourites at 8/15 to beat Ajax, although with a repeat of the performance in Italy last week and it might be a different story for the Reds who have yet to find any momentum this season.

If Ajax manage to defend the way they have so far in the Eredivisie this term, conceding only three goals in six appearances and scoring 21, we could be in for a high-scoring occasion with the odds on the game featuring 1.5 or fewer goals 5/1.

Mohamed Salah, who has yet to find his best form this season after scoring only twice in six appearances in the Premier League, is 10/11 to have over one shot on target, and Darwin Nunez is 8/1 to have over three on target with the man from Uruguay priced at 7/2 to score first in the tie.

Luis Diaz, one of Liverpool’s shining lights of hope in their poor start to the season, is 23/20 to score at any time for the Reds and that might be of interest based on his recent performances.

Bayern Munich v Barcelona

Arguably the biggest clash of the week, the sleeping giants look to have awakened this season, with Barcelona and Bayern Munich looking sharp heading into their second Champions League fixture.

Barcelona are second in La Liga and took a 5-1 win in the group last week over Viktoria Plzen, and though they go into this match as the underdogs at 27/10, they may fancy their chances with a renewed squad that appears to be gelling.

The likes of Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski have bolstered the squad which has struggled in recent times and the Catalan giants could easily threaten a Bayern side that currently sits third in the Bundesliga.

Though Barca look solid, and despite the Polish superstar returning to his old club in excellent form after scoring a hat-trick in the Group C victory over Plzen, (5/6 to score at any time), Bayern are the 4/5 favourites, and a 2-1 victory for the Germans looks the most likely outcome at 8/1.

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